Tomorrow is December 6, the feast of St. Nicholas - also declared a day of fishermen and bankers. It is also the reason for us to turn today to more than a hundred years of history of one of the most impressive buildings in the heart of the city under the hills. Most recently, our team was able to peek and examine the interior of the Plovdiv building of the Bulgarian National Bank, for which new plans for socialization and opportunities to enjoy its beauty are yet to be developed.
It was built at the end of the last century. The designer is the architect Jakob Heinrich Meyer. Previously, the Swiss was the chief architect of the Exhibition in Plovdiv. In 1899 the BNB building was opened and was declared a cultural monument. In Bulgaria, Mayer left his signature in many other places - in Ruse, Varna, Evksinograd. He is also the author of the Alexander Battenberg Mausoleum in Sofia.
The work of the bank increased and after the First World War, the building had to be expanded. In 1929 the operational hall of the financial institution was completed. Architect Kamen Petkov skillfully managed the work - although he didn’t repeat the forms of Mayer, the extension fits perfectly into the older building, as the beautiful facade to the Main Street is fully preserved. Later - in 1974 two additional floors and another wing were built, which is reflected only in the interior.
A few years ago, the municipality acquired ownership of the building after replacing it with another plot where the banking center was relocated. At the end of last week, the mayor also took journalists around the impressive interior of the building. Breathtaking is the central cash hall, occupying two floors of the bank. Many of the original architectural elements have been preserved - tiles and marble stairs, wrought iron railings, doors, windows, handles, and more. Specific to it are the underground floors where the vaults are.
It is assumed that after restoration the emblematic building may be part of the exposition of the Archaeological Museum, but its future functions cannot yet be confirmed with certainty.
For us, however, it remains to admire its splendor and use it as a background or object of the incredible shots from the beloved Plovdiv!
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