Central military club
The Central Military Club ( bulg .: Централен военен клуб / Central Woenen Klub ) is a three-story building in the Bulgarian capital Sofia . The building is in the neo-renaissance style.
location
The Central Military Club is located at 7 Tsar Osvoboditel Boulevard, across from the Russian Church on the other side of Rakovsky Street, and near the Ivan Vazov National Theater .
history
Construction began in 1883 by Adolf Kolar and completed in 1903 by Friedrich Grünanger .
The foundation stone for the building was laid in 1895. The military club was designed by the Czech architect Antonín Kolář and completed by his Bulgarian colleague Nikola Lasarow in 1907. To commemorate the Serbian-Bulgarian War (1885-1886), a stone from the Slivnitsa battlefield was placed in the foundation.
use
The building served as a ballroom for the Bulgarian upper class and royal family before World War II . The concert hall now has space for 450 spectators. After a renovation as part of a city beautification project, the building is used as a cultural center and theater, and art exhibitions are also held. The former ballroom, now a concert hall, is often booked by private organizers.
The Central Military Library, which has over 120,000 volumes, is also located in the building.
In 2008 a major chess tournament, the M-Tel Masters , took place here. In April and May 2010, the Central Military Club hosted the World Chess Championship between World Champion Viswanathan Anand and his challenger Wesselin Topalow .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Description at travelsignposts.com
- ↑ Grigor Doytchinov and Christo Ganchev: Austrian Architects in Bulgaria 1878-1918 . Böhlau Verlag, Vienna 2001. p. 59
- ↑ Description on inyourpocket.com
- ↑ chessbase.com: MTel R10: Ivanchuk wins Sofia by 1½ points . May 18, 2008