Description of the attraction
Sofia University, which bears the name of St. Kliment Ohridsky (one of the founders of Slavic writing), was opened in 1888. In Bulgaria it is the most prestigious and largest center for science and education. The building where the university is located today was built from 1924 to 1934 and is one of the symbols of Sofia. This architectural monument is located on an area of approximately 36 thousand square meters. There are more than 320 rooms, 65 lecture halls with 6 thousand seats.
The university was founded 10 years after the end of the liberation war. At first there was only one Faculty of History and Philology. The first rector of Sofia University was Alexander Teodorov-Balan, a Bulgarian linguist who worked in this institution for 70 years. Initially, only 7 teachers worked here. A year after the opening of the university, the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics appeared, three years later - the Faculty of Law, and in 1901 women began to be admitted here for training. Students of Sofia University in 1907 staged the future tsar, then prince, Ferdinand the First, with the result that the educational institution was closed for some time. From 1917 to 1921, the medical, agronomic, veterinary and theological faculties were opened.
The new university building, which we can see today, began to be built in 1924 at the expense of the Georgiev brothers. The building was designed by the French architect Henri Breanson in the Renaissance style at the beginning of the century, but was not used. Jordan Milanov revisited this project, bringing in more eclecticism and baroque elements. The French architect sued Milanov for the infringement of his copyright. Opposite the building, a memorial to the philanthropic brothers by K. Shivarov was erected. Interior elements of the university building - wide staircases, elaborate stained-glass windows, huge chandeliers, Czech mosaic floors, Italian marble finishing. The construction and redevelopment work was interrupted for a rather long time due to the Second World War, but in 1985 the expansion of the university building was completed - two wings were added.
On the centenary of the university, a mountain range in the Land of Alexander the First was named after him in Antarctica.
Today, the university has 22 thousand students in 16 faculties.
