CAMPUS TOUR

Having history and architecture in mind, the sights in the area of G.S.Rakovski Defence and Staff College are valuable cultural monuments. Protocol of the National Institute for Cultural Monuments from March 18th, 1985 declared it normatively and enumerated as cultural monuments most of the buildings, the fence of rifles along Evlogi Georgiev Blvd, the main alley in the park and the lake. These sights incorporate the morale and the tradition of the Bulgarian Army.

The most imposing is the main building of the College, from the period 1888-1894, designed by the Check architect Antonin Kolar. It is a three-story building in New-Roman style with the typical military architecture. The facade is like an old fortress and, when it is looked upon in perspective “from birds' sight”, it is like the letter “E” (the first letter of the name of princess Eleonora). It is also with the typical for the buildings in that style arch windows and vaults. There are architectural military patterns in the form of tarrets on the roof cornices. In 1934 the south flygel (the side wing) of the building was renovated. The Tactics Room was turned into “a hall for parties and entertainment”. Two big reproductions of the paintings Attack by Veshin and Attack by Stamatov are hung in the corridor. They express the concept of the tactical doctrine of the Military College and the Bulgarian Army. The borders of Bulgaria are presented on a marble plate placed under the clock on the east wall.

In 2004 the G. S. Rakovski Academic Hall was refurbished into its original state with an investment of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Bulgaria and the financial assistance of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is the ideal venue for seminars and workshops, accommodating up to 120 participants and providing state of the art audio visual, multimedia, simultaneous interpretation, and real-time teleconferencing services.

The corpus, where the oldest in the College clock mechanism was mounted, was named after Eleonora Royce Keustrirz – the second wife of Tsar Ferdinand I. The clock was made of a special alloy that never ruins. The Defence College is a temple of brilliant architecture and unique garden design. One of its merits is the preservation of the authenticity of the priceless clock mechanism from the time of Tsar Ferdinand I. It is a pity that the date of its production was deleted by the years, but it is known that the clock in the turret above the Royal Halls is Austrian. This is a real historical monument of the technical mind and it has worked and has struck the time of the school lessons for more than 100 years.

The clock above the Royal Halls is wound up every 24 hours with a tool like a crank. It is wound in three axes. There are two more similar clocks in Sofia. The one is in the Trade High School, and the other is in a school on Slivnitsa Blvd. But they only resemble the original Defence College clock.

The other building in New-Roman style – the former Administration building of the Military School and the College was built at the same time with the main education building (the nowadays financial-administrative building) is preserved in its authentic architectural appearance. The building, erected from 1938 till 1942 especially for the Defence College , follows the same style. A balcony portico emphasizes its entrance. The architect Alexander Dubovnik is the author of the project. In aspect of style it is similar to the educational building. Embossed figures of ancient warriors with swords are carved on the facade. The tarret-like patterns along the cornice and the roof, as well as the arch windows create an atmosphere of discipline, austerity, and severity that make the necessary stylistic link with the building of architect Kolar.

The decision for building a chapel at the premises of the then Military School dates back in the 90-ies of the 19 th century. On December 27, 1898 , the Eastern Orthodox Chapel was officially consecrated in the presence of Prince Ferdinand I. During a special ceremony on January 20, 1906 , Prince Ferdinand named the Chapel for the Holy Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael and declared his desire that the Chapel be used for ministering to the needs of the Military School cadets.

To commemorate the plight of the Military School graduates who lost their lives in the wars of 1912 – 1918, in the 20-ies of the last century memorial plates bearing their names and year of graduation were put up on the inner walls of the Chapel.

The Chapel served its purpose until 1946 when the last Divine Liturgy was held. In 2001 it was refurbished almost to its original state. Upcoming is the restoration of the memorial plates inside the chapel, where the names of the Bulgarian officers who perished in the final stages of WWII will also be included.

Another building with cultural importance is the Riding School renovated in 1926. Today this building is turned into a gym and is named after the patron of the Defence and Staff College - Georgi Stoikov Rakovski.

The unique forged fence made of Krunka and Berdana rifle barrels is also a historical monument and an extraordinary sight. These rifles were a gift, presented by Russia after the War of Liberation and with them the Union of Eastern Romelia with the Bulgarian Principality in 1885 was gloriously defended. For the construction of the fence there was a special project that harmonized with the entire architecture of the whole composition of valuable cultural monuments.

Extremely remarkable is the park on the territory of the College, as well as the lake in it. The park was set up in 1906, but its pre-history begins with a Record issued on July 13th, 1895 where it was declared that the owner Dimitar Petrov sold 30 uvrata (about 30 acres) - a quarter of a field in Poduenska mahala to the Ministry of Defence. In the end of 19th century this area was outside the town of Sofia. At the beginning the Military School was the owner and then - the Defence College.

The architect Friedrich Grunanger, who was the author of a number of remarkable public and private buildings in Sofia (the Theological College, the Synagogue, and the buildings where the Turkish and the Chinese Embassies were accommodated), designed the park.

The initiative for the creation of the park belonged to Col. Vicho Dilov (later – a Major General), who was the Commandant of the Military School at that times. The park was built in mixed landscape-regular style, the so-called ‘English style' in park-design art, with the characteristic for it alleys with straight axes lines and naturally following the terrain creative constructions. The lake is an important architectural element. It is in the form of the Cyrillic letter ‘Ф' – the initial letter of the name of Tsar Ferdinand, who the park was named after.

In 1950-ies the Defence College took care of the park. Due to the efforts made, a compact group of trees was created that harmonizes in a very picturesque way with the natural terrain and the green sweeps of grass. The park was designed in separate levels that follows the relief of the area. The age of most of the trees is over 90 years.

The park is of particular value as cultural-historical heritage that accomplishes the building complex. The whole composition creates the authentic atmosphere for a number of historical events from the activities of the Military School, the Defence College and the Bulgarian Army.

The main gate with the control check-post and the starting from it Alley of Victories; the staircase with the Alley of the Commandants of the Military School ; the lake near the main gate; and the alcove under the trees add naturally to the prominent architectural composition of G.S.Rakovski Defence and Staff College .

The control check-post is also a notable architectural monument in the form of a cylindrical tower. In 1933 the road from it to the Military School was turned into Alley of Victories. It consists of columns and iron railings with rifle barrels and enameled plates with the names and the dates of the victories of our Army. Today the Alley of the Commandants is with renovated stone lay and leads from the lake to the central building, where the Royal halls are.

Other monuments, connected to the history of the Bulgarian Army, in the Defence College area are the Column of the Alumni and the Monument of Georgi Stoikov Rakovski. The Column was built on the so-called Square of the Bulgarian Officer and it was opened in 1934. At its base statues of lions, that symbolize the strength and courage of the Bulgarian soldiers, were placed. On its top there is a plastic representation of battle flags with lions on them. They add to the architectural unity of the message of the whole composition.

The monument to the patron of Georgi Stoikov Rakovski Defence and Staff College was erected in 1967. The project is of Liliana Marinova. She is the author of a number of talented monumental art works known not only in Bulgaria but also in Poland, Hungary and Germany. K. Sivilov is a co-author of the monument. It was built on the occasion of the anniversary of the establishment of the Defence College that was named after Georgi Stoikov Rakovski on March 5th, 1946 with Regent's Decree N6.