site.btaParticipants in BTA-run Cross-Border Conference Tour Bulgarian Landmarks in Bucharest

A tour of the Bulgarian landmarks in the historical center of Bucharest was organized for some of the participants in the Cross-Border Conference Europe on Balkans: Cohesion Skills, which was held earlier today at the BTA press club in Bucharest. The guide for the group was Lyubomir Nikolov, deputy leader of the Democratic Union of Bulgarians in Romania.

The tour began at Hanul cu Tei (The Linden Tree Inn), the only historical inn in the Romanian capital that has preserved its authentic appearance.

"It was built in 1833 by two Bulgarians from Svishtov. The initials of their names, written in Cyrillic - Angel Polizov and Stefan Popovich, are still visible on the arches," said Lyubomir Nikolov. Next he pointed to the nearby building of what used to be Simeon Inn which was built by a Bulgarian from Ruse, Simeon Rosetti. In 1867, the ground floor housed the library and the cultural center "Brotherly Love."

The tour continued to the Gabroveni Inn, which was built with Bulgarian funding and was once a major meeting place for the Bulgarian revolutionaries in Bucharest and the center of the Virtuous Society until 1869. A plaque on the facade says that the inn was restored a few years ago on funding from Liechtenstein, Norway, and Iceland.

The group took a family photo by the former hotel, where Bulgarian literary classic Ivan Vazov used to stop for a coffee on the balcony. Next, they visited the former Bulgaria Square, which changed its name after a replica of the Capitoline Wolf statue with Romulus and Remus was mounted there.

The most curious among the group also peeked inside the Manuc Inn, built in the 18th century by an Armenian from Ruse, Emil Mirzoyan, later known as Manuc Bey.

"Three important moments in Bulgaria's history are connected to Manuc's Inn. One is mentioned on the plaque marking the 200th anniversary of the peace treaty between Russia and Turkey after the Russo-Turkish War of 1812. Here, at this very spot, the peace treaties after the Serbo-Bulgarian War of 1885 and the Balkan War of 1913 were signed," explained Lyubomir Nikolov.

The tour ended in the courtyard of the Church of St. Anton, where the Bulgarian Ivan Bakaloglu was buried. His tombstone is made of white marble, with a relief of a beautiful young woman, and above it, in Bulgarian, it reads "Fatherland." On the left side of the tombstone, in Bulgarian, is an inscription: "Here lies Ivan Bakaloglu, a Bulgarian from Gabrovo, born on January 18, 1801, died on January 16, 1866, awarded the Order of St. Stanislaus by the Russian Emperor."