site.btaRomania's Embassy in Sofia Holds Open Day as part of European Heritage Days Initiative

The Embassy of Romania in Sofia opened its doors to the public on Saturday, participating in the European Heritage Days initiative for the first time.

Speaking to BTA, Romania’s Ambassador to Bulgaria, Brandusa-Ioana Predescu, said that the Embassy had partnered with Sofia Municipality as part of the initiative held under the auspices of the Council of Europe. She noted that she had spoken with many people who live close to the Embassy who shared that they had been curious to see the monumental building not only from the outside but also from the inside.

This building is impressive for its size and location. This is the home of Romania in Bulgaria, she added.

The Ambassador noted that the building has an interesting history, albeit not as long as other iconic buildings’ in Sofia. Predescu said that in the mid-1970s, the Romanian embassy could no longer accommodate its staff, and the need for a new building arose. Bulgaria granted the Romanian state a plot of land in the neighbourhood of Geo Milev, which has age-old traditions, Predescu added.

The embassy building was built in record time – just six months - which is impressive even by today's standards, the Ambassador said. The embassy houses two rooms for protocol purposes and staff offices.

Predescu added that in October 2000, Sofia Municipality agreed to change the name of the 500-metre stretch between Tsarigradsko Shose Blvd and Geo Milev Street where the building is located from Sitnyakovo Blvd to Mihai Eminescu Blvd. The boulevard was named after the world-renowned Romanian poet. 

The Mayor of Slatina district, Georgi Iliev, was among the attendees at Saturday’s event. "When I was a child, there was a playground and green areas here, where we used to play football. I also remember how impressed we were with the swiftness with which this remarkable building was put up—one of the iconic [buildings] of Sofia. We are privileged to be not only close as countries but also in terms of our common European path," he told BTA.