site.bta Kolyu Ficheto's Renovated Byala Bridge to Be Inaugurated with Concert, 3D-mapping Show

The renovated bridge of the legendary builder Kolyu Ficheto near the town of Byala (North Central Bulgaria) and the newly built Expo Center "Usta Kolyu Ficheto" will be inaugurated with a concert and 3D-mapping show on August 23, Byala Municipality Secretary Milena Pachelieva told BTA on Wednesday.

BTA recalls that the conservation and renovation of the bridge started last year. The activities were carried out under a European project for a total amount of BGN 9.5 million, funded under the Regions in Growth 2014-2020 Operational Programme.

The concert will feature orchestra, choir and soloists of the Ruse Opera. Emblematic Renaissance songs, church chants and arias from historical opera titles will be presented. The program will also feature a performance by Group VAKALI. Before the start of the concert there will be a procession along the bridge. Between 250 and 300 people - pipers, dancers, athletes and young people dressed in folk costumes, formal and sportswear - will take part in it.

Boris Radev will be the performance’s director and writer while Adelina Radeva will host. The show will end with a 3D mapping projection on the bridge of Kolyu Ficheto.

The Bulgarian News Agency is a media partner of Byala Municipality for the opening of the renovated bridge.

Byala Bridge History

The bridge was originally built in 1865-1867 on the orders of Mithat Pasha, the then Vali of the Danube Vilayet. Its construction was necessitated when a road was built to connect Ruse, the main town of the Danube Vilayet, with the Ottoman capital Istanbul.

Under Mithat Pasha, public procurement procedures were not particularly intricate and refined and and the Pasha had no competition committee to decide on prices. But the idea of competitive bidding was very well known. The initial technical specification did not reach us, but the bridge exists and gives us a fair idea of what the terms of deference were, including bridge length, width, and quality. When Polish engineer Lyudmil Rola (who was in Mithat Pasha’s employment) demanded 3 million groschen to build the bridge, alternative offers were sought.

Thus it happened that master Kolyu Ficheto, the most famous master builder from the Bulgarian Revival Period, entered the bidding process. He proposed to build it for 700 000 groschen. Legend has it that when the Pasha asked Kolyu Ficheto whether he was certain of his offer, the master builder replied: “If, Pasha Effendi, I do not build the bridge for 700,000 groshen, you can cut off my head!”