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History

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1975

The Idea to have a National Palace of Culture

In the mid 1970's the government decided that Bulgaria needed a large-scale cultural center. The deadline for its construction was 1981, to host the celebrations marking 1300 years of the establishment of the Bulgarian state.

The Idea to have a National Palace of Culture

The initiative to construct a large-scale cultural center in Bulgaria’s capital belongs to the leadership of the Sofia chapter of the Bulgarian Communist Party in the mid-1970’s. The actual first steps to implement the idea were taken in 1975 and included defining the scope of work, carrying out a feasibility study and developing the design for the project. At the time this part of downtown Sofia was not well developed and chaotic. Shortly after the WWII bombings of the Bulgarian capital, a dozen makeshift buildings were haphazardly erected on that terrain, alongside the existing coal freight train station, old military barracks and hundreds of hectares of barren land. That is why the Bulgarian Communist Party Sofia chapter and the Sofia Municipal Council decided to improve this urban area and turn it into a modern space that is part of the main city center and that offers a grand view to the Vitosha Mountain. The terrain was initially earmarked for a new opera house. An international competition had been announced for the opera house design and construction, with the participation of local and international architects. The jury was chaired by the then head of the Culture Commission Pavel Matev. However, the Commission did not select a winner and the competition fell through.Afterheateddiscussiona unanimous decision was reached that the space would be most appropriate for a multifunctional cultural center. Almost all European cities at the time had similar centers. Up until then, the Universiada Sports Hall of Sofia was used for such purposes. The future multifunctional center all-new modern facilities would be used for conventions and major concerts. The project was entrusted to the renowned architect Alexander Barov and the civil engineer Bogdan Atanassov. Then chief architect of Sofia Vladimir Romenski, as well as the minister of architecture Stefan Staynov and consultant Prof. Milcho Braynov also controbuted. Architects Atanas Agura and Valentina Atanassova were entrusted with the task to design the surrounding space and park area.

1978

Constructing the National Palace of Culture

The construction of the complex took only 3 years (1979-1981). The foundations are made of 10 000 tones of steel.

Gallery

Constructing the National Palace of Culture

The ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of the National Palace of Culture took place on May 25^th 1978. Only the people directly involved with the construction attended the ceremony. “There were only about ten of us, no public, no media. In the early hours of that sunny morning in May we were all feeling happy and proud to be responsible for the construction of the largest and most modern center of Bulgarian culture,” recounts Gueorgi Yordanov. TheNationalPalaceofCulture (NDK) wasopenedin 1981, withfanfareandremarks by the head of state himself Todor Zhivkov. Up until the changes in 1989, the Palace was named after the late Minister of Culture Lyudmila Zhivkova. Volunteer work and financial contributions from many Sofians were invested in the construction of the Palace. Its construction took 335 000 cubic meters of concrete, and 1,7 million tones of earth were dug out. Around 10 thousand tones of metal constructions were used, which is approximately the same quantity used for the construction of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Some referred to NDK as the second Alexander Nevski Cathedral. Both buildings are symbols of Sofia, they are similar in terms of size and scale, and the Bulgarian public made its contribution to the construction of both. The main challenge with the construction of NDK was the lack of enough construction workers. That is why the construction works brought to the Bulgarian capital thousands of citizens from Cyprus, Yugoslavia, Vietnam and other countries who took part in its construction.

1981

The Opening

The official opening of NDK took place on 31th of March 1981 to mark 1 300 years since the founding of the Bulgaria state.

1981-89

Symbols

Logo, facade, symbolic works of art and their authors.

Gallery

1981-89

Exhibits

1981-2015

Prominent guests

Renowned performers; artists or concert conductors; exhibitions and performances in the first 35 years of NDK