Address:

Sofia, Vasil Levski Blvd.  81

 

Museum Hours:

09:00-17:00

 

The Memorial Tomb of Alexander I of

Battenberg (Bulgarian: Гробница паметник

„Александър І Батенберг“, Grobnitsa pametnik

„Aleksandar І Batenberg“), better known as the

Battenberg Mausoleum (Мавзолей на

Батенберг, Mavzoley na Batenberg) in Sofia,

the capital of Bulgaria, is the mausoleum and

final resting place of Prince Alexander I of

Bulgaria (1857–1893), the first Head of State of

modern Bulgaria.

Commissioned to the Swiss architect Hermann

Mayer, designed in the eclectic style (with

prominent elements of Neo-Baroque and

Neoclassicism) and opened in 1897, the

mausoleum measures 11 metres in height and

80 square metres in area. The interior was

painted by the noted Bulgarian artist Haralampi

Tachev. The Battenberg Mausoleum is located

at 81 Vasil Levski Boulevard. It was partially

restored in 2005.

 

When Alexander died in exile in Graz, Austria

in 1893, he was initially buried there. However,

in accordance with his wish, his remains were

transferred to the Bulgarian capital. He was

given a state funeral attended by the new

prince, Ferdinand of Bulgaria, Alexander's

widow Johanna Loisinger, and a great number

of Bulgarians. Following a service in the St

Nedelya Church his body was moved to the

Church of St George and subsequently to the

newly constructed mausoleum in the centre of

the city.

The mausoleum was closed between 1947 and

1991, during the period of Communist rule in

Bulgaria, but was subsequently reopened for

the public. Today it also exhibits some of

Alexander's private possessions and papers,

donated by his wife in 1937.