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.