Hotel “Islah Hane”

Hotel Islah Hane was built in 1866 following the request of Midhad Pasha himself, who took care that the city of Ruse, as the capital of the Danube region, did not yield to the development of other major European cities.

The hotel was equipped with 32 guest rooms, a lounge, which often hosts theater performances, balls, and concerts, and a spacious garden with impressive views over the Danube River. Islah Hane was fully furnished with Viennese furniture and received prominent guests, some of whom were kings, consuls, diplomats, merchants, and industrialists.

After the Liberation of Bulgaria, the hotel was rented by Costa Garash, a Hungarian confectioner who moved to Ruse in 1885. The building next to Islah Hane which was once a Railway Administration was transformed into the Prince's Palace. Knyaz (Prince) Alexander of Battenberg often visited his residence in Ruse. He made some of his official visits to the neighboring Islah Hane Hotel, where he welcomed guests with the rank of King Oscar II, Milan Obretenovic, King Carol I. It is believed that in honor of one of those official visits of Prince Battenberg, Costa Garash mixed the emblematic recipe for the “Garash cake”.  

For many years Hotel Islah Hane is the most modern hotel in the city of Ruse. In 1907, however, the building was converted into a town hall of the municipality of Ruse, and later into a dormitory. The building was demolished in the 1990s.