Princely Palace

In the 60’s of the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire lagged far behind in infrastructure construction compared to other European countries. It is necessary to prepare a program for the building of a railway network in the European part of the empire and specifically for the construction of the first railway line on the Bulgarian lands of Rouschouk-Varna.

In 1863, the English company of the Barkley Brothers received a concession for 99 years and on May 21, 1864, work on the construction of the line began.

While constructing the railway line, a 360 square meter, two-storey, stone work building is constructed on “Knyazeska” street for the Administration’s needs. It was funded by the Circassian Emigrant Support Commission or at least what was left out of it by that time. This building’s forefront towards the street consists of impressive two balconies with  openwork, hemstitched railings. The northern facade gazes upon the former Danube garden, which was a small European oasis for foreigners and local wealthy citizens.

The European style of the building contrasts sharply with the traditional architectural appearance of the other buildings in Rousse at that time. The Austrian Consulate is located on the second floor of the newly built building. In 1875, a branch of the Ottoman Bank, run by foreign bankers, was opened here.

Maintenance of the Prince's Palace is taken over by the Municipality of  Rousse, for that reason it withdraws a lawn from the National Bank, part of which has been paid of from selling the town’s  steam mill. A Municipal decree of October 21, 1886 states: "If the Municipality continues to maintain the Palace, except that it does not bring any benefit to it, but is compelled to pay for insurance and repairs to the building and the gardener, and because the Municipality has no means of payment to pay of this amount asks the government to buy it, if not, the municipal government to lease it to a private person. "

Over the past century and a half, the building has served as the home of the Girls' High School, Dorostol-Cherven Bishopric, Administration of the Danube Waterway.

In the 1990s it was used by an Ariston sewing company and now houses the Rousse Puppet Theater.

Source: Doikov, V., Dimitrova, M. Buildings - the European cultural heritage of  Rousse. R., 2013