Ariana ( bg, Ариана) is the name of a medium-sized artificial lake in Knyaz Boris's Garden in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. It is "B"-shaped, 175 m long and 75 m wide, with a small island at its narrowest point. It is located at the northernmost corner of the park, in the city centre, between the

Eagles' Bridge Eagles' Bridge ( bg, Орлов мост, ''Orlov most'' ) is a bridge over the Perlovska River in downtown Sofia, capital of Bulgaria.''Travel Sofia: Illustrated Guide, Phrasebook and Maps'', MobileReference, 2010 The bridge and junction where it ...

and the

national stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

. The lake was constructed in the late 19th century and has since been a focal point for leisurely walks by Sofianites. Water wheels and rowing boats have been a feature, and in winter it was frequently known to freeze over and for people to ice-skate on its surface.Sofianites skating on Lake Ariana
, (the

Ariana Brewery The Ariana Brewery is a defunct company, founded in 1884 in Sofia, Bulgaria under the name Sofia Brewery, changing to Ariana in 1996. The brewery was bought by Heineken International in 1997, and closed down in 2004, with production of its main b ...

is steaming in the background), ''Stara Sofia''. Retrieved Mar 2013. In the mid-20th century, a casino was built on the island. In the early 1990s, the municipal government ceased caring for the lake, which dried up and remained empty and disused for nearly two decades. In 2007, the lake and its vicinity were renovated and once more began to be a place of leisure. The lake shares its name with the

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...

which was located a couple of hundred yards to the north until being demolished in 2004.

References

{{commons category, Lake Ariana

Ariana Ariana was a general geographical term used by some Greek and Roman authors of the ancient period for a district of wide extent between Central Asia and the Indus River, comprising the eastern provinces of the Achaemenid Empire that covered the ...

Geography of Sofia Landforms of Sofia City Province