Lions' Bridge (; ''Lavov most'') is a bridge over the
Vladaya River in the centre of
Sofia
Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...
, the capital of
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
, built 1889–1891 by
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus
*Czech (surnam ...
architect Václav Prošek, his brother Jozef and his cousins Bohdan and Jiří. It gives the name to the important and busy junction of
Marie Louise Boulevard
Maria Luiza Boulevard (), also called Maria Luiza, which is the Bulgarian transliteration of Marie Louise, is a central boulevard in Sofia. It connects Central Railway Station, Sofia, Central Railway Station and Vitosha Boulevard which is its cont ...
and
Slivnitsa Boulevard, at which it is located, connecting the
Central Railway Station with the city centre and marking its northern border.
Overview
The bridge was built from stone at the place of an older bridge called ''Sharen Most'' (Шарен мост, "Motley Bridge") because it was decorated with red and yellow stripes. The name of Lions' Bridge comes from the four bronze sculptures of
lion
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...
s, its most recognizable feature. All metal elements of the bridge were produced by the
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
n company of Rudolph Philipp Waagner, and electric lights were installed in the early 1900s. The entire construction of the bridge cost 260,000
golden lev.
The Prošek family also designed and built the similar but
eagle
Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...
-themed
Eagles' Bridge marking the city centre's eastern border in 1891.
One of the bronze lions is depicted on the
reverse of the Bulgarian 20
lev
Lev or LEV may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Lev (given name)
*Lev (surname)
Places
*Lev, Azerbaijan, a village
*Lev (crater), a tiny lunar crater
Religion
*an abbreviation for Leviticus, the third book of the Hebrew Bible and the ...
banknote, issued in 1999 and 2007.
Since 2012 the area around Lions' Bridge is served by the
Lavov most station of the
Sofia Metro
The Sofia Metro (, also colloquially called ) is the rapid transit network servicing the Bulgarian capital city Sofia. It is the only metro in Bulgaria. It began operation on 28 January 1998. , the Sofia Metro consists of four interconnected lin ...
M2 line.
In 2014, a major reconstruction of the square was completed, converting the intersection into a two-level interchange. The automobile traffic was removed from the bridge, reserving it only for
trams
A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...
and pedestrians.
References
*
Buildings and structures in Sofia
Transport in Sofia
Bridges in Bulgaria
Bridges completed in 1891
1891 establishments in Bulgaria
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