HISTORY The mansion is located at 11 km from the city centre. It was established in 1899 by Tsar Ferdinand Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a grandson of the French king Louis Philippe of France. Ferdinand started ruling Bulgaria in 1887, soon after country’s liberation from 500-years Ottoman Rule.

Before the Liberation, at this location the chiflik of the Turkish governor of Sofia was located. Consequently, the property was purchased by tsar Ferdinand with personal money. He bought out the neighbouring lands and built up a hunting lodge and a park surrounding it, and consequently a palace that became last royal dynasty’s favourite residence. Park’s construction was initiated in 1900 and in 1912 the palace was completed. It was named after the first bird that landed onto the roof after its construction – a crow – a species that could be often seen in the field surrounding Sofia.

PARK The park is a work of gardening art. It was designed by the Viennese landscape architect yet the king participated a lot since he is keen on botanics and ornithology. It is perfectly maintained and still carries the handwriting of tsar Ferdinand – its founder.

In post-liberated Bulgaria there were not many public parks and gardens, hence the lack of seeds and seedlings force the king get everything necessary from abroad. To this end, from various continents they ordered many plant species, flowers and trees, seeds and others, most of which were not typical and were unique to Bulgaria.

Many of them keep living in the park today, such as the huge gigantic Chinese wisteria, for example. Some of the species are the same age as the park, and have been there since its very creation. Magnolias are already more than 100 years old.

The species versatility is impressive, with 821 trees and shrubs. There are many flowers as well.

The pond with the lilies is one of the greatest sights. It was created in 1909. The lilies for it were imported from Japan, China and Australia. Some of them have reached a diameter of 2 meters and during the winter these are reared in the Vrana greenhouses. Next to it is located the rock garden “Dalem”, created by the king according to the project of the Austrian landscape architect, with many typical Alpine flower and shrub species. In 1905, a zoo was created in the mansion. Deer, llama, hinds, camels, pheasants, wild ducks, geese and swans were being reared in it. In 1910 two elephants were purchased from the zoo in Hamburg. These were called Nal and Damyaniti. These were reared in the stables and used for the farm as well. There was a pond with water birds that is not existent today.

PALACE The palace consisted of two buildings with connection in-between. The first one was older, it used to be a hunting chalet, and the second one is the family palace, completed in 1912.

It was furnished in modern manner whereas elements from the Eastern and the Western fashion were interwoven in the interior, combined with typical Bulgarian elements. The royal family owned many works of art, carpets, pictures, furniture, family valuable items.

The ceilings were made of carved wood in the tradition of Bulgarian revival masters. The paneling of the interior columns is made with the famous Italian technique stucco, there is an elevator “Schindler” that is still operational.

The history of the dining-room is interesting too, since it is made of valuable Russian karelian birch tree. It was made upon the order of the Russian tsar Nikolay II, who gifted it to the heir Boris, his godchild on the occasion of turning legal age. Its whole furnishing includes a big table, 30 chairs, auxiliary buffets and paneling, manufactured in the emperor factories of Russia. They arrived in Bulgaria by train and were assembled on the spot in the palace by Russian masters that were sent on order.

The first floor hosted king’s office, reception room, salon, proto-Bulgarian room, Karelian dining-room, tea-room, oval dining room and the big salon.

The apartments are located on the second floor, and the third one is devoted to the premises for servants and maids.

Additionally, there was ladies’ salon with Venetian furniture, work salon with golden desk, green salon, Rila room, salon of Prince Cyril – brother of Boris III, room of baronesses, chapel and funeral room with heavy black curtains and gypsum masks of deceased predecessors – a mystical and ominous place, made by Ferdinand that Tsaritsa Yoanna was fast to rearrange, after Ferdinand left Bulgaria.

Many European rulers were guests in the palace – such as the German emperor Wilhelm II, the English king Edward VIII and many more.

The park and the palace have witnessed dramatic events of the Bulgarian history.

After Ferdinand’s abdication in 1928, the palace became ownership of his son Boris III, who lived there with his wife – the Italian princess Giovanna of Savoy and their children. During the Second World War there were Anglo-American bombarding over Sofia, because Bulgaria was an ally of Germany. 36 bombs hit the building and the park. The queen and the children were there during the bombarding. What saved their lives is a small bunker additionally constructed to the palace where they hid. The crater of one bomb was 7 meters wide and 3 meters deep. They made a pond with red fish out of it and named it the “Churchill” pond.

The king died in a sudden and mysterious manner in 1943. There are many theories like the one according to which Hitler ordered his death as a revenge that Bulgaria didn’t sent its Jews to the death camps, yet the more probable yet unproven is the one that his death was ordered from the East.

The mansion remained ownership of the family, but not for long. After the coup in 1944, the queen and the children were sent in exile, the real estate and the items remaining were confiscated by the communist regime in the interest of the state. Their leaders started using the location and they could not preserve much of the marvelous interior.

The wooden bungalow next to the lake with lilies was constructed during the communist period and it served as habitation of the communist leader Georgi Dimitrov.

At present, the building is once again ownership of the family and is being restored according to old drawings and photographs. Hence the palace at present could not be viewed from the inside.