Lions' Bridge

A bridge over the Vladayska River by the Central Station, built in 1889, soon after Bulgaria's liberation from Ottoman rule. It was designed by the Czech architect Vaclav Prosek together with his brothers and a cousin — the same family also built the Eagles' Bridge at the other end of the centre. Four bronze lions by the Austrian sculptor Rudolf Weyr stand at the corners, cast in Vienna; the lion is the coat of arms of Bulgaria, and they were placed here precisely as a sign of statehood regained. The site was not chosen by chance: a gallows once stood here on which the Ottomans executed rebels, and the bridge with its lions read as an answer to that. The structure is of iron on stone abutments, with a span of about twenty metres. A tram line now runs across the bridge, and the old green carriages passing between the lions have become a familiar image of Sofia. The little river below has been put into a concrete channel and is barely noticeable.

On the map