Banya Palace

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Banya Palace (Bulgarian: дворец в Баня, dvorets v Banya) is a royal summer villa or small palace on the northern outskirts of the town of Banya in Karlovo municipality, Plovdiv Province, southern Bulgaria. It was commissioned to University of Karlsruhe-educated architect Ivan Vasilyov after Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria visited the town in 1925 and liked the climatic conditions and the curative mineral springs in the area, and finished in 1929.

The white-painted palace's architecture draws heavily from 19th-century Bulgarian National Revival architecture. It features a large veranda covered with Italian terracotta and with five oak columns supporting it, windows with shutters and a high stone wall with two oak gates. Besides the villa, there are two additional buildings for guests and servants.

The villa also has a small park of 7,000 m² and the surrounding lots were also improved. Among the plants that can be seen are the Ginkgo, Red Oak, Sweetgum and others.

Today the palace is a private property of the deposed Tsar Simeon II and his official place of residence.

[edit] References

• Banya Karlovo History (Bulgarian). Bania-karlovo.hit.bg. Retrieved on 2006-10-08.
• Tsar Boris and the royal palace (Bulgarian). Journey.bg. Retrieved on 2006-10-08.