Battenberg Mausoleum

The Memorial Tomb of Alexander I of Battenberg, also known as the Battenberg Mausoleum in Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital, is the mausoleum and last resting place of Prince Alexander I of Bulgaria (1857–1893), the country’s first Head of State.

The mausoleum, created in the eclectic style (with notable aspects of Neo-Baroque and Neoclassicism) and inaugurated in 1897, was commissioned to Swiss architect Hermann Mayer and is 11 metres in height and 80 square metres in size. Haralampi Tachev, a well-known Bulgarian artist, painted the inside. 81 Vasil Levski Boulevard is the address of the Battenberg Mausoleum. In 2005, it was largely repaired.

Alexander was first buried at Graz, Austria, where he died in exile in 1893. His remains, however, were moved to the Bulgarian capital in line with his wishes. He was given a grand burial attended by the new prince of Bulgaria, Ferdinand, Alexander’s wife Johanna Loisinger, and a large number of Bulgarians. Following a ceremony in St. Nedelya Church, his corpse was transferred to St. George Church and then to the newly built mausoleum in the city center.

The mausoleum was closed from 1947 and 1991, under Bulgaria’s Communist control, but it was later restored to the public. Today, it also displays some of Alexander’s personal belongings and writings, which were given by his wife in 1937.