Lions' Bridge, Sofia

About

Lions' Bridge (Bulgarian, Lavov most) is a bridge over the Vladaya River in the centre of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, built 1889–1891 by Czech 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 and Slivnitsa Boulevard, at which it is located, connecting the Central Railway Station with the city centre and marking its northern border. The neighborhood can be described as socially challenging. For tourists its recommended to be careful here. Generally, Sofia is very safe but this part has some social challenges. Poverty, no investment in infrastructure, drug addicts, homeless and prostitution. The road is pretty damaged and half of the houses ruins, covered with net so stones don´t fall on the street. But the other half of the houses were renovated very lately. There are also plans to build the street new in the next 2 years. It is close to the women's market, the central rail station and the migration office what contributes to these problems.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.