The Central
Sofia Market Hall (Bulgarian: Централни софийски хали, Tsentralni sofiyski
hali), known popularly simply as The Market Hall (Халите, Halite) is a covered
market in the centre of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, located on Marie Louise
Boulevard. It was opened in 1911 and is today an important trade centre in the
city.
The
construction of the building, which spreads over 3,200 m², began in 1909 after
the design of architect Naum Torbov was selected in 1907, and took two years to
complete.
Until the
late 1940s the Sofia municipality let out about 170 shops and stalls in the
Central Sofia Market Hall. The rents and the product quality were strictly
regulated. The market hall building's interior was significantly altered after
the 1950s and the market was closed in 1988 in order to be reconstructed,
modernized and once again opened for Easter in 2000, after 75% of it was
acquired by the Israeli company Ashtrom, who invested $7 million in it.
Today the
Central Sofia Market Hall employs over 1,000 people, has three storeys, and
offers foodstuff stalls and shops, clothing, accessories and jewellery shops,
fast food stalls, etc.
