The yellow-cobblestoned square around which the ensemble is centred is called Independence Square. It is formed by the
Knyaz Aleksandar Dondukov Boulevard and
Tsar Osvoboditel Boulevard merging from the east to continue as
Todor Aleksandrov Boulevard west of the Largo. Originally, the square was named after Lenin. A Council of Ministers of Bulgaria
decree was published in 1951 regarding the construction of the Largo. The lot in the centre of the city, damaged by the
bombing of Sofia in World War II, was cleared in the autumn of 1952, so that the construction of the new buildings could begin in the following years. Instead, a statue of
Vladimir Lenin was erected on the east side of the square in 1966, which was replaced by the one of
St. Sophia in 2000.
1990 Fire On 26 August 1990, a fire broke out at the "party house", then the headquarters of the
Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), successor to the BCP. According to Svetlana Vladimirova, writing for
Standart, the fire was set by Plamen Stanchev, who acted because the party had retained the communist
red star on the building at that time, despite previously promising to remove it. destroying forty rooms and a number of documents. by introducing more modern architectural elements. Independence Square was reorganised in 2006 under the new architectural plan of Sofia. The lawn and the flags in the centre were replaced by glass domes, in order to expose the ruins of the ancient
Thracian and
Roman city of
Serdica in an impressive way and create a new tourist attraction. Two
underpasses, the one in front of the former Party House and the one with the medieval
Church of St Petka, were also connected to ease access to the nearby
Serdika and
Serdika II stations of the
Sofia Metro. ==National Assembly meeting place==