An open secret, about which Sofia tourists do not know

The open secret is what everyone knows. However, I want to tell you about what is known to all Sofia residents, but not known to most tourists.

And it is not known to them that the "Central Sofia Hali" (market) is the cheapest and most convenient place for tourists in the ideal center of Sofia. Many times I led the guests of the Bulgarian capital there, and they said to me in surprise that they passed by yesterday, and it did not even occur to them that it was so interesting and useful. Because there is no sign on the building of Khali and it looks so solid that ordinary people do not know what is inside.

Inside, Halite can go to the toilet for free, warm up (cool down in summer), have a very cheap meal, have a good coffee, sit in a cafe, buy a bunch of Bulgarian souvenirs at very humane prices, buy Bulgarian and other cosmetics for a penny.

Also here Bulgarian wines and pastries are sold - the famous Banitsas. In general, there is everything that a tourist in Sofia needs. But at the same time it is also an interesting historical place. But many simply pass by, not daring to go inside.

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Khalite market

Khalite is a market and it always has been. It was built here in 1911 as a market-fridge. The fact is that the territory on which this building stands, used to belong to the Jewish quarter Yuchbunar, and there was an active trade in everything in the world. After the Russians had appointed Sofia the capital of Bulgaria, it had to be ennobled, and therefore Khalita was built here.

In the basement of the market were ice machines. It was used for its own needs, and also sold to Sofia restaurants and rich houses.

Now in the basement of Khalit is a huge secondhand "Mania", a dining room and part of the fortress wall of medieval Serdika. In Roman times, Sophia was called Serdika.

Remains of a medieval thermal bath.

They built this market according to the design of Leon Bourgeois, a French architect. True, it was somewhat reworked and supervised by the construction of Bulgarian architects Torbov, and then Stoyanov.

Halite stands on Maria Louise Boulevard, directly opposite the Banya Bashi Mosque, which is also a 16th century architectural monument. Behind the mosque there is a mineral bath, designed by Friedrich Grunanger - now there is the Sofia History Museum. Very interesting.

You can go down to the metro station "Serdika" and go to the central part of the fortress, which was dug out and mothballed in 2012. Part of the exposition is under the boulevard itself.

Boulevard "Princess Maria Luisa" leads directly to the central station - railway and bus.

Prices

Especially for this publication in the community, I went to Khalit and took photos showing prices. Some of them I will translate into euros, and you can count them in rubles yourself if necessary. Lev is firmly pegged to the euro. 1 euro equals 1.95 leva.

There are about a dozen souvenir counters.

Here it is - rose oil for tourists. Inside the glass cones with the scent of roses. It is worth 2.5 levs, that is, 1.28 euros for things.

Cakes, for my taste, very mediocre, but who is not a gourmet in this business will come to that. Here the cheapest cake costs 19.90 levs (10.20 euros), and a slice - 3.5 levs (1.79 euros).

Banitsy - Bulgarian national pastries. When fresh - very tasty. This pie has already been discounted because it was morning. One such pie is now worth 86 stotinki (0.44 euros).

Nuts in assortment. In Bulgarian, all this is called "yadki". The word "nut", with an emphasis on "o", in Bulgaria is called a walnut. Prices here are per hundred grams. Nuts in Bulgaria are more expensive than meat. The cheapest on this counter is peanuts (although it is not a nut))) Price per 100 grams - 1 lev (0.5 euros). The most expensive is hazelnuts, the price is 3.90 leva (2 euros).

ART is a Bulgarian leather goods brand. If someone needs souvenirs of this orientation, then you can buy belts, bags, gloves, wallets and so on.

Ready takeaway food. 350 grams of moussaki here cost 4.2 levs (2.15 euros). If someone does not know what moussaka is, then this is a potato casserole with meat, covered with eggs and with a crust. Options can be many. The dish is quite satisfying. I can never master a portion.

Barber in the basement Khalite. Prices here are average: it is lower, and it is much higher. It is here that a male haircut costs BGN 12 (6 euros), women’s - BGN 15 (7.5 euros), children’s costs BGN 10 (5 euros). For comparison, we have 7 leva for a man / a nursery, but I am afraid to go there :-) The word "battle" means paint.

Cosmetics and prices

And now go to my favorite topic - cosmetics! For many years I have been writing about her reviews on various resources, including at home.

At the second level, Khalit is the cheapest in Bulgaria cosmetic network store "Elites". It looks not very presentable, but the range is huge and the prices are lower than the baseboard. I will show some, can someone compare with similar products in their country.

Micellar water mix 400 ml costs 8.39 levs (4.41 euros).

French network cosmetics Yves Rocher. Shower gel 400 ml costs 7.90 levs (4.04 euros).

Carefree - a large box on the right (58 pieces, cotton) costs 6.19 levs (3.17 euros).

My adorable Korean Purederm cosmetics. Here on the photo: the left side is an acidic mask of a roll, and on the right a super moisturizing facial mask of aloe.

Prices: 2.88 leva (1.47 euros) for 50 ml and 3.20 leva (1.64 euros) for 50 ml, respectively.

Leaf masks of the same company. This is for the face, and they also have masks for each toe)) In the sense that for each part of the body and even for the nails.

Bulgarian Talloderma - very good cosmetics in its price range. Do it in Varna on the French technology. I like a lot of things from them. These are cosmetics from the category of pharmaceutical, that is, they have products designed to solve skin problems. In the photo there is an assortment of light body creams for various atopy. Price for 150 ml 4.19 lev (2.14 euro).

French cosmetics REVUELE. Very cheap and not bad. For example, a gel for washing against acne 200 ml costs 3.78 levs (1.93 euros).

The famous "Lady Valevska" in the USSR, it turns out, is very cheap. As a child, it seemed to me that this was a premium makeup). 11.99 leva is (6.14 euros).

Hair dye L'Oreal in stock. Here, each box costs 10.79 levs (5.53 euros).

Well, the omnipresent Garnier. An aqua bomb sheet moisturizing face mask costs 3.49 levs (1.78 euros).

The stores are full of girls - beautiful and elegant, half naked and burnt.

Thank you for your time and attention.

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All photos in this blog are taken by me unless otherwise attributed.

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