Balchik Palace is a small former royal residence in the seaside resort of Balchik, in northeastern Bulgaria. Known as the Quiet Nest, it was built as the summer home of Queen Marie of Romania, who first visited the area in 1921. Italian architects Augustino and Americo designed it, combining Balkan and Ottoman Turkish motifs. The main building's minaret stands beside a Christian chapel.
Construction began around 1924 and was officially completed in 1937, the year Queen Marie died. The complex also includes villas, a wine cellar and a monastery with a holy spring and chapel.
After Southern Dobruja returned to Bulgaria in 1940, the Balchik Botanical Garden was established on the park's site. It holds about 2,000 plant species, and its outdoor cactus collection is the second of its kind in Europe, after Monaco's.
Comments