Halite
Address: 25 Maria Louisa Blvd
Tel: 917 61 11 (central administration) [hali.big.bg]
Open: every day, from about 9.00 to about 19.00
(the cafe on the ground floor opens at 7am, and the food court is open till 8pm)

It would be almost 100 years ago since Sofia’s Central Hali opened. When it started receiving customers in 1911, it was the first covered market in Bulgaria, its design being based on the erstwhile central market of Paris, called Les Halles. Let’s guess that the Sofia edition was based on the 1850s Paris complex, and not the one dating back to the marketplace built by King Philippe II Auguste in 1183.

The early 20th century in Bulgaria was a period of turning away from the Turkish-Eastern influences of its past 500 years and modernising along the lines of and embracing the Western style of life.

According to the plaque on the front of the building, Municipal Hali was designed in 1909 by Naoum Nikolov Torbov (1880-1952), and re-opend after restoration on May 30 2000 by then-mayor of Sofia Stefan Sofiyanski. There is much controversy surrounding Sofiyanski’s involvment in the renovation of the building, which had been in a decripit state for many years before, but details are shady. Torbov was part of the first group of native Bulgarian architects educated in Europe after the country’s 1887/88 liberation from the Turks.

As a building itself, the patterned brick facade and clock tower (that gives the accurate time) of Halite recalls an era of horse-and-buggy, of women in fancy hats and men in gaiters. Coming closer, you see that Victorian elegance has been replaced by a post-communist fall-out survival lifestyle. The clientele more frequently wear Rebock-branded shoes and carry Guchi-blazoned handbags. Dingy shades of black, brown, maroon and navy blue complement the name-brand plastic bags that seem to be the bread of Bulgarian daily life.

This is the belly of Bulgaria. Your cleaning lady, your taxi driver, the chef at your five-star restaurant and you shop here. The place is not classy, but it has its certain charm, a sense of history and reality to it.

It’s as if every brand of Bulgarian consumables has a stall here – Dobroudjanski Hlyab (bread), Jimmy’s (ice cream), Zlatna Pesht (sweets and bread), Damit, Karol-Fernandez Meat, Redjina, Tandem-B (meat items raw and cooked), fish stalls, dairy-product stalls (one of the stalls selling a variety of cheeses has an impressive selection of international types), clothing and linens stalls, stands selling buiscuits by the gram, a stall selling decent chocolates, wine stalls with a range of choice of labels, fresh produce stands, an ATM and a bar/cafe, and that is just the ground floor.

Buying meat, dairy and fish products offered should not present any suspicion when it comes to quality, as all is fresh, monitored, and what you see before your eyes in the case is what you take home with you. People have told me that this is one of the few places where they could find more “cutting-edge” types of seafood (like jumbo shirmp?) readily available and of good quality. And back before the large, international chain supermarkets popped up, Halite was one spot where exotic fruits could be had.

Go up the stairs (one grand staircase at the back of the structure, and also smaller cases in each corner) or the elevator, or the escalator, and you arrive at what was probably the first fast-food court in Bulgaria. After the 2000 renovation, of course. Your choice of pizza or pasta, Bulgarian cuisine, ice cream, Chinese and more is ordered at the appropriate cash register, then eventually carried to your table, like at malls around the world.

This upper level is elegantly called the Galleria; on the side opposite the food court is a random collection of shops and services – a branch of First Investment Bank (open Mon-Fri 9am to 7pm, Sat 9am to 6pm, and Sun 10 am to 4pm, tel: 981 02 85), a branch of the Bulgarian postal services, a shop selling window framing, a shop full of leather clothing (jackets and such) and other useful places to spend your money.

The subterranean level has a branch of Trops Kushta (a cafeteria serving Bulgarian food that brings up memories of school days) that serves its typical ho-hum food, a Mobitel shop and a few stores selling clothing and accessories. Here is also a good place to view some of the Roman remnants of Serdika. So you can eat your pileshka (chicken) soupa and moussaka next to some old wall.

About the name: Sofianites call it Halite (Халите), which means “The Halles”, a direct translation from the French. Officially, though, its name is Tsentralni Hali (Централни хали), which means nothing more than “Central Hali”.