Restoration of the cigarette factory "Orel" in Plovdiv

Two contractors will restore the facade of the emblematic cigarette factory in its original form. The “Orel” cigarette factory, built in 1890, is located at the foot of the Danov hill in Plovdiv. After the restoration the building will become a modern five-star hotel. In this way the building will not follow the fate of other cultural monuments in Plovdiv that are slowly getting ruined.

The “Orel” cigarette factory was the most modern and largest in Bulgaria back then. The first Bulgarian cigars were produced in “Orel” in 1892.

After 1988, the building was uninhabited and, over time, was plundered. Although its condition today is bad, the businessmen Ilian Filipov and Tsvetan Pulev are captured by its architecture and are already working on its reconstruction. The new owners acquired the building from an English entrepreneur.

Since 1992 Tsvetan Pulev has been restoring old houses and buildings, mainly in England. He is strongly worried about the condition of monuments in Plovdiv such as the cigarette factory “Orel”.

The entrepreneurs want the hotel to open doors in the middle of 2019 - when Plovdiv will be the European capital of culture.

There will be no insulation on the facade of the building. Plasters will not be on a cement base in order not to corrode the old walls. According to experts, this will make the restoration process difficult. Future reconstruction is also going to be complicated.