Bathed in the rays of the sun, the Marine Casino cultural centre is very much like a white ship perched on the bay of Bourgas. It was founded in 2011 and has been the venue for thousands of cultural events and fascinating exhibitions - among them expositions of the treasures of Panagyurishte, Vulchi Trun and the silver treasure of Rogozen, as well as visiting exhibitions of diamonds, precious stones and crystals from the Earth and Man Museum in Sofia.

The centre is planning a major gold exhibition during the busiest season of the year, summer, jointly with the Bulgarian National Bank. Book presentations, concerts of classical music, but also marriages and even workshops are also on the agenda of the Marine Casino.

More about the history, significance and role of the cultural centre in the life of Bourgas from its manager Lyudmila Koutieva:

“The building itself was constructed in 1938, after an invitation to tender by Mayor Atanas Sirekov. The project that won was by Victoria Angelova. A location was selected commanding a view of the entire bay of Bourgas, the building itself resembles a ship perched on the bay slope. It was built to be a restaurant and was a casino. They called it Marine Casino because the VIPs of Bourgas who approved its construction were well travelled and impressed by the lavishly decorated restaurants-cum-casinos they had seen in different countries.”

As a matter of fact there has never been a roulette here, though there was a restaurant for many years. All people in Bourgas of the older generation say this building brings back memories of childhood and the evenings they spent here, on the restaurant terrace with their families. That is why Bourgas municipality decided to call the cultural centre Marine Casino.

“Each one of the different rooms is named after an eminent citizen of Bourgas. We are now standing in Alexander Georgiev-Kodjakafaliata hall - one of the biggest benefactors of Bourgas. The hall next door is named after a renowned Bulgarian painter, Georgi Baev. And the next room down bears the name of celebrated poet Hristo Fotev. The room at the top is named after poetess Petya Dubarova.”

“When the centre opened many people would come here and ask: Isn't this a restaurant? Now they have grown so accustomed to the events taking place here that come late afternoon - around 5 or 5.30, the time when exhibitions open or a book is presented, people come to check what the event is for the night.”

The Marine Casino has been working very well with the Polish and Czech cultural centre, Goethe Institute, Cervantes Institute, the French Cultural Institute, the Bulgaria-India cultural exchange association. Cultural institutions in this country and abroad have been making proposals for the holding of different expositions, the staging of plays and concerts because the Marine Casino cultural centre is the ideal venue for such initiatives.

English version: Milena Daynova