The Aladzha Monastery Residential Estate plan got an important approval from the Varna municipal authorities. The project is for a residential development on 180,000 m2 of land, situate just above the Golden Sands resort in Varna, 10 km from the city centre and 2 km from the centre of the resort. Th land plot lies on a plateau with a rocky edge, where a remarkable archaeologic site is situate – an early christian monastery, formed of hermit’s caves, connected into a complex network. The front part of the caves crumbled during an earthquake in 16 century, but what remainder is still an attractive archeological artefact.

The project is for a mixed residential development with public services, featuring stand-alone villas, town houses, apartment buildings of 3 floors, high-rise apartment buildings (check out construction services from this source), a hotel, a retail centre, sports grounds and green recreational areas. The design of the master plan was prepared by Bates team, led by architect Daniele Marinangeli. Architect Igor Jankulov, one of Bulgaria’s top experts in town planning and professor Ivan Nikiforov, the Dean of the Varna Faculty of Architecture and former Dean of the Sofia Architecture faculty also participated in the project.

The next steps are getting the approval from the environmental authorities and second approval of the detailed plan from the municipality.

The first phase is expected to start building in 2015.