Chitalishte

It is also used as an educational institution, where people of all ages can enroll in foreign language, dance, music and other courses.

The term chitalishte combines the Bulgarian Slavic root, chital- ("reading") and the suffix -ishte (a place where preceding verb happens).

The first institutions of this kind emerged towards the end of the Ottoman era, in 1856 in the towns of Shumen, Lom and Svishtov.

Today, chitalishta are less widely spread and have decreasingly critical roles, mostly due to lack of funding.

Dedicated chitalishte buildings continued to be built well into the 20th century and under the communist regime, in widely ranging architectural styles - form New Classicism to modernism.