The Borisova Gradina TV Tower or the Old TV Tower is a 106-metre tall (including the aerial) TV tower in the garden Borisova Gradina

Borisova gradina

Borisova gradina or Knyaz-Borisova gradina is the oldest and best known park in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Its construction and arrangement began in 1884 and it is named after Bulgarian Tsar Boris III....

 in Sofia

Sofia

Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...

, the capital of Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

. It is known as the tower used for the first Bulgarian National Television

Bulgarian National Television

The Bulgarian National Television or BNT is the public broadcaster of Bulgaria. The company was founded in 1959 and began broadcasting on December 26 of the same year. It began broadcasting in color in 1970...

 broadcasts in 1959.

History

The tower was designed by architect Lyuben Podponev, engineer A. Voynov and technologist Georgi Kopkanov. Construction began in December 1958 and the tower was officially opened on 26 December 1959. It has an area of 144 m², 14 floors and three platforms and is located at 42°40′36"N 23°20′31"E, at 595 m above sea level.

In 1962 the Borisova Gradina TV Tower was the place from which the first Bulgarian VHF

Very high frequency

Very high frequency is the radio frequency range from 30 MHz to 300 MHz. Frequencies immediately below VHF are denoted High frequency , and the next higher frequencies are known as Ultra high frequency...

 radio broadcast (of the Bulgarian National Radio

Bulgarian National Radio

Bulgarian National Radio is Bulgaria's national radio broadcasting organization. It operates two national and seven regional channels, as well as an international service – Radio Bulgaria – which broadcasts in 11 languages.-National:...

's Programme 1) was realized. Programme 2 of the BNR's broadcasting began in 1965, and Programme 3's in 1971. BNT's Kanal 1

Kanal 1

Kanal 1 can refer to:*BNT Channel 1, a Bulgarian-language public television station*TV1/Kanal 1/SVT1, a television channel broadcast by Sveriges Television in Sweden*Kanal 1 , a Turkish-language public television station...

 transmitter was replaced with a more modern conforming to the OIRT colour television requirements in January 1972, and the broadcasting of Efir 2

Efir 2

BNT 2 is a Bulgarian state-owned TV channel, operated by the Bulgarian National Television. It is the successor to the defunct second program of the national television - Efir 2. Launched on October 16, 2011 the channel replaced the four regional television centers of BNT - BNT Pirin, BNT More, BNT...

 began in 1975.

Since 1985 the newer Vitosha Mountain TV Tower

Vitosha Mountain TV Tower

Vitosha Mountain TV Tower, better known as Kopitoto after the rock outcrop it stands on, is a 186 meter tall TV tower built of reinforced concrete on Vitosha Mountain near Sofia, Bulgaria. The footprint of the tower has the shape of a hexagon with three of the sides extended...

has mainly been used for television and radio broadcasting in and around Sofia and the Old TV Tower largely remains as a historic landmark.