Sofia is the capital of Bulgaria. With 1,411,070 permanent
residents, it is the largest city in the country, accounting for
over 18% of its total population, and the 14th largest city in the
European Union.
Sofia is located in the central part of the
Balkan Peninsula, in the Sofia Valley, surrounded by several
mountains, which is the largest and one of the highest Sub-Balkan
plains. It occupies a central position in the Balkans, with several
main roads connecting it to other parts of the peninsula – through
the Vakarel Mountains to Thrace and Istanbul, through the Dragoman
Pass to Belgrade and Central Europe, along the Struma Valley to
Greece and North Macedonia, and through several passes in the Stara
Planina to Northern Bulgaria and Romania. The Iskar River flows east
of the city, and several of its small tributaries pass through the
city itself.
The first written evidence of the city dates
back to the 2nd century BC, when it was the capital of one of the
Thracian peoples. It became one of the main strongholds of the Roman
Empire in the Balkans and in the 4th century served as a temporary
residence for several emperors. The city retained its importance in
the Middle Ages, and after the 15th century experienced a new
flourishing, as one of the main logistical bases in the rear of the
Ottoman Empire during its military campaigns in Central Europe. With
the military weakening of the Empire from the end of the 17th
century, Sofia also declined and over the next two centuries its
population decreased and many buildings were neglected or abandoned.
In 1879, shortly after the Liberation of Bulgaria, the city became
the capital of the new state and in the following decades it grew
rapidly.
Today Sofia is the main administrative, industrial,
transport, cultural and educational center of the country, with 1/6
of Bulgaria's industrial production concentrated there. It is also
home to the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the central buildings of
Bulgarian National Television, Bulgarian National Radio, Bulgarian
Telegraph Agency, many universities, theaters, cinemas, as well as
the National Art Gallery, archaeological, historical, natural
history and other museums. Visible archaeological monuments from
Roman times are preserved in many places in the city center.
Most of the sights are spread across the city center of Sofia and consist of numerous historic church buildings from different eras and religions as well as museums, often housed in magnificent palaces. There are also imposing government and administrative buildings in magnificent Soviet architecture from the 1950s to 1980s. At the same time, many parks run through the city and the countless small owner-managed specialist shops, which are still part of everyday life here, invite you to browse.
Aleksander Nevski Memorial Church (Хррам-паметник Свети
Александър Невскиам-паметник Свети Александър Невски, Chram-pametnik
Sveti Alexander Nevski), Alexander Nevski Square. The symbol of Sofia
par excellence. The sacred building, which has a magnificent facade and
decorative windows, is located on a traffic-calmed square, which is
crossed by a road - watch out for cars when taking photos! At night, the
facade is illuminated from one side. Open: daily 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Saint Sophia Church
(Базиликата Света София, Basilicata Sveta Sofija), Alexander Nevski
Square. The second oldest surviving church in the capital.
Rotunda aka Church of Saint
George (Ротондата Свети Георги, Rotondata Sveti Georgi),
Boulevard Alexander Stambolijski. It is the oldest structure in the city
and dates back to the 4th or 5th century. Previously a Roman bath took
its place, later it was used as a mosque under the Turkish rule. The
church and some ruins in front of it are located in a courtyard
surrounded by tall Soviet buildings of the 50s, directly behind the
Sofia Hotel Balkan.
Saint Nicholas - Russian Church
(Свети Николай (София)), Boulevard Tzar Osvoboditel 3. Actually called
Church of St. Nicholas or Russian Church (Руската църква Свети Николай,
Ruskata tzarkva Sveti Nikolai): Moscow-style church with five gilded
onion domes.
Saint Petka (Sveta Petka) of the saddlers
Saint Nedelya Church (Holy Sunday Church)
Church of Saint Paraskeva (Църква Света Параскева)
Sveti Sedmochislenitsi Church (Църква Свети Седмочисленици)
Archaeological Museum
(Национален археологически музей), Sabornastr. 2, ул. Sъборна 2
. Open: Summer hours 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.; in winter 10:30
a.m.–3:30 p.m. with lunch break; Mon is a rest day.
Ethnographic Museum (Етнографски музей), Batenberg Square, pl.
Batenberg. It is located in the building of the former Tsar's
Palace. Collections from the works of Bulgarian traditional
crafts, suits, fabrics, jewelry and musical instruments are on
display. Open: Hours: Summer 10am-5pm; in winter 11:00 a.m. –
4:00 p.m.; Mon is a rest day.
The National Historical Museum
(Национален исторически музей), Vitoshko Lale 16, ул. Витошко
лале 16 . in the Rezidentsia Boyana shows an overview of
Bulgarian history from antiquity to the present day. The main
attractions are probably the gold and silver vessels and
jewelery from the Thracian (approx. 4th century BC) and Roman
times. Open: from 9.30 a.m., in winter until 6 p.m., in summer
until 7 p.m.
National Museum of
Natural History (Национален природонаучен музей), Tsar
Osvoboditel Boulevard No. 1, бул. Цар Освободител 1 . Open:
Opening hours: daily 10:00 - 18:00.
Central mineral bath
(Музей за история) wikipedia. Historical exhibitions from
antiquity to modern times and cultural events in a traditional
building.
Museum of Military History (военноисторически
музей), ul. "Cherkovna" 92, 1505 Oborishte, Sofia (Tram 20:
Rumansko Posolstvo. Bus 9: 31-vo SUCHEM) . Open: Wed-Sun
10am-6pm.
Museum of Socialist Art (Музей на социалистическото
изкуство), ul. "Lachezar Stanchev" 7, 1756 g.k. Iztok, Sofia
(Bus 67, 413: zh.k. Dianabad or Metro 1, 4: 600 m). Open: Thu -
Sun 10:00 - 18:00.
Vrana Park & Museum (Парк-музей "Врана"; 11 km from the center. Bus 505 on opening days from Orlov Most) . Designed landscape park. Created from 1900-9 over 40 years as part of a 140 ha mansion dedicated to the Bulgarian kings Ferdinand I and Boris III. belonged. In 2001 it was donated to the city by the son of Tsar Boris III, Simeon Koburgotski. The manor house, still owned by the royal family, has belonged to a foundation since 2011, which has partially renovated it, it is not (yet in 2021) (regularly) open to visitors. Open: Sat-Sun 10am-6pm. Price: adults 5 L., children 2 L.
Free Sofia Tour - offers a 2-hour guided walking tour of the
city center. The guided tour is conducted by students with a
good knowledge of English; the explanations are in English. It
is free of charge - of course a tip at the end of the tour is
gladly accepted, as this is the only way to finance the tours.
The starting point of the tour is the Palace of Justice, a
monumental building with large columns and two lion monuments in
front of it, right in the center on the corner of Boulevard
Vitosha and Ulica Alabin in the immediate vicinity of the Church
of Sveta Nedelja - the one that stands in the middle of the
street. The guided tours take place daily (Monday to Sunday),
starting at 11 a.m. and in winter at 2 p.m. and in summer at 6
p.m. Registration is not required. Route: Palace of Justice, St.
Nedelya Church, ZUM, Mosque, Central Mineral Baths, then back to
Tsar Osvoboditel Boulevard, Grand Mosque of Sofia, Central Bank,
Ivan Vazov Theater, Russian Church, St. Sofia Church, Alexander
Nevsky Cathedral, Parliament. The tour ends at Parliament. A
visit to the individual sights is not planned because there is
not enough time. Overall highly recommended.
City tours
are offered quite sparsely in Sofia. A central departure point
for buses for sightseeing tours is directly at the Alexander
Nevsky Cathedral. Tourist city tours are advertised in larger
hotels, but day trips to the greater area around Sofia are
usually offered (Rila Monastery, Koprivchitsa, Plovdiv).
Sofia is in no way inferior to other capitals in terms of things to
do. Cinema, concerts, theatre, winter sports on the Vitosha... -
everything is possible. The free culture guide Programata offers a very
good overview. On the homepage there is information about all events in
the larger cities. In many restaurants, cinemas or hotels you can take
an up-to-date booklet with you.
swimming pools
Note: Swimming
Pool ("Суиминг пуул"), "Tsar Osvoboditel" 10, fl. 5, 1000 Sofia is an
art gallery.
Indoor swimming pool Madara, bul. "Praga" 21, 1463
Sofia Center (Metro Meditsinski university). Indoor pool with 25 m pool.
Open: Mon.-Fri. 7.00-8.00, 13.00-14.00, 20.45-21.45; Sat., Sun. 10.00
a.m. - 6.00 p.m.
Vazrazhdane (Аквапарк "Възраждане"). Indoor pool
with 25 m pool, all year round. Part of the aqua park of the same name,
in summer with an outdoor pool, slides, etc. Swim caps are compulsory
(available at the cash desk). Open: 7.00-23.00. Price: 9.00 L + 5 L. Key
deposit.
Swimming pool in the Sports Palace (Басейн "Спортна
палата"), bul. "Vasil Levski" 75, 1000 Sofia Center (Metro 1, 4: SU Sv.
Kliment Ohridski; Metro 3: Orlov most. In both cases 300m through Park
Knyazheska). Simple 25m indoor pool. Cold showers, saunas only
temporarily in operation. Neither butter nor guns in the basin. Open:
Mon.-Fri. 6.30-18.30, Sat. until 16.00.
By plane
Sofia Airport (Летище София, formerly also
Sofia-Vrazhdebna, IATA: SOF), bul. "Christopher Columbus" №1 1540 Sofia
(about 12km east of the city center.). The airport consists of the
modern, bright Terminal 2 (including Lufthansa, Ryanair) and the
historic Terminal 1, about 1.5 km away, which is now only used for cheap
and charter flights (Wizz Air, easyJet). A free shuttle bus runs between
the two from 05:00-23:00 every 15-30 minutes (duration 5-10 minutes).
Terminal 2, which is also the home base for the national airline
Bulgaria Air, has all the amenities you would expect, including free
WiFi and a business lounge. Terminal 1 is much more spartan, but also
has a small range of restaurants and a duty-free area. Feature: free
wifi.
Sofia is served by a number of major European airlines and
also by low-cost airlines. As of 2023, there are the following
connections from German-speaking countries:
Austrian Airlines from
Vienna
Bulgaria Air from Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, Vienna and Zurich
Lufthansa from Frankfurt am Main and Munich
Ryanair from Berlin,
Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, Cologne/Bonn, Memmingen, Nuremberg and Vienna
Wizz Air from Basel, Dortmund, Hahn and Memmingen
airport arrival
For an Eastern European airport, Sofia Airport is exceptionally well
connected by public transport. Oftentimes, the subway is the best way to
get into the city, but there are a few precautions to take when using
cheap taxis.
metro
The airport is the terminus of metro line 4
(yellow), which runs about every 5-10 minutes during the day and takes
about 30 minutes to get to the city center (Serdica station). Trains are
clean, safe and reliable, and most stations are wheelchair accessible.
The metro station Sofia Airport Метростанция "Летище София" is on the
ground floor next to the departure area of Terminal 2 (i.e. on the other
side of the building on arrival), in front of the platform there are
ticket machines (some of them accept VISA and Mastercard in addition to
Lev) and a service counter and a kiosk that also sell tickets. You can
also pay directly at the access barriers with a contactless credit card.
If you arrive at Terminal 1, you can use a free airport shuttle
between both terminals, they leave every 15 minutes (every 30 minutes
early in the morning and every 30 minutes late in the evening) in front
of the arrivals areas and it takes about 5 minutes between both
terminals. Alternatively, you can use lines 184 (terminal 1 to 2) or 84
(terminal 2 to 1) for a fee.
buses
Three bus lines connect the
airport with Sofia's city center during the day. Services are reliable
and the buses are clean and modern - note, however, that timetables are
only written in Cyrillic and Google Maps does not show travel times
entirely correctly. Depending on the destination, the metro is usually
the better alternative.
Lines 84 and 184 run between the main
building of Sofia University to Eagle Bridge, then via Zarigradsko
Chaussee to both terminals every 10 to 15 minutes between 4:30 am and
11:30 pm. The journey time is about 40 minutes. Line 84 starts at
Terminal 2 and runs into the city via Terminal 1, Line 184 serves the
terminals in a different order, which is important to note if you're
only going back and forth within the airport grounds. To continue your
journey by public transport from the university or the Eagle Bridge to
Serdica, the immediate center, you have to change to the metro or tram.
Line 384 connects Terminal 2 with the Druzhba residential complex every
15 to 30 minutes between 5:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m., but is rather
insignificant for visitors.
The easiest way to buy a ticket on
the bus is with a contactless credit card (see Mobility section), but
the newsstand next to the arrivals area of Terminal 2 also sells single
and day tickets.
Taxis
Taxis are very common in Sofia due to
the cheap prices (therefore there are no car service providers like Uber
or Bolt), however the industry has gained a bad reputation due to past
attempts at fraud. Of the city's many taxi companies, only one has an
official contract with the airport: OK Supertrans 9732121 - other
companies have long had a reputation for impersonating their logo and
phone number, but this has diminished in recent years. The official
company has two counters opposite the arrivals areas of Terminals 1 and
2. It is advisable to book and pay for a taxi directly there, stating
the destination.
These "regular" taxis are in the taxi waiting
area next to Terminal 2 (seen from the arrivals area on the right in
front of the tower) or directly in front of the arrivals area at
Terminal 1, while the "overpriced" taxis are not allowed to stand at
these large designated taxi ranks - they stand in front (not next to)
the terminals in the short-term parking area with private cars and
should be avoided.
Alternatively, Yellow! a common provider that
you can also book via your own app.
By train
In summer from/to
2 Sofia Central Station wikipediacommons direct international trains
(tickets only counter 23):
Balkan Express from Beograd Topcide
Sofia-Istanbul Express (night train) from Istanbul-Halkali, a station on
the Marmaray line. Price 2019, incl. couchette surcharge approx. 40 €.
Arrival is early morning. To change you have to buy an Istanbul Kart.
Slow-moving train: Sofia - Craiova with a change in the border town of
Vidin, departure at both ends shortly before 8.
winters:
from
Belgrade with changes in Niš and Dimitrovgrad
from Istanbul 3 hours
longer drive
By bus
The central bus station (Централна
автогара) is located north of the city center near the main train
station. From here there are bus lines to many cities in Bulgaria and
some international connections.
However, most international bus
connections end at the Serdika bus station (Автогара "Сердика", for many
years this bus station was known under the name "Traffic Market", the
old name can still be found in many travel guides and directions).
In the street
The Sofia Ring Road (No. 18) runs around the city.
The city ring road is not fully developed as a freeway, many
intersections are still at the same level and are controlled by traffic
lights. A motorway junction has been built in the Obelja / Ljulin area,
where the connection with the A3 “Struma” motorway to the south (towards
the Greek border) takes place. There will also be a motorway junction
with the A6 “Europe” motorway to the Serbian border crossing at Kalotina
(54 km). The I-1 trunk road runs north to the Romanian border at Wildin.
The country's most important east-west axis, the I-6 (E871, E773),
branches off to the east, past Sliven to Burgas.
Metro, tram and buses
Numerous buses, trams, trolleybuses,
minibuses and metro lines operate in Sofia from 5 a.m. to 11.30 p.m.
Connections are safe, reliable (traffic permitting) and reasonably
clean. In the city center in particular, the frequency and route network
are very dense. An official route planner, the current tariff overview
and a list of personal points of sale can be found online. Unlike buses
and trams, most of the signage in the metro is in Cyrillic and English,
and stop announcements are also made in English.
As of 2023, a
single trip costs 1.60 leva and a day ticket for the entire network 4.00
leva - there are no different tariff zones for the city center and the
outer area. Both are available as paper tickets (from machines or
counters) and as rechargeable credit cards (from personal points of
sale). The paper tickets have to be punched (= validated) on the orange
"levers" on the bus and tram, and the credit card held up to the reader.
After changing to another bus or tram, new tickets must be validated,
only within the metro can you change on the same ticket, provided you do
not leave the station.
In the meantime, all metro stations and
the vast majority of buses and trams are also equipped with blue readers
for contactless card payments with credit and debit cards (VISA and
MasterCard as well as Apple/Google Pay). At the end of the day, the
cheapest collected price, usually a day pass, burdened. You have to hold
the card or the activated smartphone to the reader at the bottom of the
device until a sound signal and a smiley symbol appear. This is the
easiest way to use public transport. Some ticket machines also accept
credit cards and Apple/Google Pay.
In older travel guides there
is still a note that a separate ticket must be purchased for large
luggage - but this has been abolished.
Marshrutki (minibuses)
also operate, but are unlikely to be of much use to short-term visitors.
Details in Bulgarian.
By car
Park
There are paid parking
zones in the city (“blue zone,” “green zone”). In order to be allowed to
stand here, you have to send a paid SMS (from a Bulgarian number) with
the number plate, then e.g. B. debited in the blue zone 1 lev, for which
you can stand for one hour. If you want to park longer, you send a
slightly different text. The procedure is clearly described on the
on-site signs, also in English.
For certain municipal parking
spaces you pay for cars, e.g. B. from Apr. 1, 2022 on the courses
"NDK-Southwest" (НДК-Югозапад) and "Hemus" 2 l./h. at "Sándor Petőfi"
(Шандор Петьофи) 3 l./h.
The city's traffic website shows
real-time parking space occupancy. The “towed-away vehicle” item in the
“eServices” menu also makes sense. Here, by entering the license plate
number, you can find out whether your car was actually towed away.
taxis
There are many taxis in Sofia. The reason is that it is one
of the few cities in Bulgaria where the number of concessions is not
limited by the authorities. At the same time, the lobby of taxi drivers
is very strong, which is why there are no transport service providers
such as Uber or Bolt, which are otherwise very common in Eastern Europe,
in Sofia. For visitors who are not planning an absolute cheap holiday in
Sofia, the taxi is the most convenient and yet the cheapest means of
transport after public transport such as the metro.
Taxis in
Sofia are yellow with large company logos and a sign on the roof that
reads "ТАКСИ" (pronounced Taksi) in Cyrillic. If they are occupied, a
red lamp lights up in the windscreen. Few taxi drivers speak a foreign
language at an understandable level. Calling a taxi over the phone can
be tricky. Despite clearly visible phone numbers on the taxis, many
centers block calls from cell phones that are not registered in
Bulgaria. Also, the taxi operator does not necessarily have to have
foreign language skills. However, several of the larger taxi companies
now offer their own apps.
The fare is now regulated by the
authorities. On both doors, passengers usually sit in the back, as well
as on the front passenger seat, there is a list of valid prices. These
vary somewhat depending on vehicle size and time of day.
There
are no official taxi ranks apart from the airport, but there are queues
of waiting taxis in many places, especially in front of the big hotels.
There is no obligation for the passenger to take the first taxi in the
queue (it may be too small or too expensive for him, or he would have to
walk too far to do so, or in principle he will use another taxi
company). So it is advisable to go there first name the destination when
the taxi is waved to you and wait for the driver's agreement (note: a
casual nod of the head means a "no" and not a "yes" as in Germany), so
as not to have to get out again immediately, humiliated.
Bulgarian tax laws (similar to Italy and Greece) require each customer
to be issued with a receipt: so at the end of each journey, a receipt is
printed in the taxi and given to the passenger. The receipt also
contains the number of the taxi and the telephone number of the relevant
taxi company (perhaps you forgot your umbrella in the taxi - the taxi
companies take care of such small problems very correctly). Furthermore,
every taxi driver is obliged to display his taxi license card on the
dashboard in front of the passenger (with a passport photo and name in
Bulgarian).
The passenger has the right to the driver not smoking
if requested to do so, and the passenger can also choose the radio
station.
trips
Inconceivable in Germany, but day trips by taxi
are also recommended in Bulgaria. For example to the Rilakloster
(approx. 130km there). For several people together, such trips are often
cheaper than with tourist companies. In 2010, for example, a bus ride to
the Rilakloster was offered by tourist companies for €60. A taxi driver
charges €130 for this. With two people there is not really a price
difference to the bus excursion and you can freely arrange the route and
departure times as well as the return time. You can determine your
breaks (photo stops, snack breaks, pee breaks, short detours to places
along the way that suddenly appear interesting, changes in plans due to
weather problems). It's just a completely different journey in a taxi
than in a bus. If you then catch a driver who speaks a little German or
English, then you at least have some contact with the locals. Of course
you don't have any fellow travelers or a tour guide with you, which has
advantages and disadvantages. And you can also pay for the 3 hour
waiting time at the Rilakloster (insider tip: turn right 20km before the
Rilakloster and make a short detour to the sandstone formation Pyramiden
von Stob - about 3km walk one way). Of course, the price must be
clarified before starting the journey: the drivers are very happy to
take such long tours and have a list with the corresponding fares with
them. For long-distance journeys, however, there is no official
obligation to carry. So it's hard to get into a taxi and insist that the
good man just do a 7-hour tour. He probably has nothing against such
spontaneous orders. But it makes sense to check the driver the day
before when taking a taxi (or several taxi rides in Sofia) (is he nice,
is the car clean, does he understand a little "our language") and with
him for the next day or the day after to arrange the tour and fare.
Maybe you would like to write down your car number and cell phone number
("GSM" - [Dzhi Es Em] - pronounced in English - is the Bulgarian word
for "cell phone") and leave it on a piece of paper in the hotel. A taxi
driver also has much better language skills to organize lunch in a
village restaurant on the way (he will not choose any tourist trap like
some tour companies, he knows many good places, he can order original
Bulgarian specialties). Since the food in simple restaurants in the
country is not expensive, you can safely pay for his food. The taxi fare
is usually paid on return in Sofia.
Business Park Sofia (Бизнес парк София). A large commercial area in
the south, which has been successively developed since 2001, directly on
the ring road. There is a dedicated metro station on line 1. Buses 76,
111, 314, 413 also go here.
Shopping centers
There are several
larger, modern shopping centers (malls) in Sofia. In these, mainly large
international brands are represented. It usually opens at 10:00 a.m.
Mall of Sofia (Мол София). With cinema center and Swedish furniture
made of pressboard. Almost immediately in the center; Aleksandar
Stamboliyski Boulevard at the corner of Opalchenska Street. From 2022 to
2023 there will be extensions and conversions, therefore closed.
City Center Sofia, Boulevard Cherni vrach (corner of Boulevard
Arsenalski; seen from Boulevard Vitosha behind the Palace of Culture
"NDK"; at the metro station "European Union"; diagonally opposite the
large Hotel Hemus.).
The Mall (Дъ Мол), Tsarigradsko Road 115. A
little further from the center; the largest shopping mall in the
Balkans.
Serdika Center (Сердика Център София; Sitnjakovo Boulevard
at the corner of Oborishte Street). A little further away from the
center.
Bulgaria Mall (България Мол; Boulevard Bulgaria and corner of
Boulevard Kableshkov, tram 7: bul. Todor Kableshkov) .
ZUM (Централен
универсален магазин, TZUM) . The old state department store in the city
center - seemed a bit dimly lit and antiquated inside for a long time;
the remains of the old socialist flair could still be sensed there. In
the meantime, however, modernized as of 2023, with the exception of the
entrance hall, which is worth seeing, for a "new development" and
largely empty.
markets and bazaars
Interesting places to shop:
Central Market Hall (Централни софийски хали) . Supermarket in the
basement, there next to the cafe also archaeologically prepared remains
of the Serdica Fortress. As of February 2023 closed for renovation work
indefinitely.
Shenski pasar (women's market; stop ul. Knyaz Boris I:
trolleybus 6, buses 78, 85, 285, 309, 310. (Several cheap accommodations
in the area.)). Starts at the Lion Bridge; fruits and vegetables and
much more. Open: open every day.
Bulgarian specialties are described in detail in the country article.
Sofia has numerous restaurants that offer guests national and
international dishes. Specialties include kebapcheta, grilled rolls of
spiced minced meat. They are usually served with french fries and a
mixed salad. Tarator is a refreshing cold dish made from finely chopped
cucumbers, ground walnuts, dill and yoghurt mixed with water and salad
oil.
If the visitor is after "Western" fast food or coffee, there
are several branches of McDonald's, KFC, Starbucks and Costa Coffee in
downtown Sofia.
A large and diverse club scene has been established in Sofia since
the 2000s, with a focus on a wide variety of music styles from rock to
hip-hop. The focus is on the city center and Studentski grad (Студентски
град) near the university.
Princess Casino, boulevard "Knyaginya
Maria Luiza" 131, 1000 Sofia Center, Sofia (On the ground floor of the
Ramada Hotel. Between the train station and the Lion Bridge). In
contrast to the numerous slot machine arcades, table games are also on
offer here. Open: 24h.
Sin City, bul. "Христо Ботев" 61, Sofia
Camping
Camping Ribkata, с. Владо Тричков ул.126 N: 7 село = 2299
Vlado Trichkov (just outside the city limits. Regional railway station
Romcha (Ромча), 500m dir. river).
Camping Vrana (Къмпинг "Врана"),
Boulevard "Tsarigradsko shose", Sofia (Large parking lot near the A1.
Stop Mosta za Rezidentsia Vrana: buses 5, 5B, 6, 7). Conveniently
located if you want to head towards the coast. Receives mixed reviews in
2021.
Cheap
In the area around the "women's bazaar" near the
lion's bridge, a number of the cheap, simple(st) accommodations in the
city are concentrated. Unfortunately, there are still some here in 2022
that are politely described with "hole" (optionally with the prefix
"dirt"). You always inspect the rooms before you pay.
Kniaz Boris
Hotel (Княз Борис I, sign To Fmily Hotel Street”), ul. "Knyaz Boris I"
188, 1202 Sofia Center. Tel: +359 2 931 31 42. In this neighborhood of
cheap accommodation, the laudable exception, clean and tidy. Open: 24h.
Price: LS: 45-80 L., HS: 60-100 L.
easy Hotel Sofia. Feature: ★.
Middle class
Best Western Terminus Hotel. Feature: ★★★.
Ibis
Sofia Airport. Feature: ★★★.
Ramada by Wyndham Sofia City Center.
Feature: ★★★★.
Eurostars Sofia City. Feature: ★★★★.
Upscale
InterContinental Sofia. Feature: ★★★★★.
Sofia Hotel Balkans. Historic
city center luxury hotel, but no longer part of the Marriott "Luxury
Collection" as of 2023. Feature: ★★★★★.
Hyatt Regency Sofia. Feature:
★★★★★.
Hilton Sofia. Feature: ★★★★★.
Immigration Office (Directory “Миграция”), bulevard "Knyaginya Maria Luiza" 48, 1202 Sofia. Open: Mon.-Fri. 8.30-17.00.
Sofia city center is considered safe for visitors during the day. At
night, however, you should avoid the area around the main and bus
stations (especially the underground connecting routes and the deserted
passage on the station square) as well as Löwenbrücke and the city
parks, as drug addicts, illegal prostitutes and petty criminals often
congregate here. Otherwise, the usual precautionary measures apply, in
particular not displaying valuables - including smartphones - and not
going alone into remote, dark corners and only using ATMs in monitored
buildings. Also, avoid venturing into the poorer neighborhoods, where
theft is not uncommon - but it's not an attraction for tourists anyway.
Avoid contact with obviously drunk people or groups of football fans
as they may be unprovokedly aggressive. Unfortunately, you cannot rely
on the local police to be there quickly and to help you.
Traffic,
which is characterized by congested streets and annoyed drivers, is
often problematic for visitors. Don't expect pedestrians to always stop
at red lights or crosswalks.
The numbers for medical emergencies are 112 and 150.
In Sofia, tap
water is generally drinkable, which is not the case everywhere in
Bulgaria. However, this should be avoided in older buildings due to the
questionable condition of the pipes.
Main Post Office (Софийска централна пощенска станция "Български
пощи" ЕАД), ulitsa "Akademik Stefan Mladenov" №1, бл. 31. DHL in the
annex around the corner. Stamps are hard to find in the city outside of
post offices. Letter boxes are in many trams - the mail slot is located
on the outside next to the front door (please only post at stops). Open:
Mon.-Fri. 8.00-20.00.
The cell phone number and cell phone is
referred to as "GSM" (pronounced: [Dzhi Es Em]). There is no phone book
for Sofia. Free WiFi can be found, for example, in shopping centers and
branches of the well-known coffee chains Starbucks and Costa Coffee.
Widespread banks are UniCredit Bulbank (the logo is reminiscent of
Hypovereinsbank and Bank Austria, both of which are sister companies)
and Fibank, which operate numerous branches in the city area, which are
often accessible around the clock.
Well-known supermarket chains are
known from Austria and Germany, Billa and Lidl, some of which are also
open on Sundays.
Boyana Church (Боянска църква). It is located 8 kilometers south of
Sofia city center at the foot of Mount Vitosha and was included in the
UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979. Originally conceived as a fortress,
after extensions it is now a three-part church complex, known for a
fresco from 1259. This is one of the most important examples of medieval
Eastern European painting.
Thermal bath Bankjanaturh (Банкя). The spa
with mineral springs and sanatoriums is located 17 km south-east of
Sofia, at an altitude of 630 meters on the slopes of the Lyulin
Mountains. An oak here is considered Ivan Vazov's favorite spot. You can
get there by regional train from Sofia, 5-6 departures a day.
In
addition to day trips to the surrounding area, for example to the Rila
Monastery, some local providers also offer trips to Skopje in North
Macedonia, which is about 3.5 hours away, with a city tour.
The earliest preserved name of the present-day city of Sofia in the
sources is Serdonpolis (Σερδῶν πόλις), a Greekized name, the Latin
version of which is civitas Serdensium. It is believed that it means
"city of the Serds". These Serds (according to Dio Cassius) probably
inhabited the area in the 1st century BC. according to information from
the 2nd century AD. However, many authors ask themselves questions about
the Serds: "... This ethnonym [Serdi] is still a phantom." (Alexander
Fall) The relationship "Serdica - Serds" also raises questions: "Then,
who named whom? The inhabitants of the city or the city - its
inhabitants?" (Hristo Genchev).
There are several hypotheses
about the etymology of the name "Serdi". Václav Tomašek derives it from
the Indo-European word çardh ("resistant", "stubborn"), and Stefan
Mladenov and Gavril Katsarov - from the same root, but in the form
çardhas ("flock"), connecting it with the livelihood in the region. Radu
Vulpe derives the name from the root serd ("heart", "middle"), which is
also connected with the later Slavic name.
Emperor Trajan
officially gave the city its generic name, calling it Ulpia Serdica
(Latin: Ulpia Serdica), later often shortened to Serdica. The name is
often written and pronounced Sardiki (Greek: Σαρδική). In Greek-language
narrative sources, the form Sardiki is almost always used, while in
local stone inscriptions, also in Greek, the form Sardiki predominates,
while in Latin sources, with few exceptions, which are often
translations from Greek, Serdica is used. Both forms, Serdonpolis and
Ulpia Serdica, are found on coins minted in the city during the Roman
era.
The name Serdica continued to be used after the city's
annexation to Bulgaria in the early 9th century, for example in the
Hambarli inscription. Later, it was replaced by the Slavic form Sredets
(,,), with its earliest attested use being in two apocalyptic texts of
Old Bulgarian from the second half of the 11th century, but it is
assumed that it may have arisen as early as the 8th – 9th centuries.
Sredets can be considered as an early medieval Bulgarian interpretation
of the name Sardika/Serdika, while at the same time reflecting the
meaning "middle" - from the central location of the city in the Sofia
Plain, as well as the possible meaning of a middle/central city of the
surrounding population.
In Greek-language sources after the
second half of the 10th century, the name Triaditsa is also used for the
city, less often in the form Tralitsa (this variant was transformed in
the Arabic book of Muhammad al-Idrisi in Atralisa). According to the
prevailing opinion, it is a Greek transcription of , with the initial
"s" dropped, as it is interpreted as the independent preposition ’ς.
According to another hypothesis, supported by authors such as Vasil
Gyuzelev and Vesselina Vachkova, the name comes from the Holy Trinity
(Αγία Τριάδα), associated with the church "Hagia Sophia".
In the
Western chronicles of the Crusades from the 11th to 12th centuries, the
city is called by various transcriptions of Sredets and
Triaditsa/Tralitsa – Sternitz, Stralitz, Stralitsium. In Hungarian
chronicles from the 12th to 14th centuries, the names Scereduczi and
Skarbitsium are used.
The name Sofia is first registered in the
appendix to the Sredets Gospel from 1329, but as the name of the church
"St. Sophia", called "Sredets Metropolis". The city is first called
"Sofia" in the Vitosha Charter around 1385 (the charter also speaks of
"Sredets kephalianism"). In the following years, "Sofia" became
established as a widely used, including official, name of the city, but
"Sredets" and the newly appeared form "Sardakia" continued to be used as
synonyms.
After 1878, by decision of the city government, the
city restored its Bulgarian name Sredets, but shortly afterwards, at the
insistence of the Provisional Russian Government, the name Sofia was
returned. In 1879, a dispute over the name flared up, with the city's
residents creating a committee of prominent figures who advocated the
restoration of the historical name Sredets. This idea was also supported
by the Bulgarian Literary Society, whose official publication between
1882 and 1899 noted Sredets as the place of its publication.
The earliest archaeological evidence of habitation on the territory
of Sofia dates back to the early Neolithic (6th millennium BC) – among
them is the Slatin Neolithic settlement. The earliest evidence of
settlement of the ancient center of the city – the area around the
mineral springs of today’s Central Mineral Bath – dates back to the
Bronze Age (2nd millennium BC). Information about this settlement is
scarce, as the city continued to exist on this site for millennia and
many of the remains were destroyed, but it has existed uninterruptedly
to the present day.
Information about the area of today’s Sofia
appears in ancient Greek written sources in the middle of the 5th
century BC, at which time this part of the Balkan Peninsula was
inhabited by various tribes from the Thracian group. When the Romans
appeared in the region in the 2nd century BC the sources call the local
inhabitants Serdi, and the settlement at the mineral spring –
Serdonpolis (“City of the Serdi”). There is almost no information about
the city during the Thracian period, but probably in the 4th century BC,
under Philip II, the lands of the Serdi were conquered by Ancient
Macedonia, remaining part of Macedonia proper even after the collapse of
the empire of Alexander the Great. With the decline of the kingdom in
the 3rd century BC. it lost its possessions in the interior of the
Balkan Peninsula and during its conquest by the Romans in the middle of
the 2nd century BC. The Sofia Plain was no longer part of it.
The
Serdi were subjugated by the Roman Republic in 28 BC. by the proconsul
of Macedonia, Marcus Licinius Crassus, who conquered their lands,
applying great cruelty and forced evictions. In 45 AD, Serdica was
included in the borders of the newly created Roman province of Thrace,
and during this period the settlement of veterans of the Roman army also
began. During the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Serdica received the
right to mint its own coins and around 180 AD it was fortified with a
fortress wall, which for centuries outlined the core of the city.
During the Roman era, active economic activity developed far outside
the city walls, but within the present-day borders of Sofia. Examples of
this are the brickworks in the present-day Gotse Delchev district, which
were used until the modern era, the iron ore mining facilities on
Vitosha and gold mining facilities in Gorublyane and Darvenitsa, as well
as the dozens of famous suburban villas – some of them include luxurious
living quarters, while others are entirely oriented towards agricultural
production, and some are also surrounded by significant fortifications.
Most of the villas studied arose between the end of the 2nd and the end
of the 3rd centuries and were destroyed during various attacks between
the end of the 3rd and the middle of the 5th centuries.
Around
271, Serdica became the center of the newly created province of Dacia
Aureliana, and after its division in 285, of its southern part - Dacia
Inland. When the diocese of Moesia was divided into two, it also became
the capital of the northern diocese - Dacia. In the second half of the
3rd century, the city of Rome lost its place as the political center of
the Empire and the rulers began to travel between different cities in
the provinces. One of these cities was Serdica, where the emperors
Galerius (probably born and died in the city or its surroundings) and
especially Constantine I often stayed. According to Peter Patricius, he
expressed special preferences for the city: "Constantine first intended
to transfer the government to Sardica; and because he loved this city,
he often said: 'Sardica is my Rome.'"
Constantine undertook
large-scale construction in Serdica, demolishing the existing
residential quarters in the southeastern quarter of the space between
the city walls and building there an architectural complex called by
archaeologists the "Constantine Quarter", including the oldest fully
preserved building in Sofia - the "St. George" rotunda. The oldest known
Christian church in Serdica, discovered under today's "St. Sophia"
basilica, also dates from this period.
The Council of Serdica of
343 was convened in Serdica by the Western Emperor Constans and the
Eastern Emperor Constantius II to resolve disputes between Orthodox and
Arians, gathering over 170 bishops from all over the Empire with their
accompanying delegations in the city. However, the two camps remained
irreconcilable and eventually the Arian bishops left Serdica and
continued their meetings in Philippopolis.
The attacks of the
Visigoths at the end of the 4th century, of the Huns in the middle of
the 5th century and of the Slavs and Avars in the 6th century did not
seriously affect the city of Serdica itself, but they destroyed the
flourishing large agricultural farms around it. The density of
construction in Serdica increased, with houses being built on parts of
former streets and squares. When the Roman Empire was divided in 395,
the city remained in its eastern part. Serdica is among the many
fortresses in the Balkans, fortified under Emperor Justinian the Great
(527 – 565), under whom the impressive basilica of Hagia Sophia, which
still survives today, was probably built. Information about Serdica
during the next two and a half centuries is scarce.
In the spring of 809, on the eve of Easter, the Bulgarian ruler Krum,
returning from a raid in the Struma valley, captured Serdica and
(according to the unproven and questionable statement of Theophanes the
Confessor regarding the number, type of armament and strategic nature of
Krum's Bulgarian army) "killed 6 thousand soldiers and many civilians".
However, the fall of Sredets seems to have occurred without serious
destruction, and did not lead to major changes in the city, only around
the fortress wall numerous finds of ceramics appeared, which some
researchers define as characteristic of the Slavs of the Balkan
Peninsula, sometimes without focusing on its Thracian and Bulgarian
appearance. At the very end of the 9th or the first half of the 10th
century, the church of St. George was completely repainted. The city was
visited by Tsar Peter I, at whose request the canonized hermit Saint
Ivan Rila the Wonderworker, called the Bulgarian heavenly patron, was
buried in Sredets immediately after his death in 946.
At the end
of the 10th century, Sredets was the center of the possessions of one of
the Comitopules – Aron. After the capture of the capital Preslav, the
Bulgarian Patriarch Damian also settled in the city for a while. In the
summer of 986, Sredets was besieged for 20 days by Emperor Basil II
himself, and on the way back to Thrace, he suffered a heavy defeat at
Trajan's Gates. Only in 1018, after the death of the last king of the
First Bulgarian Kingdom, Ivan Vladislav, did the voivodes of 35
fortresses, including Sredets, voluntarily accept the supremacy of the
Roman emperor.
In 1040, the city fell under the control of the
rebels of Peter Delian, and Emperor Michael IV arrived here in person to
suppress the rebellion. After 1048, the Byzantine authorities settled a
significant number of Pechenegs in the Sofia Plain, some of whom
probably settled in the city. In 1059, Emperor Isaac I Komnenos arrived
in Sredets with a large army to stop the Hungarians advancing towards
the city, but the two sides reached an agreement without a major
military clash. At the end of 1066 or the beginning of 1067, the future
Emperor Romanus IV Diogenes was appointed governor of Sredets.
In
1183, Sredets was captured and devastated by the allied troops of the
Serbian Grand Duke Stefan Nemanja and the Hungarian King Bela III. In
1189, the northern beam of the Third Crusade passed through Sredets and
its surroundings - the troops of Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, who,
unexpectedly for them, finding themselves in the city that had been
abandoned by the Sredets, without "market, food and wine", were forced
to continue their journey through Plovdiv to Edirne and Constantinople,
exhausted and extremely disappointed.
In 1194, Sredets was
permanently annexed to the Second Bulgarian Kingdom by Ivan Asen I.
Within the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, Sredets had great strategic
importance for Bulgarian control over Pomoravinia and Macedonia. In the
first decades after its accession, measures were taken to restore the
fortress wall and the significant destruction in the city's interior.
The density of construction in the city itself continued to increase and
many streets turned into narrow passages, two-story buildings appeared.
Several governors of Sredets in the mid-13th century bore the title of
sebastokrator, second in rank after the king's – sebastokrator
Alexander, brother of Tsar Ivan Asen II, his son Kaloyan and finally the
son-in-law of Alexander Peter, who after the death of Ivan Asen II ruled
all the western regions of Bulgaria.
It is likely that under
sebastokrator Kaloyan the remains of the ancient Konstantinov Quarter
were reconstructed into the residence of the city governor.
Sevastokrator Kaloyan was also the founder of the Boyana Church, one of
the most remarkable monuments of Bulgarian medieval art, in which his
full-length portrait, dated to 1259, is preserved. In the 14th century,
a literary school operated at the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Sophia,
from whose activities the Sredets Gospel was preserved, the complex of
monasteries around the city was formed, later called the Sofia Holy
Mountain, there were offices of merchants from Dubrovnik in Sofia and
multicolored luxurious sgraffito ceramics, jewelry and ironware were
produced.
In 1382, the Ottoman military leader Lala Şahin
besieged the city for 3 months, praising in his reports to the
government the natural conditions, wealth and economic activity in it,
as well as its political importance, and a little later Sofia was
captured by his subordinate Inje Balaban Bey. Sofia became the center of
the Sofia Pasha Sanjak from 1393 to 1878.
During the great
campaign of János Hunyadi in the autumn of 1443, the Ottomans abandoned
Sofia, evacuating the population and burning the city to make it
difficult for the enemy to supply them. The Hungarians were welcomed by
the Christians with a solemn service in the Cathedral of St. Sophia, but
a few weeks later they retreated to Pirot and the Christians in Sofia
and the surrounding area were massacred for their cooperation with the
Hungarian army.
According to the testimonies of European
travelers, in the middle of the 15th century Sofia retained its
predominantly Bulgarian character. Since 1460, the relics of the Holy
King - Stephen II Milutin have been located in Sofia, and in 1469 an
important event for the Orthodox community was the passage through the
city of the procession carrying the relics of St. Ivan of Rila from
Tarnovo to the Rila Monastery. At that time, the Sofia Literary School
was developing in Sofia and the surrounding monasteries of the Sofia
Holy Mountain.
After Sofia joined the Ottoman Empire, the colony
of Dubrovnik merchants continued to flourish in the city, joined by
Italians from Florence and Venice, forming a Catholic quarter in the
area of the ruined western gate of the fortress. Armenians lived in
the city center, mainly goldsmiths and furriers, and in the northeastern
quarters - Jews, who developed large-scale trade to the Netherlands and
France. During this period, the city began to produce and export to
Italy luxury products, such as the woolen cloth chokha and, above all,
processed leather, a variety of which in Italy is called "bulgarini".
Glassware, medicines, and faience were delivered to Sofia from Italy. At
that time, the city was on several occasions the temporary seat of the
Beylerbey of Rumelia, a post with particularly great influence in the
Empire, sometimes held by the Grand Vizier himself.
In the first
decades of the 16th century, the cultural and ethnic environment in
Sofia changed dramatically – unlike the previous century, in the 1630s
travelers already spoke of a Muslim majority in the city, and in the
middle of the 17th century of an entirely Turkish population. At the
beginning of the 16th century, the two large ancient churches were
converted into mosques – “St. Sophia” in the Siyavush Pasha Mosque and
“St. George” in the Gul Mosque, and according to archaeological data,
the inhabitants of a large part of the city center were already Muslims.
There is not much information about the way in which the Islamization of
Sofia took place, but during this period a series of Christians who
refused to accept Islam were declared martyrs – Georgi Sofia New (1515),
Sophrony Sofia (1515), Georgi Sofia New (1530), Nikolay Sofia New
(1555), Terapontius Sofia (1555).
In 1530, Sofia permanently
became the capital until 1836 of the Rumelia Eyalet (until 1590, the
term Beylerbey was used), covering the central part of the Balkan
Peninsula from Eastern Thrace to Pomoravië and Epirus. The following
century was a period of economic growth, with many crafts flourishing in
the city and for the first time since Antiquity, coins were minted,
using mainly gold and silver mined in the mines around Chiprovtsi. From
the mid-15th century and mainly during the 16th century, impressive
public buildings were built in the city, such as the Buyuk Mosque
(1451–1494), the Çelebi Mosque located next to the Konak (1502), the
Koca Dervish Mehmed Pasha Mosque (1528), which has now been converted
into a church, and the Banya Bashi Mosque (1567), which is still in
operation today, built by the most famous Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan.
The names of about ten more mosques in Sofia are known, but according to
authors from that period their number is about 150.
From the 17th century, Sofia gradually began to decline along with
the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the end of the great campaigns to
Central Europe, for which the city was an important starting point. Many
of the public buildings were neglected, the ancient water supply system
was in poor condition and in many places was replaced by wells. At the
end of the century, the city was abandoned by Dubrovnik and Italian
merchants, some of the Jewish merchant families, as well as high-ranking
Turkish officials, emigrated, but at the same time Bulgarians from
neighboring villages settled in the outskirts. In the 18th century, the
Rumelian beylerbeys began to periodically reside in Bitola, which
officially became the center of the Rumelian Eyalet in 1836.
The
uprising of the bishops in the Sofia and Samokov regions broke out in
1737, when it was suppressed in late July and early August 1737. On the
orders of Ali Pasha Küprüluoğlu, about 350 Sofia citizens, priests,
monks and people from the surrounding villages were massacred, including
the Samokov Metropolitan Simeon of Samokov and Sofia, hanged in Sofia by
the Turks on August 21, 1773 - he is the ninth Sofia saint.
In
1738, the population of Sofia, like that of all important cities in the
European part of the Ottoman Empire, was predominantly Turkish.
The anarchy that began at the end of the 18th century, associated with
the Kardzhali movement, the liberation of Serbia and the approach of the
border to Sofia, had a bad effect on Sofia. Added to all this was the
great fire of 1816, the plague of 1857 and two earthquakes - in 1818 and
1858, respectively. Despite this, Sofia remains one of the major
Bulgarian cities. Consuls of France, Italy and Austria-Hungary reside in
the city. According to the testimonies of American missionaries who
visited the city in 1862, it had 30 thousand inhabitants, 1/3 of whom
were Bulgarians, and the city itself "has a rather poor appearance, but
now its Bulgarian part is rapidly becoming wealthy". In 1864, the city
became the center of the Sofia Sanjak in the newly created Danube
Vilayet, and since 1876 Sofia has been the administrative center of the
Sofia Vilayet, which covers a large part of modern Western Bulgaria -
from Koprivshtitsa to Niš and from Gorna Dzhumaya to Pirot with
Orhaniye, Vranya, Samokov and Prokuple.
In the 19th century, the
Bulgarians in Sofia had their own municipality, 7 churches and 2 secular
schools - mutual (founded in 1825) and class schools, and there have
been cells at the churches and monasteries since the time of the Sofia
Literary School. In 1867 The community center "Cvyat" was founded, the
Bulgarian women's society "Maika" dates back to 1869, and the student
group "Napredak" was created in 1874. Here, Baba Nedelya founded the
first girls' school in the Bulgarian lands. In 1859, celebrations began
in honor of the Slavic first teachers, St. Cyril and Methodius.
Conflicts with the Greek clergy in Sofia began as early as 1818. On
October 15, 1872, in the church "St. Stephen" in Constantinople, the
Bulgarian exarch Antim I ordained the first exarchate Metropolitan of
Sofia, Meletius.
In 1870, Vasil Levski founded revolutionary
committees not only in the city, but also in the surrounding villages.
Prominent Sofia revivalists are Dimitar Trajkovich - member of the Sofia
Revolutionary Committee, Ivan Denkoglu, Sava Filaretov, Yordanka
Filaretova, Zahariy Krusha, the revolutionary-bookseller Nikola Vardev,
hieromonk Gennady Skitnik (Ivan Ihtimanski) - member of the Sofia
Revolutionary Committee and abbot of the Dragalevski Monastery, where
Levski often stayed and held committee meetings, Nikola Krushkin -
Cholaka, Levski's comrade-in-arms, member of the Sofia Revolutionary
Committee, hanged by the Turks, Georgi Abadzhiata - bookseller, courier
of the Sofia Revolutionary Committee hanged by the Turks together with
Cholaka, Kiro Geoshev (Kiro Kafeji), Levski's comrade-in-arms and
confidant, hanged by the Turks, hadji Stoyan Knizhar hanged by the
Turks, Hristo Kovachev, member of the Sofia Revolutionary Committee,
exiled to Diyarbakir, participants in the April Uprising the
Koprivshtits Stoycho Rashkov and Todor Maleev, who were assigned to take
materials for casting bullets from Plovdiv and were hanged by the Turks
on the Lion's Bridge, etc.
During the retreat of the Turkish
troops at the end of 1877, during the Russo-Turkish War, the Turkish
commander Suleiman Pasha planned the complete burning of the city,
similar to Stara Zagora, in which the massacre of the Christian
population became inevitable. The categorical intervention of the
consuls Leander Lege and Vito Positano, and according to unconfirmed
information, the intercession of the Sofia rabbi Gabriel Mercado
Almosnino, saved the city from burning. The Austro-Hungarian consul
Josef Wallhard also supported the actions in defense of the city.
Nevertheless, Russian and foreign correspondents found 16 gallows on
which Bulgarians were executed until the last moment before the entry of
the liberation troops.
At the very beginning of the new year, on January 4, 1878 (December
23, 1877 old style), after the Battle of Sofia, Russian troops under the
command of General Yosif Gurko entered the city. In February 1878, the
city's population had decreased by almost half compared to the pre-war
period and, according to the municipality, amounted to 11,694 people, of
whom 6,560 were Bulgarians, 3,538 Jews, 839 Turks and 737 Gypsies (2/3
of whom were Muslims).
On October 20, 1878, the headquarters of
the Provisional Russian Government moved from Plovdiv to Sofia, and on
April 3 (March 22 old style) 1879, at the proposal of Marin Drinov, the
Constituent Assembly elected Sofia as the capital of the Principality of
Bulgaria (April 4 was declared a holiday of Sofia). As a result, the
number of residents grew faster than in other Bulgarian cities, mainly
due to internal migration.
The election of Sofia as the capital
contributed to its rapid transformation into a large and important
political, administrative, economic, scientific and cultural center of
the country. Urban planning changes began on a large scale soon after
this event. The city center began to shift from the square near the
Banya Bashi Mosque to the square around the cathedral "St. King"
(today's church "St. Nedelya"), where the four main roads of
S(a)rdika-Sredets-Sofia have met at right angles since Antiquity. Wide
radial boulevards were formed, and small curved alleys were replaced by
parallel neighborhood streets intersecting at right angles.
The
historical center of Sofia encompasses the territory enclosed within the
boulevards Slivnitsa, Vasil Levski, Patriarch Evtimii, Hristo Botev – in
other words, the territory of the city from the time immediately after
the declaration of Sofia as the capital of Bulgaria in 1879. The
representative center of the city was formed around the Prince's Palace
(later the Royal Palace) and the National Assembly, and the area became
the center not only of political life, but also of cultural and public
events. In 1907, the building of the National Theater was opened nearby.
At the beginning of the 20th century. Tsar Osvoboditel Boulevard is
paved with the famous "yellow paving stones" that connect the Palace
with the People's Assembly Square and the monument to the Russian Tsar
Alexander II (Tsar Osvoboditel). Further on, the boulevard reaches the
new quarter of teachers, politicians, lawyers and officers that began to
take shape at the end of the 19th century. In this direction is the
first serious expansion of the city - to the bed of the Perlov River and
Orlov Most.
The concentration of capital and the development of
industry also began, the construction of enterprises in the electricity
generation, metal mining, brewing and wood processing industries. In
most cases, these were still small factories and workshops. Towards the
end of the century, the first hydroelectric power plant was built on the
Iskar River above Pancharevo, which provided electricity for the city.
In 1893, the Sofia-Pernik railway was built, and then to Plovdiv and
Varna.
On the Great Thursday, April 16, 1925, the attack on the
church of "St. Nedelya" in Sofia was carried out by activists of the
military wing of the Bulgarian Communist Party. 170 people were killed
and 500 were injured.
In 1938 an urban development plan (the
"Muesmann Plan") was adopted, developed by Prof. Adolf Muesmann (German:
Adolf Muesmann), which envisaged the development of the city as the
population grew to 600,000 inhabitants.
During World War II, at
the beginning of which Bulgaria declared war on Great Britain and the
United States, the British and American air forces carried out brutal
bombings of Sofia. Most of the civilian sites were hit, such as the
National Theater (severely damaged), the 11th-century Church of St. Spas
(severely damaged in 1944), the City Library (completely destroyed on
March 30, 1944, 40,000 volumes of books were burned), the Catholic
Cathedral of St. Joseph (completely destroyed on March 30, 1944), the
Theological Academy (severely damaged, the dome of the temple built into
it was burned), thousands of residential buildings were blown up and
burned, the city center was destroyed, and thousands were killed. over
2,000 people from the Sofia population were killed and 12,657 buildings
were destroyed. Sofia was evacuated – hospitals, pharmacies, state and
municipal institutions, schools, architectural offices, public works
companies, etc. found shelter in nearby and distant towns and villages
during the last two years of the war. The men were mobilized to the
front in the subsequent war against the Third Reich. They began to
return to the capital only after May 9, 1945 – in the second half of
1945.
The entire year of 1946 in Bulgaria, including the beginning of 1947,
was dedicated to the difficult negotiations for the Paris Peace Treaty.
Over the next 4-5 years, the country and its capital were rebuilt
according to the Soviet model and dictate, which practically paralyzed
every state, municipal and private initiative at that time.
In
1945, a new general urban development plan for the capital was approved,
the so-called "Neykov" plan.
After a referendum in 1946, Bulgaria
was proclaimed a people's republic and a Fatherland Front government was
established, significantly changing the appearance of the capital. Its
population began to grow rapidly, mainly due to centralization and
collectivization. Greater importance began to be attached to heavy
industry and industrialization, and urban planning and housing
construction continued. In 1958, the Kremikovtsi plant was put into
operation. The road network and public transport were expanded and
renovated. However, in the 1970s, architects managed to fight against
the previous plans to clear the city center for new socialist
construction, according to which the old buildings should be demolished
(see Largo Complex). Thus, the former royal palace, the Military Club,
the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and other buildings near the Central
Halls, the Women's Market, the Lion's Bridge, along Pirotska Street and
Ekzarh Yosif Street were saved from destruction.
During the
communist regime, a number of the most emblematic streets and squares in
the city were renamed for ideological reasons, and after 1989, most of
the previous names were restored.
In the second half of the 20th
century, many of the neighboring villages that had been independent
until then were annexed to Sofia – Birimirtsi and Obradovtsi in 1955,
Knyazhevo in 1958, Boyana, Vrazhdebna, Vrabnitsa, Gorna Banya,
Dragalevtsi, Darvenitsa, Iliyantsi, Malashevtsi, Obelya, Orlandovtsi,
Simeonovo and Slatina in 1961, Suhodol, Trebich and Filipovtsi in 1971,
Botunets, Gorublyane, Kremikovtsi, Seslavtsi and Chelopechene in 1978.
Ring roads, boulevards and highways of Sofia in the initial periods
of the city's construction were the boulevards "Slivnitsa", "Ferdinand"
(today "Vasil Levski"), "Patriarch Evtimii", "Hristo Botev", the
northern part of "Princess Maria-Luiza", "General Nikolay Stoletov",
"Danail Nikolaev" in the northeast, "Evlogi and Hristo Georgievi" in the
east and southeast, "Pencho Slaveykov" in the south, "Inzh. Ivan Ivanov"
and "Konstantin Velichkov" in the west, and many of them also bore such
names (e.g. "Okruzhen" boulevard). Most of these boulevards represent
the boundaries of the present-day city center. In later periods of the
20th century, the role of ring roads was played by the boulevards
Vardar, Gotse Delchev, Nikola Vaptsarov, Peyo Yavorov.
After the change of the socialist system, there was a period of boom
in private construction. New modern buildings were built, many of them
with the participation of foreign investors.
In early 1998, the
first stations of the Sofia Metro were opened.
In 2015, the
Capital Fort building was completed, located at the entrance to Sofia
from Tsarigradsko Shose Blvd., becoming the tallest building in
Bulgaria, replacing the Rodina Hotel, built a quarter of a century
earlier.
The Sky Fort building is under construction, which will
become the tallest building in Bulgaria with its 202 m according to the
project.
Sofia is a center of religious tolerance. Within an area of several
square meters, temples of the world's largest religions are
simultaneously present - Orthodox Christianity (St. Nedelya Church),
Catholicism (St. Joseph Cathedral), Islam (Banya Bashi Mosque) and
Judaism (Sofia Synagogue).
In the Sofia diocese, there are about
200 Orthodox churches and chapels and over 40 monasteries, built from
the 4th century to the present day. The largest temple in Sofia and all
of Bulgaria is the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral - one of the symbols of
Sofia and a cultural monument of national importance. The St. George
Rotunda and the St. Sophia Basilica are some of the oldest temples in
the city, built in the 4th and 6th centuries, respectively. The Boyana
Church contains frescoes from the 13th century and was included in the
UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979.
Sofia is the center of Bulgarian culture and is home to prestigious
cultural institutions such as the Goethe Institute, the Cervantes
Institute, the French Institute, the British Council and the Russian
Cultural Information Center, which often hold events to showcase artists
from their countries.
The capital's motto is "Grow, but do not
age". It was inscribed in 1911 on the coat of arms of Sofia, created in
1900, and in 1928 it was decorated with laurel branches on both sides.
The coat of arms depicts the symbols of the capital: the ancient Greek
goddess of fate Tyche - the patroness of cities, the image of which was
taken from an ancient coin; Mount Vitosha; the church of St. Sophia; a
golden canopy with Apollo the Healer. Among them, in the center there is
a golden lion on a red shield (the coat of arms of Bulgaria), and on top
- a fortress crown with 3 towers.
The city's holiday is on
September 17, when the Orthodox Church commemorates the Holy Martyrs
Sofia, Faith, Hope and Love. The date was set as the Sofia Holiday by a
decision of the Sofia Municipal Council of March 25, 1992.
The Ivan Vazov National Theater is the oldest theater in Sofia, on
whose stage mainly classical plays are staged. The first performance was
played on January 3, 1907.
In 1923, a fire destroyed a large part
of the building and a gradual reconstruction was required in the
following years. The bombings of 1944 caused damage to its southern
wing. The last reconstruction and modernization dates back to the 1970s.
The Tears and Laughter Theater is also one of the oldest theaters, whose
troupe was formed in 1892 and became the initiator of the founding of
the National Theater.
The National Opera and Ballet, also known
as the Sofia Opera and Ballet, became a state-owned institution in 1922.
The opera repertoire mainly includes classical works by Russian,
Bulgarian and Italian composers.
The capital is also home to numerous galleries and museums. Many of
them belong to the Hundred National Tourist Sites.
The National
History Museum is the largest museum in Bulgaria and among the largest
in Europe. The National Ethnographic Museum and the National Art Gallery
are located in the city center, in the building of the former royal
palace and in Kvadrat 500 – the former National Gallery of Foreign Art.
The National Museum of Natural History at the Bulgarian Academy of
Sciences is the richest natural history museum on the Balkan Peninsula
and was founded in 1889. Other museums include the National Museum of
Military History, the Archaeological Institute and Museum, the Sofia
Arsenal – Museum of Contemporary Art (SAMSI) and the Museum of Socialist
Art.
A large part of the modern Bulgarian TV series after 1989 were filmed in the capital, among them: "Undercover", "Glass House", "Brothers", "Stolen Life", "Fathers", "Fourth Power", "The Path of Honor", "Strawberry Moon", "Policemen from the Edge of the City", "Sofia - Day and Night", "Search Department" and others.
In the capital, one can see buildings that are part of Roman architecture, such as the St. George rotunda, Ottoman architecture such as the Banya Bashi mosque and Bulgarian post-liberation architecture such as the building of the Rectorate of Sofia University, the National Theater, etc. After the coup of September 9, 1944, the "Largo" complex, the National Palace of Culture, the monument "1300 Years of Bulgaria", etc. were built. After the democratic changes of 1989 Modern business buildings are being built in Sofia, such as Capital Fort and the Sky Fort under construction.
Sofia is home to a number of monuments from different eras. Some of
them, built during the communist regime, have been dismantled or
destroyed – such is the case with the Lenin monument and the Georgi
Dimitrov mausoleum. The monument "1300 Years of Bulgaria" in front of
the National Palace of Culture was collapsing on its own, until it was
finally removed completely in September 2017.
Others, such as the
mausoleum of the first Bulgarian prince Alexander I Battenberg, were
closed to visitors from 1946 to 1991, throughout the totalitarian
regime, and many people at that time did not even know about its
existence.
Another historical monument that has become one of the
symbols of the city is the monument to Vasil Levski, which is located in
the city center, in an area with heavy traffic. It is made of bronze,
with a bas-relief of Levski's head. It was opened on October 22, 1895,
but its planning began immediately after the Liberation, in 1878. Its
construction lasted about 17 years due to lack of funds, neglect,
negligence and even lack of interest on the part of the then government.
This caused a wave of discontent among Bulgarian intellectuals.
Konstantin Velichkov in as a sign of protest he wrote the poem "The
Monument to Levski in Sofia". The initial projects envisaged a large
cross, but this idea was rejected due to its incompatibility with the
Apostle's belief in equality, brotherhood and other revolutionary ideas.
Another option envisaged a full-length bronze statue, which was also
rejected due to the significant increase in the price of the monument.
The Monument to the Soviet Army is located in Borisova Garden and
managed to survive the overthrow of the totalitarian regime, but its
existence was accompanied by many contradictions. It was erected in 1954
as a sign of gratitude to the Soviet troops for the victory over Nazism
and fascism. The Soviet Union itself declared war on Bulgaria (1944). In
1993, the Sofia Municipal Council decided to demolish the monument.
However, the Kremlin and the Russian Embassy in Bulgaria reacted very
sharply to such an initiative and the monument remained. In 2009 a new
campaign has been launched to demolish it or move it to a new location,
this time in connection with the construction of the metro. Its removal
will begin in December 2023.
The Russian Monument was built in
1882. The monument was erected on a Russian initiative and with Russian
funds amounting to 25,000 gold leva. It is located near the Five
Corners, Macedonia Square and the largest emergency medicine center in
Bulgaria, Pirogov.
The Monument to the Unknown Soldier was
erected in 1981 on the occasion of the 1300th anniversary of the
Bulgarian state. The monument consists of an "eternal flame", soil from
the Battle of Stara Zagora and the Battle of Shipka - the most important
battles in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, a statue of a lying lion
and a stone slab with an inscription.
Another very famous
monument in the center of the capital is the Monument to Tsar
Osvoboditel, or as it is popularly known among Sofia residents, the
Monument of the Horse - one of the most impressive monuments in Sofia,
erected in honor of the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878, as an expression
of the gratitude of the Bulgarian people to the Russian people in the
person of Emperor Alexander II and as a symbol of Bulgarian freedom. The
monument is located on the capital's "Tsar Osvoboditel" Boulevard on
"Narodno Sabranie" Square facing the Bulgarian Parliament building.
The statue in the center of Sofia, on "Nezavisimost" Square, was
named "Saint Sophia" by its sculptor Georgi Chapkanov. Since it does not
correspond to the canons of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, the statue
has never been blessed or consecrated by an Orthodox priest.
The city has numerous historical and cultural landmarks. The Sofia
Metro connects with the airport, the central railway station and the
city's central bus station.
Among the most famous landmarks in
the city are: Basilica "St. Sophia", Temple-monument "St. Alexander
Nevsky", National History Museum, National Art Gallery, National
Archaeological Museum, National Ethnographic Museum, Orthodox Church
"St. Nedelya", Orthodox Church "St. Sedmochislenitsi", Orthodox Church
"St. Petka Samardzhiyska", Russian Church "St. Nikolai Mirlikliyski",
Banya Bashi Mosque, Sofia Synagogue, National Museum "Land and People",
National Theater "Ivan Vazov", National Palace of Culture, etc.
Football is the most popular sport in the city. Six teams compete in
the First Professional Football League in the 2024/25 season – CSKA,
Levski, Slavia, Lokomotiv, Septemvri and CSKA 1948. The national
football team most often plays its matches at Vasil Levski Stadium, the
largest stadium in the country with a capacity of 44 thousand people.
Basketball and volleyball have long traditions. Akademik (Sofia) is
a two-time finalist in the European Champions Cup, the predecessor of
the Euroleague, which Levski's women's team won twice and Slavia's once.
Built in 2011, Arena Armeec often hosts matches of the men's national
volleyball team and is one of the two host venues of the 2015 European
Men's Volleyball Championship.
Sofia is the birthplace of the
Maleevi sisters - Katerina, Manuela and Magdalena, as well as the
current number 1 tennis player in Bulgaria, Victoria Tomova. Arena
Armeec hosts the men's 250 tennis tournament, the Sofia Open, once won
by the most successful Bulgarian tennis player, Grigor Dimitrov.
Sofia was a candidate for the Winter Olympics in 1992, 1994 and 2014. In
1985, it lost to Albertville by two votes in the 1992 games, in 1987 it
was eliminated in the second round of voting for the 1994 games, and in
2006 it was eliminated in the first round of selection for the 2014
games. However, it hosted two summer Universiades - in 1961 and 1977, as
well as two winter ones - in 1983 and 1989.
The historical center of Sofia is located immediately south of the
center of the Sofia Plain, one of the Trans-Balkan basins, located
between the Western Stara Planina (Murgash, Sofia Mountain and Three
Ears) to the north and the Lyulin, Vitosha, Plana and Lozenska
mountains, parts of the Srednogorska mountain system, to the south. The
modern city occupies a significant part of the Sofia Plain, being
developed to a greater extent to the southeast and southwest of the
historical center, reaching the lower parts of Vitosha, but its
northeasternmost neighborhoods – Seslavtsi and Kremikovtsi – are located
on the slopes of Stara Planina.
The land area of the city of
Sofia has an area of 492 km², and in addition to the urbanized
territory it also encompasses adjacent agricultural and forest lands,
including a significant part of the Vitosha Mountain. It borders the
lands of 3 towns (Bankya, Buhovo and Novi Iskar) and 27 villages
(Bistritsa, Zheleznitsa, Plana, Busmantsi, Vladaya, Voluyak, German,
Gorni Bogrov, Dolni Bogrov, Dolni Pasarel, Ivanyane, Kazichene, Klisura,
Kokalyane, Krivina, Kubratovo, Lozen, Lokorsko, Malo Buchino, Mirovyane,
Mramor, Marchaevo, Negovan, Ogoya, Pancharevo, Chepintsi and Yana) from
the Sofia Municipality, 5 villages (Golemo Buchino, Divotino, Kladnitsa,
Lyulin, Chuypetlovo) from the Pernik Municipality, 2 villages
(Gurmazovo, Pozharevo) from the Bozhurishte Municipality and 1 village
(Yablanitsa) from the Svoge Municipality.
Five mountain passes
lead to the town – Iskarski, Vladayski, Dragomanski, Petrohanski and
Vitinya. Important roads connecting the Adriatic and Central Europe with
the Black and Aegean Seas, and the Middle East, have passed through them
since ancient times. Thanks to its strategic location on the Balkan
Peninsula, Sofia has been a large, bustling city in the past, a
commercial, administrative, cultural, and later a tourist center.
Several rivers flow through the capital: the Vladayskata, the
Perlovskata, the Iskar, the Lesnovska Reka, the Suhodolska Reka, the
Boyanska Reka, and the Blato. The Iskar River flows near the eastern
quarters, but in this section it is not full-flowing. Sofia has been
known since ancient times for its numerous mineral springs (15 deposits
with a total water flow of 130 l/s). Over the past 60 years, artificial
lakes and dams have also been built.
The capital is located 150
km from Plovdiv, 441 km from Varna, 360 km from Burgas along the Trakia
Highway, 309 km from Ruse, 234 km from Stara Zagora, 28 km from Pernik,
104 km from Kyustendil, 102 km from Blagoevgrad, 60 km from the Kalotina
border checkpoint, 89 km from the Strezimirovtsi border checkpoint, 113
km from the Oltomantsi border checkpoint, 114 km from the Gyueshevo
border checkpoint, 182 km from the Kulata-Promahon border checkpoint.
The distance to the North Macedonian capital Skopje is 245 km, to the
Romanian capital Bucharest is 383 km, to the Serbian capital Belgrade is
397 km, to the Kosovo capital Pristina is 333 km, to the metropolis and
largest Turkish city Istanbul is 553 km, to the Turkish capital Ankara
is 1001 km, to the Montenegrin capital Podgorica is 575 km, to the
capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo is 606 km, to the Croatian
capital Zagreb is 787 km, to the second largest Greek city Thessaloniki
is 294 km, and to the Greek capital Athens is 792 km.
Sofia is located in the temperate climate zone and has a humid
continental climate with warm summers (Dfb in the Köppen climate
classification) - the average monthly temperatures fall below 0 °C and
do not exceed 22 °C, with more than 3 months having an average
temperature above 10 °C.
The average annual temperature is 10.6
°C. Winters in the city are cold and snowy. The weather is unstable and
dynamic; sharp temperature amplitudes are observed under the influence
of the trajectory of the forming Mediterranean cyclones. On the coldest
winter days, temperatures can drop to -15 °C or even lower, especially
in January. Fog is a characteristic phenomenon at the beginning of the
winter season. In winter, Sofia has an average of 58 days with snow
cover.
Summers in Sofia are warm and sunny. In summer, the
capital remains slightly cooler compared to the rest of the country, due
to its higher altitude. However, on the hottest summer days,
temperatures can exceed 35 °C, most often in July and August.
Spring and autumn in Sofia are relatively short and have variable and
dynamic weather.
The average annual precipitation is 581.8 mm,
reaching its maximum in late spring and early summer, when thunderstorms
are not uncommon.
A problem with Sofia's air pollution is its location in the Sofia
Valley, which is surrounded on all sides by mountains, reducing the
ability of the atmosphere to self-clean. The air in the capital is
polluted mainly by fine dust particles and nitrogen oxides. After the
shutdown of the Kremikovtsi metallurgical plant, they are generated
mainly by road transport, heating with solid and liquid fuels, polluted
road surfaces and some thermal power plants. Thus, the capital's
districts Druzhba, Nadezhda and Pavlovo have the most polluted air, and
for the first two, in addition to road transport, an important factor
for dirty air are the large thermal power plants there.
Sofia is
in thirty-third position in 2015 in terms of air pollution among 157
cities in Europe.
Sofia is today the largest city in Bulgaria. In 1870, it had about
19,000 inhabitants, of which only 11,684 remained after the
Russo-Turkish War. According to the first official census of 1880, the
population of Sofia was 20,501. At that time, Sofia was ethnically
divided as follows: 56% were Bulgarians, 30% Jews, 7% Turks and 6%
Gypsies. At that time, 60% of the city's inhabitants were men, and 60%
of them were unmarried. In 1880, Konstantin Irechek noted that there
were 20 neighborhoods in Sofia with about 5,000 houses.
A few
years after the Liberation, the city began to gradually grow with
settlers from all over Bulgaria, but mainly from the Radomir, Trani,
Brezničko, Samokov, Orkhani and Tsaribrod regions. During the period
from 1900 to 1946, the city's population experienced its largest
increase - from about 68,000 people to 435,000 people.
According
to the 2001 census, 1,177,577 people live in Sofia District, of whom
559,229 are men (47.5%) and 618,348 are women (52.5%), or 1,106 women
per 1,000 men. The city of Sofia has a population of 1,094,410 people,
of whom 518,149 are men and 576,261 are women. The largest district is
Lyulin with 120,117 inhabitants, followed by Mladost with 110,877
inhabitants, Poduyane with 75,312 inhabitants and Krasno Selo with
72,773 inhabitants. The largest number of Sofia residents are between 18
and 64 years of age (790,180 people), followed by residents under 18
(201,202) and those over 65 (183,049). The average age is 38.3 years.
The population density at the end of 2000 was 909.1 people/km².
According to some publications, the real number of people living in the
capital is over 2 million people. According to statements by officials,
between 25,000 and 45,000 people from the countryside permanently settle
in Sofia every year. This causes numerous problems for the city -
overcrowding, increasing the number of cars, traffic jams, air
pollution, housing crisis, lack of parking spaces, and others.
The birth rate per 1,000 people is 7.9, and by 2001 it is in continuous
decline. The mortality rate is 12.2 per 1000 and continues to grow.
Based on these data, the annual decline in the population would be 4.3
per mille. In fact, due to the influx of people from the countryside,
the population of Sofia is increasing. The infant mortality rate is 11
babies per 1000 live births. In 1980, it was 18.9 per 1000. Since 2001,
the birth rate in Sofia has been steadily increasing, reaching 13 per
mille. In just 10 years, the number of children born has doubled. This
creates a problem with kindergartens, the number of which has halved
during the long-term decline in the birth rate after 1989.
According to the 2011 census, the population of Sofia consists of the
following ethnic groups: 1,136,000 Bulgarians (96%); 18,300 Roma (1.5%);
6,500 Turks (0.6%). About 17,000 people indicated another ethnic group
or did not self-define. There is no noticeable difference in the
percentages of these three main ethnic groups in the capital compared to
the 2001 census; in terms of numbers, the only major difference is found
among the Bulgarian population, which increased by 12,000 people. The
2001 census also listed several smaller communities in Sofia, including
3,100 Russians, 1,700 Armenians, 1,200 Greeks.
As of March 15,
2016, 1,441,918 people were registered at their current address in the
Sofia Municipality, of which 1,304,772 were residents of the city of
Sofia.
In 2020 However, the population of the capital decreased
by 1.53%, or by 20,378 people, to 1,308,412 people. This has not
happened since 2001, when the population of Sofia last decreased.
According to GRAO data, as of June 15, 2024, 1,404,116 people live
in the city at a permanent address.
The Sofia Municipality is governed by a municipal council and a
mayor, elected every 4 years. In the decades after the end of the
totalitarian communist regime, the right-wing party has enjoyed great
influence in the city – initially the Union of Democratic Forces and its
splinter parties, and then GERB, which also dominates the municipal
government. Representatives of the right-wing party have been all mayors
of Sofia since 1990: Alexander Karakachanov (1990–1991), Alexander
Yanchulev (1991–1995), Stefan Sofianski (1995–2005), Boyko Borisov
(2005–2009), Yordanka Fandakova (2009–2023), Vasil Terziev (since 2023).
Each district has its own mayor, who is directly elected by the
population of the respective district and resolves issues arising from
the daily needs of the population at the place of residence,
administrative services for citizens, public works, sanitation, etc.
The regional governor of Sofia district (also called Sofia-city
district), whose territory coincides with that of the Sofia
Municipality, is appointed directly by the Council of Ministers (and the
deputy regional governors - by the Prime Minister); the regional
governor has the right to return the decisions of the Sofia Municipal
Council for legality.
The Sofia Municipal Council (SOC) has powers
over the entire Sofia Municipality, the main part of which is the city
of Sofia; municipal councilors are elected by the residents of the
municipality during local elections; the SOC determines the budgets of
the Sofia Municipality and the individual Sofia districts.
The mayor
of the Sofia Municipality (see Mayor of Sofia) has powers over the
entire municipality; he is the mayor not only of the city of Sofia, but
also of a total of thirty-eight settlements within its borders; the
mayor of Sofia is elected by the residents of the Sofia Municipality
during local elections.
The Sofia Municipality is divided into 24
districts, 22 of which include parts of the city. The mayor of a given
Sofia district has powers over the territory of his district, including
over the villages and towns located on his territory; the mayor of a
given district is directly elected by the population of the respective
district. This mayor has the powers to allocate the budget in his
district.
All bodies of state power are concentrated in Sofia - legislative,
executive and judicial. In the center of the capital are the buildings
of the National Assembly, the Presidency, the Council of Ministers and
all ministries. The city also houses all the highest institutions of the
judiciary - the Supreme Court of Cassation, the Supreme Administrative
Court, the Supreme Judicial Council, the Prosecutor General's Office.
Other national institutions are also located here (Constitutional Court,
National Statistical Institute, Main Roads Directorate, etc.), a number
of economic institutions (Bulgarian Industrial Chamber, etc.), as well
as bodies whose main task is the implementation of the reform being
carried out in the country (Privatization Agency, Mass Privatization
Agency, Foreign Investment Agency, etc.).
Sofia is home to the
headquarters of the Bulgarian National Bank, the majority of local and
international banks in the country, the headquarters of many
non-governmental organizations, foundations, etc. The Holy Synod of the
Bulgarian Orthodox Church, the Chief Mufti of Muslims in Bulgaria, the
Chief Rabbinate of the Israelite religion, as well as other officially
registered religions are located here. The capital city is home to the
party headquarters of almost all political parties in the country, the
main trade union organizations, etc.
In connection with the
process of Bulgaria's integration into the European Union, a number of
governmental and non-governmental organizations have begun work in this
direction in Sofia. After the signing of the accession agreement, the EU
Association Council and the Delegation of the European Commission to
Bulgaria have been operating here.
The city of Sofia is the center of Sofia District, Sofia City District and Sofia Municipality. During the socialist system in Bulgaria, by 1984, Sofia was divided into 7 districts: Leninski, Kolarovski, Dimitrovski, Blagoevski, Levski, Kirkovski, Deveti septemvri. After the democratic changes on November 10, 1989, the capital was divided into 24 districts. 16 of the 24 districts of Sofia Municipality are composed only of urban parts. Another 6 districts include both parts of Sofia and parts of other settlements. Three districts of Sofia Municipality – Pancharevo, Novi Iskar and Bankya – do not include parts of the city of Sofia.
Sofia City is the only municipality in Bulgaria subdivided into more than one electoral district. There are three of them, each of which includes eight urban districts. These are the 23rd MIR (southern and southeastern districts), the 24th MIR (central and northeastern districts), and the 25th MIR (western and northwestern districts).
Sofia is the largest economic center in Bulgaria, with the Sofia
Municipality accounting for 41% of the country's total gross domestic
product in 2022. About 84% of the value added is created in the services
sector, and 15% in industry.
Sofia is home to the headquarters of
financial institutions, including all licensed banks in Bulgaria (2024).
As of 2017, the city is home to 6 of the 10 largest companies in the
country by sales revenue. At that time, the ten largest enterprises in
the city by this indicator were the fuel wholesaler Lukoil-Bulgaria, the
electricity trader National Electric Company, the supermarket chain
Kaufland Bulgaria, the gas trader Bulgargaz, the cigarette wholesaler
Express Logistics and Distribution, the electricity trader CEZ Electro
Bulgaria, the gas station chain OMV Bulgaria, the telecommunications
enterprise Bulgarian Telecommunications Company, the metallurgical plant
Sofia Med and the hypermarket chain Metro Cash & Carry Bulgaria.
Despite the secondary role of industry in the city's economy, Sofia is
the largest industrial center in Bulgaria, with priority given to the
development of heavy industry. There are about 800 large enterprises on
the territory of Sofia. Sofia is home to 75% of the country's ferrous
metallurgy, 50% of the printing industry, 15% of the electrical and
electronic industry, and 14% of the country's fur and shoe industries.
Chemical, textile, and food products are produced. The construction,
trade, and transport sectors, which connect the material and social
infrastructure of the big city, are highly developed. The private sector
on the territory of the Sofia Municipality is concentrated primarily in
the areas of trade and services. The Sofia Commodity Exchange and the
Bulgarian Stock Exchange operate in Sofia.
Sofia is home to a large number of educational institutions in
Bulgaria. There are 239 kindergartens, 5 primary schools, 77 secondary
schools and 187 secondary schools. There are also 13 specialized schools
for children with disabilities.
Many secondary schools offer
foreign language instruction. The 1st and 2nd English Language High
Schools, the French, German and Spanish High Schools are usually among
the most sought-after high schools. The 35th Secondary School "Dobri
Voynikov" is the oldest school with language instruction. Other popular
secondary schools are the National Commercial and Banking High School,
the Classical High School and the SMG. The American College, founded in
1860, is among the oldest American educational institutions outside the
United States.
Sofia is home to 22 of the 52 accredited higher
education institutions in Bulgaria, with over 100,000 students. Four of
the five highest-ranked universities are in the capital – Sofia
University “St. Kliment Ohridski” (SU), the Medical University, the
Technical University and the New Bulgarian University. SU is the oldest
university in the country. Founded on October 1, 1888, it currently has
16 faculties and 3 departments, with over 20,000 students.
Sofia
is home to the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), as well as the
National Library “St. Cyril and Methodius”. Bulgaria’s five
supercomputers are located here – three of them are used by BAS, one by
Sofia Tech Park and one by the Faculty of Physics at SU.
The transport system of the capital is highly developed due to its
strategic location. All modes of transport are represented except for
water transport. Three of the ten Pan-European corridors (V, VIII and X)
cross the city. Four motorways depart from Sofia – “Trakia”, “Hemus”,
“Struma” and “Evropa”. Transit traffic is redirected along the “Ring
Road”, which is part of the Republican road network.
Sofia
Central Station is the railway junction with the greatest local and
international importance. It serves 2,323,844 passengers annually or
11.8% of the total number of passengers in the national railway network
(2004) and provides connections with the interior of the country in 5
directions. Transportation is carried out by Bulgarian State Railways,
whose headquarters are in the capital. Bus services are provided from
the nearby Sofia Central Bus Station. Air transport is represented by
Sofia Airport, which has two terminals. The growth of passenger traffic
reaches 7,107,096 passengers per year (2019).
In the public
transport system, the main carrier is the municipal Center for Urban
Mobility. By 2024, it includes 91 bus, 17 tram, 10 trolleybus, 6
electric bus and 4 night lines. Opened in 1998, the Sofia Metro has four
metro diameters, which include a total of 47 stations at a length of 52
km.
Owning a car grew rapidly in the 1990s, with the number of
registered cars doubling to over 800 thousand. At the same time, the
city has the highest number of cars among cities in the European Union -
an average of over 660 cars per 1,000 people.