Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria is the city said to be always growing and never aging. It has been a capital city since1879 and due to its centuries long history there are numerous sights to be seen and places to be visited. Beside of the many hotels, shops, bars, night clubs and discos there is a lot more to be visited while you are in Sofia.
The Church of Saint George
In the very heart of Sofia there is an important group of Roman remains, dominated by the Rotunda of the Church of Saint George. Built in the 2nd and 3rd century the original function of the building is not known: it is supposed to have been a pagan temple, or a mausoleum, or public baths (as a structure resembling a hypocaust was discovered under the building). Transformed into a church by Constantine, who intended to make Serdica (as Sofia was called in these days) into a new Rome, capital of the Byzantine Empire, the building was beautifully decorated with numerous frescoes from three different centuries. The most interesting of these are painted by Bulgarian Medieval artists who depicted Biblical scenes in a very picturesque, particular manner.
The Church of Saint Petka of the Saddlers
The church is a small, windowless building with a single aisle and a brick vaulted roof but the bareness of its exterior is well compensated by the richness of its interior. This is a significant sign of the church architecture through the Muslim rule, together with the half digging of the building into the ground and the absence of a belfry. As the saddlers guild was very powerful in those years the church remained opened for worship throughout the Ottoman rule and that is why it bares many legends for that time.
The Church of Saint Nedelia
It was built on the crossroad of all main streets in ancient Serdica and remained there through Ottoman rule and the years after the Liberation. It is most famous for the bomb attack on Tsar Boris (the last Bulgarian monarch) attempted in that very church in 1925. The bomb killed 123 people but failed to hurt the intended victim. The church has a magnificent wood-carved iconostasis, dating from 1865 and a great variety of beautifully painted icons.
The Russian Church of Saint Nicholas
The church is a good example of 17th century Moscow church architecture and was build on the order of a Russian diplomat who was afraid to pray for his soul in Bulgarian churches, which he believed to be schismatic. The most interesting thing about that church is that inside are kept the remains of priest Seraphim who is said to fulfill wishes if they are wrote on a sheet of paper and posted in a special box inside the church’s crypt.
The Church of Saint Sofia
The church was built in the 6th century, in the reign of the Emperor Justinian that is why it is said to be the oldest church in the country. At the time of the Liberation the church was used as a storehouse for explosives and later as a fire station. The very simplicity of the forms and the economy of their usage in association with one another, gives the whole structure a sturdy solidity which makes the church of Saint Sofia a fine example of functional architecture.
The National History Museum
The museum is situated in the building of the former Palace of Justice and the exhibitions inside covers the Bulgarian history from the prehistory to present days. There you can see a variety of artifacts left by different Neolithic cultures between the 7th and 3rd millennia BC, great gold and silver collections associated with the Thracians, some of the richest medieval treasures in the country, a wonderful collection of 19th century folk costumes and carpets and even whole rooms furnished in the typical National Revival style.
The National Art Gallery
The building itself used to be an Ottoman court, a royal palace of Tsar Ferdinand (the first Bulgarian monarch) and a governmental residence. Today it houses the National Art Gallery and contains paintings showing the development of Bulgarian art in the 19th and 20th century as well as works by foreign artists.
The Mineral Baths of Sofia
These were used as far back as Romanian times and the present bathhouse has preserved the architecture from both that period and the National Revival times. The water has a temperature of 46.7 C and is recommended for diseases of the nervous, motor and digestive systems.
The Alexander Nevski Cathedral
The monument is built in memory of the glorious deed of the Liberation and as an expression of gratitude to the Russian people who lost nearly 200 000 soldiers and officers in the war that liberated Bulgaria in 1877-1878. The building occupies an area of 3 8000 sq. yards, with a maximum length of 245 feet and a maximum width of 180 feet. That is why the monument is said to be the most magnificent achievement of modern architecture in the whole Balkan Peninsula and the very symbol of Sofia.
