Sofia Bulgaria

Description: Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river and has many mineral springs, such as the Sofia Central Mineral Baths. It has a humid continental climate. Being in the centre of the Balkans, it is midway between the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea and closest to the Aegean Sea.

Population: 1,500,120

Demographics: In the 2021 census, 77% of the population declared Bulgarian as their mother tongue, 8% Turkish and 3.5% Roma. These are the three main ethnic groups, with the rest of the population including other ethnicities such as Armenian, Karakachan, Russian, Macedonian, Greek, Ukrainian, Pomak, Bulgarian-Mohammedan, and others.

History: The area has a history of nearly 7,000 years, with the great attraction of the hot water springs that still flow abundantly in the centre of the city. The neolithic village in Slatina dating to the 5th–6th millennium BC is documented. Remains from another neolithic settlement around the National Art Gallery are traced to the 3rd–4th millennium BC, which has been the traditional centre of the city ever since. The earliest tribes who settled were the Thracian Tilataei. In the 500s BC, the area became part of a Thracian state union, the Odrysian kingdom from another Thracian tribe the Odrysses. In 339 BC Philip II of Macedon destroyed and ravaged the town for the first time. The Celtic tribe Serdi gave their name to the city. The earliest mention of the city comes from an Athenian inscription from the 1st century BC, attesting Astiu ton Serdon, i.e. city of the Serdi. Roman emperors Aurelian (215–275) and Galerius (260–311) were born in Serdica. The city expanded and became a significant political and economical centre, more so as it became one of the first Roman cities where Christianity was recognized as an official religion (under Galerius). The Edict of Toleration by Galerius was issued in 311 in Serdica by the Roman emperor Galerius, officially ending the Diocletianic persecution of Christianity. For Constantine the Great it was ‘Sardica mea Roma est’ (Serdica is my Rome). He considered making Serdica the capital of the Byzantine Empire instead of Constantinople. Serdica became part of the First Bulgarian Empire during the reign of Khan Krum in 809, after a long siege. From the 14th century till the 19th century Sofia was an important administrative center in the Ottoman Empire. It became the capital of the beylerbeylik of Rumelia (Rumelia Eyalet), the province that administered the Ottoman lands in Europe (the Balkans), one of the two together with the beylerbeylik of Anatolia. It was the capital of the Sanjak of Sofia as well, including the whole of Thrace with Plovdiv and Edirne, and part of Macedonia with Thessaloniki and Skopje. During the initial stages of the Crusade of Varna in 1443, it was occupied by Hungarian forces for a short time in 1443, and the Bulgarian population celebrated a mass Saint Sofia Church. Following the defeat of the crusader forces in 1444, the city’s Christians faced persecution. In 1530 Sofia became the capital of the Ottoman province (beylerbeylik) of Rumelia for about three centuries. For a few decades after the liberation, Sofia experienced large population growth, mainly by migration from other regions of the Principality (Kingdom since 1908) of Bulgaria, and from the still Ottoman Macedonia and Thrace. In 1900, the first electric lightbulb in the city was turned on. During the Second World War, Bulgaria declared war on the US and UK on 13 December 1941 and in late 1943 and early 1944 the US and UK Air forces conducted bombings over Sofia. As a consequence of the bombings thousands of buildings were destroyed or damaged including the Capital Library and thousands of books. In 1944 Sofia and the rest of Bulgaria was occupied by the Soviet Red Army and within days of the Soviet invasion Bulgaria declared war on Nazi Germany. In 1945, the communist Fatherland Front took power. The transformations of Bulgaria into the People’s Republic of Bulgaria in 1946 and into the Republic of Bulgaria in 1990 marked significant changes in the city’s appearance. The population of Sofia expanded rapidly due to migration from rural regions. New residential areas were built in the outskirts of the city, like Druzhba, Mladost and Lyulin.During the Communist Party rule, a number of the city’s most emblematic streets and squares were renamed for ideological reasons, with the original names restored after 1989.

Elevation: 500-700 m

Climate: Humid continental climate. Average annual temperature in Sofia is 11 C (52 F), the average for July is 21 C (70 F), the average for January is -2 C (29 F).

Attractions: Vitosha Boulevard, Alexander Nevski Cathedral, Museum Of Illusions, Vitosha Mountain, Boyana Church, Sofia Synagogue,

Airports: Sofia International Airport SOF

Distance To City Centre: 15 km

Commute Length: 30 min

Average Cost: 55 EUR

Peak Times: 7am-8am, 4pm-7pm