Sofia City: A Delightful Metropolis

The European Union's fifteenth largest city, Sofia is the capital city of the Republic of Bulgaria. It is located at the foot of the mountain massif Vitosha in western Bulgaria. It is surrounded by mountains on all sides, with a number of rivers flowing through the city. It is Sofia's strategic location that is elemental in its development.

Sofia has a rich and fascinating history. It was originally a Thracian settlement called Serdica. It was ruled for a short time by Philip of Macedon and his son Alexander the Great in fourth century BC. Sofia was subsequently conquered by the Romans and given the name Ulpia Serdica. Around AD 100, Ptolemy first wrote about Serdica. As a center of an administrative region, the city expanded and turrets, protective walls, baths, and an amphitheater were built. Constantine the Great referred to the city as "My Rome." The city was sacked by the Huns in AD 447 but was rebuilt by Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. It was renamed Triaditsa, and remnants of great fortress walls built during his reign can still be seen today. Sofia became part of the First Bulgarian Empire in AD 809. It was known as Sredets and was an impregnable fortress. It once again fell into Byzantine rule in 1018 but was retaken by Tsar Ivan Asen I of the Second Bulgarian Empire. In 1376, it was renamed Sofia after the Church of St. Sofia. It was conquered by the Turks in 1382, and became the capital of an Ottoman province for more than four centuries. Sofia was liberated by the Russians in 1878 at the height of the Russo-Turkish War, and became the capital of the Principality of Bulgaria in 1879, then the Kingdom of Bulgaria in 1908. An ally of Nazi Germany, Sofia was bombed by Allied forces in 1943 and later occupied by the Soviet Union.

The city is rich in culture. Sofia's most famous sight is the Alexander Nevski Cathedral, one of the largest Orthodox churches in the world. Other notable places of worship are the Boyana Church and the early Byzantine Church of St. Sofia. Sofia also has numerous museums, most notably the National Historical Museum, the Museum of Earth and Men, and the Bulgarian National Gallery of Arts. The largest national book collection can be found in the Sts. Cyril and Methodius National Library. Adjacent to the Sofia Zoological Garden is Sofia Land, a nine-acre amusement park. The mall of Sofia houses the first IMAX cinema in Southeastern Europe.

In addition to older architecture, modern buildings are also a common sight in Sofia. With the fall of communism in Bulgaria in 1989, foreign investors started taking an interest in Sofia. The city is now a major international hub.

Indeed, with its opulent heritage and prosperous future, Sofia is a place where the past, present, and future merge into a delightful metropolis.