Today modern Sofia is a lovely travel destination and a great place for a weekend getaway with family members or friends.
*Packs bags and books flight*
1.ONE OF THE OLDEST CAPITALS IN EUROPE
Signs of life date back as early as 1st millennium BCE. Inhabited by Thracians and later incorporated into the Roman Empire, after the 6th century AD, Sofia became home to Slavs, ruled by the Byzantium before becoming part of the Bulgarian kingdom.
2. CAPITAL SINCE 1879
Sofia became the capital after a heated vote in the first post- independence Bulgarian Parliament. The other contenders were Veliko Tarnovo, Plovdiv, and Rousse. Sofia was not a clear favorite. It won by just two votes.
3. HOT MINERAL SPRINGS
Sofia Valley boasts more than 30 mineral springs, most hotter than 33°C (91.4°F) and low in mineralization, making the water perfect for consumption (after proper cooling at least). The hot mineral springs in the very center of the city, next to the building of the Central Mineral Baths, have been used since antiquity.
4. MANY NAMES
Sofia is not the original name of the city. Throughout history, it has been known to have at least three other names: Serdica, Triadica and Sredets. Since the 14th century Sofia is named after one of its oldest churches, the basilica St. Sofia.
5. THE CITY OF YELLOW BRICK ROADS
The unique ceramic pavement that covers much of Sofia’s central part was specially produced in a brick factory near Budapest over 100 years ago. Today the expression “yellow bricks” has come to mean city center.
6.ELEVATION MATTERS
At 550 m above sea level, Sofia is one of the highest capitals in Europe – after Andorra la Vella (1,023 m), San Marino (749 m), Madrid (667 m), and Pristina (652 m) – sitting at the base of Vitosha Mountain, a convenient place to hike, mountain bike and ski.
7. Sofia had the biggest cathedral on the Balkan
On the Bulgarian post cards, you would commonly see the extremely beautiful Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. It is one of the largest Orthodox cathedrals in the world and was built between 1904 to 1912 to honour the Russian soldiers who died to liberate Bulgaria from the Ottoman Rule. The design of this Cathedral is extremely sophisticated and many of its domes are gold plated.
