17 April 2025 – Sofia

Miles driven today = 0

Total Miles to date = 3,607

The Sofia tram system is fantastic! We jumped on the number 4 this morning.  There was none of that silly nonsense we have experienced in Italy and Greece where you have to pre-purchase tickets and get them validated when you board.  Here you just slap your debit card on the reader, much as you do in London, and take your seat.  Just 15 minutes later we were hopping off again just a stone’s throw from the city centre.

I had worked out a walking tour heading through the city in a rough West to East direction.  We started as we often do with a market.  The Ladies’ Market is the primary place in Sofia to stock up on your fruit and veg.

Row upon row of stalls.  The proprietors must spend hours every day neatly stacking their produce.

The Moorish style Synagogue is the second largest Sephardic Synagogue in Europe with room inside for 1170 worshippers.

And just around the corner is Sofia’s only working mosque, which was built in 1576.

The 24 metre high Sofia Monument was erected in 2001 on the site which was once home to an enormous statue of Lenin.

St Nedelya’s Cathedral was completed in 1863.  In 1925 it was the scene of a failed communist bomb attack aimed at assassinating Tsar Boris III.

There are apparently some interesting murals inside.  We were appropriately attired but we had no intention of “trembling with reverent fear”.  Besides there was a service going on inside so we didn’t enter.

The huge building on the left houses ministerial offices whereas the one on the right was once the Communist Party headquarters in Sofia and was adorned with a huge Red Star on its roof.

St Petka Samardzhiiska Church is semi-subterranean and only accessible via the Serdika Metro station complex.  It was built in the late 14^th Century, during the early years of Ottoman rule.  The Bulgarian national hero Vasil Levski is rumoured to be buried here.

In Roman times Sofia was known as Serdika.  Large areas of ruins from that era between the 1^st and 6^th Centuries AD were uncovered between 2010 and 2012 when the Serdika Metro station was being built.  A lot of these have now been restored.

Reconstruction of a “Hypocaust” underfloor heating system.  Damn clever those Romans.

Another area is protected under glass as part of what appears to be an exhibition space. 

Amongst other things this building is home to Sofia University’s Theology faculty.

The St Georgi Rotunda is Sofia’s oldest restored building, dating back to the 4^th Century AD

It was part of a larger, now ruined, complex, all of which is surrounded by the President’s building which houses the President’s offices as well as a swanky hotel and top name designer boutiques.

There is an hourly changing of the guard ceremony which we weren’t aware of but we did spot these guys goose stepping their way back to barracks.

Time for a coffee/loo break so we popped into this little café which is right next door to the Archeological Museum, housed in a former Mosque which was built in 1496.

We were impressed with the amount of green space in the City.  In fact Sofia has a notable overall feeling of space and openness.

The Viennese style Ivan Vazov National Theatre first opened its doors in 1907.

We spotted a small art exhibition in an upstairs room of a bar.

Paintings created by the artist Kaloyen Iliev aka Kokimoto.

The Russian Church of St Nicholas the Wonderworker.

Built in the style of Russian Church architecture of the 17^th Century, complete with gleaming gold domes and crosses.

More retina searing gold on the domes of the Aleksander Nevski Cathedral which was built between 1882 and 1912 to commemorate 200,000 Russian soldiers who died fighting for Bulgaria’s independence.

As we approached the bells started their usual apparently uncoordinated clanging to mark 12 noon and a horde of Orthodox priests emerged in their robes and silly hats.

Once they had all toddled off across the square swinging their silver milk churns we went to have a look at the cavernous interior, which is lit by huge chandeliers.

St Sofia’s Church is another of the Capital’s older buildings and gave its name to the City.

There was a funeral going on in the church so we didn’t intrude but a set of stairs led down into a necropolis which contains 56 individual tombs from the 3^rd to 5^th Centuries AD and the remains of four even older Churches.

It was all rather dark and disorientating down there and the information boards were barely legible but there were some nice mosaics.

And the occupant of this tomb had some nice floral pictures to admire for eternity.

We made a swift exit and has now become something of a tradition on our City walkabout days we like to buy ourselves a slap up lunch.  The nearest eating establishment we could find was an Armenian restaurant called Egur Egur.  Some very tasty mixed dips for starters.

And then to follow Lisa had Duck Egur, while I also had duck but stewed with prunes.  Equally as delicious but perhaps not quite as photogenic.

Fully sated we took a wander around some of the shopping streets and then stopped off at the Avenue Bar for a couple of local beers before jumping back on the number 4 tram.  Sofia is lovely.  Lots of really interesting stuff to see and it feels really safe.  We recommend.

18 April 2025 - Koprivshtitsa