Sofia History

The first inhabitants of Sofia were the Thracian tribe Serdi, who settled here around 3 000 years ago. Later, the Roman conquerors named this town Serdica, making it a walled city, which reached its zenith under Emperor Constantine in the early fourth century. This fortress gained its general importance due to the particular position, that it occupied on the diagonis - the Roman road, which linked Constantinople with modern Belgrade on the Danube, providing the Balkans with its main commercial and strategic artery.

Later, the migrating Slavs began to filter into the city, and around the seventh century, they become the dominant force in this region. After the capture of Serdica by the Bulgarian Khan Krum in 809, it continued to flourish under the Bulgarians, although few medieval cultural monuments remain, save for the thirteenth-century Boyana church. The city was renamed Sredets by the Slavs, and subsequently - Triaditsa by the Byzantines, and became known as Sofia since the fourteenth century, most probably taking its name from the ancient Church of Sveta Sofia, which still stands in its center. In 1382 the city was captured by Ottoman empire, and during the next 5 centuries, Sofia thrived as a market center, though little material evidence of the Ottoman period remains save for a couple of mosques.

Sofia History Facts

At the time of the Liberation in 1878 Sofia still was a minor provincial center, but the defeat of the Ottoman Empire by the Russian forces, paved the way for the foundation of an independent Bulgarian state, and this town has been chosen to become the new capital of the country. Sofia was preferred among more prestigious centers - such as Tarnovo in central Bulgaria, mainly due to its geographical location - situated on a wide plain, fringed by mountains. The city combined defensibility with the potential for future growth, and thus, it would be able to occupy a central position in whatever new Bulgarian state, which should include, as most people then hoped, Macedonia.

Sofia experienced more frenetic growth during the post-World War II period of socialist reconstruction. By this time a veneer of Stalinist monumentalism was added to the city center in the shape of buildings like the Party House, a stern-looking expression of political authority. The rising population of the city was housed in the endless high-rise suburbs that girdle it today.

However, with the transition from communism to capitalism, Sofia has coped better than most Bulgarian towns. Here new businesses gradually spring up all the time, though many go bust just as quickly, and in general, jobs are easier to come by here than elsewhere. The population of the city has been swelled by migrants from provincial towns, blighted by economic stagnation. The city council of Sofia has made significant steps in turning the capital into a modern European metropolis, re-paving central sidewalks and providing key central buildings with a much-needed face-lift.