Sofia

Founded seven thousand years ago, Sofia is the second oldest city in Europe. The city has had several names in the course of history and the remnants of the old cities can still be visited at recent days.
Among the huge number of places of interest are Alexander Nevski Memorial Church, Rotunda of St George, The National Palace of Culture, the Church of Saint Nedelya, Sofia University, Mount Vitosha.
Sofia is the administrative, political, financial and cultural center of Bulgaria.
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Sofia Information

The Bulgarian capital is located in the Sofia plain, and with its territory of 1 311 square kilometers and population of around 2 000 000 people, is currently the biggest city in the country. Sofia stands on 550 meters above the sea level. The Serbian border is about 55 km away from the city, and on 113 km away is Macedonia, around 180 km away is Greece, and the Turkish border stands 315 km away. Near this city are located Pancharevo lake and the Iskar dam, and the river of Iskar stretches across the east side of Sofia. The Bulgarian capital is connected through the international roads and airlines with most of the other European capitals, as well as Istanbul, Ankara and the Middle East.

Sofia Sightseeing

There are several places and buildings, which claimed to be hallmark of this city. One of them is the cathedral "St Alexander Nevsky", which is the center of the Bulgarian Orthodox Patriarchy. Another remarkable place is the square around the cathedral, where are situated the Memorial of the Unknown Soldier and the Eternal flame. On the same square as well is located "St Sofia" church, which was built between 4 and 6 century CE, and is the second oldest building here. This church actually has given the name of the city, and in the beginning of the 19th century was turned for a while into a mosque, but after the liberation of the country was again turned into orthodox church.

Some unique beautiful sight in Sofia is the National Theater "Ivan Vazov", which was found in 1904. Another significant building in the city is that of the Bulgarian Parliament, built in 1884. Next to the parliament stands the building of the Bulgarian Academy of Science, made in 1869. In the direct vicinity of both of them is also the Sofia University "St Kliment Ohridsky", found originally in 1888, but its current building was finished hardly in 1920. In the inner yard of Sheraton hotel is the famous Roman rotunda, which was built in the 4th century CE, and later was turned into St Georgi church. Near by it, the National Opera and Ballet share a magnificent building in a neo-classical style.

Sofia Cinemas and Theaters

There are several big cinemas in Sofia - United New Cinema, underneath the NDK center, which is a modern multi-screen facility with decent sound, FX - Angel Kanchev Street 5, Arena Mladost - Mladost 4, Business Park and Arena West - next to Vardar subway station.
The biggest theaters in Sofia are the National Theater "Ivan Vazov", Theater of Satire "Aleko Konstantinov", theater "Sulza i Smiah" and others.

Sofia Transport

Sofia is the biggest transport center in Bulgaria. Since 1998 there is a subway, which together with the excellent bus, tramway and trolley transport, makes it easy to reach any location in the city. Practically, there is an option to reach any Bulgaria's location from each part of Sofia with no problem at all. There are buses, wich arrive and go from the Central Sofia Station - there are buses and trains available to and from any European location.