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Your complimentary copy of the Sofia City®Info 4 OVERVIEW Guide is available from hotel rooms, hotel receptions and other public areas at the following 18 ACCOMMODATION top-class Hotels & Services Apartments: HOTELS êêê 26 RESTAURANTS êêêêê Hotel Villa Boyana Arena di Serdika Favorit Hotel 28 SHOPS Sofia Hotel Balkan Gloria Palace Hilton Hotel Montecito Hotel Holiday Inn Sofia Hotel Meg-Lozenetz Hotel 30 NIGHT LIFE Intercontinental Hotel Park Hotel Moskva Sofia Place Hotel êêêê 32 CULTURE Art ‘Otel êê BWP Hotel Expo BW City Hotel The House Hotel 42 BG IN BRRIEF BW Premier Sofia ê Coop Hotel easyHotel 46 USEFUL NUMBERS Grami Hotel Madrid Hotel Maria Luisa Hotel Metropolitan Hotel Sofia City ® Info Guide Novotel Sofia Hotel Ramada Hotel Publisher: RENTAL DS Ltd. Design: RENTAL DS Ltd. APARTMENT RENTALS & HOSTELS Apartment House Bulgaria On the Cover: MAMIN KOLIO MEHANA Block 531 Translation: Translingua Ltd. Be My Guest Hostel Print: Janet 45 Ltd. 5 Vintage Marinella For Advertising, Bulk Orders and Subscriptions: (before 10th of the preceding month, please!) SUBSCRIPTION DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS Cell: 0896 717 225; 0888 311 884 OTHERS E-mail: [email protected] facebook.com/cityinfoguides.bulgaria Airport Sofia Inter Expo Center facebook.com/BulgariaInfoGuides Airline Companies Information Center Sofia Business Centres (Largo, Chitalnyata) All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be Galleries reproduced in any form or by any means without prior Car Hire Companies permission. Monthly circulation: 20 000 Central Bus Station Real Estate Agencies Cultural Institutes Top Restaurants & Bars Casinos Travel Agencies COMMERCIAL AND ECONOMIC SECTION OF THE EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA IN: FRANCE, GERMANY, GREECE, KAZAKHSTAN, MONTENEGRO, MACEDONIA, MOLDOVA, ROMANIA, SERBIA, SLOVAK REPUBLIC, SLOVENIA, THE NETHERLANDS, UK OVERVIEW 3 Inter Expo Center Information Center Sofia (Largo, Chitalnyata) Galleries Real Estate Agencies Top Restaurants & Bars Travel Agencies 4 OVERVIEW public organizations. Sofia accommodates also SOFIA CITY REGION the cultural institutions in Bulgaria. The capital city of Bulgaria is situated in the It has been given several names in the course of geographic center of Southeastern Europe thus history. serving as a natural bridge to the Middle East. • Serdika was the name of the central dwelling of the ancient Thracian tribe known as “Serdi”. • The toponym Sredets was indicative of its FACT & SYMBOLS central location on the Balkan Peninsula. When the city became part of the Bulgarian state at the beginning of the ninth century it acquired this Slavic name and it was soon recognized as one of the most important feudal towns. • Sofia – In nowadays the Bulgarian capital carries the name of St. Sofia (the holy Lady of wisdom), inspired by the name of the church St. Sofia. Sofia Municipality 33, Moskovska Str. (map E3) & 02 937 73 03 www.sofia.bg Population: 1 291 591 Area: 1 310, 8 sq. km The city motto: “Growing without aging” GDP: around 29% of the national GDP Sofia is the biggest and the most dynamic center of the economic life in Bulgaria. Half of the foreign direct investments in Bulgaria are concentrated in the capital. One third of the St. Sofia Church annual tax revenues in the national budget come from Sofia. The region occupies the central part of the CULTURAL HERITAGE Sofia Plain (with average altitude of 550 m) The cultural heritage of Sofia combines traces and it is encircled by the Balkan Mountains (in from the civilizations of the Neolith and the the north) and the Vitosha Mountain and the Thracians, of the ancient Greeks and Romans, Lyulin Mountain (in the south). The area has an of the Slavs and the proto-Bulgarians and the abundance of curative mineral springs (Gorna Ottomans, These tribes and ethnic groups Banya, Ovcha Kupel, Bankya). The Vitosha molded the face of the city through the victories Mountain is an international winter sports and defeats and through the consequent cultural destination. From ancient times, Sofia was well- influences. The socialist realism and the dynamic known as a spa centre, thanks to her 18 healing changes of modernity are still defining the mineral and thermal springs. Those springs development of Sofia and are also part of its have been drawing settlers and conquerors from inextinguishable charm. While be walking on ancient time to nowadays. They are depicted on the streets of Sofia today, people can still see the coat-of-arms of Sofia Municipality. the remnants from older civilizations can still be seen. THROUGH THE CENTURIES As early as the Neolithic age the territory of the Founded seven thousand years ago, Sofia is the present-day million city was inhabited by primitive second oldest European city. The city situated in societies. Archaeologists continue to discover the center of Moesia, Thrace and Macedonia has implements and devices from the Stone, Copper been the official center of the Bulgarian nation for and Bronze ages in the city and in its vicinity. 127 years, since shortly after the Liberation he There are more than 70 Eastern Orthodox was declared for the capital of Bulgaria. churches and monasteries, many of which have Sofia has been the capital of Bulgaria since April become emblematic for the Bulgarian capital. 3, 1879. It is the permanent seat of the National The city center is an eclectic mix of communist Assembly (the Parliament), the Presidency, era neoclassical and West European architecture, the Council of Ministers, the central governing which enchants with its aristocratic atmosphere bodies of various agencies, political parties and and Eastern charm. BULGARIA IN BRIEF 5 6 BULGARIA IN BRIEF SOFIA’S WINTER ADVENTURES Well, you happen to be visiting Sofia in the middle of winter! The freezing weather and snow may surprise you at first, but could be so exciting as well! Considering Sofia is the European capital of sports, every season is the right time to explore the active way of life. Here’s a couple of ways in which you can enjoy the snow and maybe challenge yourself too: IF YOU’RE A FAN OF THE MOUNTAINS Vitosha mountain is a symbol of Sofia and offers excellent ski and snowboarding conditions for a day-trip right next to Sofia with a bonus - panorama of the city from the higher parts! The ski slopes vary in difficulty, length and steepness and are suitable for beginner and advanced skiers and snowboarders, and children as well. Ski equipment is available for rent at Aleko hut. Aleko Ski Center is the oldest in Bulgaria - its altitude is about 1800 meters above sea level, it offers more than 10 different slopes, which are oriented to the north. For ski and snowboard enthusiasts are provided 1 cabin lift, 3 chair lifts, 6 stationary and several portable ski tow-lifts. Other ski centres in the mountain are “Konyarnika - Vetrovala” and “Opheliite”, where usually children go to make their first steps in the sport. Access to the ski slopes is provided by 2 lifts from Sofia, which can be reached by public transport. From Vitosha metrostation you can catch bus 122 to the Simeonovo cabin lift (which will take you directly to Aleko hut) or bus 93 to the Dragalevtsi chair lift (which takes you about half an hour from Aleko hut). The current conditions and working hours of the slopes and facilities are updated on a daily basis at www.skivitosha.com. BULGARIA IN BRIEF 7 IF YOU WANT TO STAY IN THE CITY In winter, the locals of Sofia love to have an ice skating ride! The most popular destination is the Ariana ice rink – an open-air rink working 24/7 during wintertime. After 22:00, you can skate until the morning with only one ticket. Every day at 18:00, a DJ is playing music to contribute to the good mood. It is located in the city center, right at the Eagles’ Bridge, in the Ariana lake – that’s the entrance for the Borisova Gradina Park. If this one happens to be too crowded, there are a couple of other ice rinks you can check out, that are just as great – Yunak rink near the Vasil Levski Stadium and Sportna Sofia near the Mall of Sofia are also outdoor. If the weather happens to be bad, indoor options are – the Winter Sports Palace in Studentski grad district and Slavia ice rink (located, surprisingly, in Slavia district). All places offer ice skates for rent on reasonable prices and lessons with a qualified instructor. Don’t forget to stay safe and follow all guidelines! Get to know Sofia better with our free app VisitSofia, at www.visitsofia.bg and on our Facebook page – Sofia Information Centre! 8 OVERVIEW Monthly Holidays “Surva, surva, vesela godina … Zhivo-zdravo dogodina, dogodina do amina!” [“Hail, New Year! May you be healthy, merry and prosperous, and all the next years too!”] For the start of the new year, January 1, known as brides, girls born in the previous year as well as Surva day, an old Bulgarian tradition dictates that each engaged bachelors and maidens. The young married house is visited by Survakari, young boys carrying couples visit their best man’s family, while the engaged decorated dogwood sticks called survaknitsi. The boys bachelors and their parents formally visit the fiancée’s use the survaknitsi sticks to pat each family member house. The future mother-in-law washes the fiancée’s on the back and simultaneously reciting a short verse face and attaches a green twig and a gold coin to her as a blessing to hail in a fertile and healthy new year. headdress. In the evening, the maidens fill multi-coloured woven There is more magical water and additional ritual bags with large doughnut-shaped loafs of bread, wine bathing taking place on the following day, January in buklitsi (small ornate wooden vessels), cooked pork 8, known as Babinden (the day of the baba, i.e.