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 22 ACCOMMODATION top-class Hotels & Services Apartments: HOTELS êêê 30 RESTAURANTS êêêêê Hotel Villa Boyana Arena di Serdika Favorit Hotel 34 SHOPS Sofia Hotel Balkan Gloria Palace Hilton Hotel Montecito Hotel Holiday Inn Sofia Hotel Meg-Lozenetz Hotel 38 NIGHT LIFE Intercontinental Hotel Park Hotel Moskva Sofia Place Hotel êêêê 40 CULTURE Art ‘Otel êê BWP Hotel Expo BW City Hotel The House Hotel 50 BG IN BRRIEF BW Premier Sofia ê Coop Hotel easyHotel 58 USEFUL NUMBERS Grami Hotel Madrid Hotel Maria Luisa Hotel Metropolitan Hotel Sofia City ® Info Guide Novotel Sofia Hotel Ramada Hotel Publisher: AMATI BULGARIA Ltd. Design: AMATI BULGARIA Ltd. APARTMENT RENTALS & HOSTELS Apartment House Bulgaria On the Cover: 140 years SOFIA Anniversary 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 – 140 years capital of Bulgaria This year, Sofia is celebrating the 140th anniversary of becoming the capital of Bulgaria. However, its history as a settlement dates back to the 6th millennium BC. Thus, in Sofia you can feel the atmosphere of each era - there are remains of the ancient Thracian settlement of Serdica and the fortress wall from the II century; the Roman Rotunda of St. George from the IV century, Basilica St Sophia from the VI century after which the city was named; the unique murals of the Boyana Church from the XIII century included in the UNESCO World Heritage List and many others. After numerous periods of prosperity and decline, today Sofia is still alive and continues to flourish thanks to the strong spirit of its residents. In April 2019 Sofia will celebrate its 140th anniversary with a rich and diverse program of events – come and share our joy!!! OLD photos BY www.stara-sofia.com BULGARIA IN BRIEF 7 Sofia – 140 years capital of Bulgaria WHEN, WHERE, WHAT March 27 (Wednesday) 7 pm - The crypt of May 9/10, 7 pm, National Art Gallery - The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral; Palace Concert of Vassil Arnaudov Sofia Chamber Concert of Sofia Soloists and Vassil Arnaudov Choir Sofia Chamber Choir March 29 (Friday) 6:30 pm – Nadezhda MCI Hall May 15 (Wednesday) 6 pm, the Largo/ Concert of Sofia Jazz Formation; soloist: Yana Borisova Gradina Park Chakalska, concert featuring Bulgarian songs Performance of the ensembles of Sredets MCI – Kiwi Modern Ballet Studio, Sredets Sports April 3 (Wednesday) 11am - St Alexander Dance Club, Daga Vocal Studio, Sredets Dance Nevsky Square Ensemble, Zdravets Dance Ensemble. Official ceremony of consecration and giving flags to schools in the capital - with the April 1 –14, Lovers’ Bridge Photos of Sofia Exhibition, author: Temelko participation of the National Guards Unit, the Temelkov Representative Brass Band of the National Guards Unit and the Metropolitan of Sofia. April 1 - 15, City Garden An exhibition dedicated to the 140th Every Wednesday in April and May, 6 pm, the anniversary of the proclamation of Sofia as Largo Capital of Bulgaria organized by the State A series of concerts and performances of the Archive. ensembles of the Municipal Cultural Institutes April 3 - Historical Route - Behind the - Sofia Wind Orchestra (3.04, 17.04, 8.05), Facades of Sofia’s Houses - a free tour (you Sofia Jazz Formation (10.04), Daga Vocal must sign up in advance). Studio (10.04, 8.05, 15.05); Sredets Dance Ensemble (17.04, 15.05), Vassil Arnaudov Retro Streetcar – it will travel along the central Sofia Chamber Choir (22.05), Sofia Sinfonietta streets of Sofia on the occasion of 20 years (22.05), Igra Theatre Studio (29.05), Sofia since its restoration and being put into service. Soloists Chamber Ensemble, Sredets Sports You can find more information at: Dance Club, Masha Ilieva Ballet School and www.facebook.com/historicalroutes and others. www.facebook.com/InformationCentreSofia 8 OVERVIEW OVERVIEW 9 10 OVERVIEW Sofia’s Symbols National Assembly The University of Sofia (map E3) St. Kliment Ohridski The building of the National Assembly (map E4) (Parliament of the Republic of Bulgaria) is located on the square of the same name, situated on In front of the entrance to the oldest and largest Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd. Parliament is the state high school in Bulgaria is standing the bronze body of the legislature power in the country. The sculpture of the brothers Hristo and Evlogi building of the National Assembly was built after Georgievi, with the financial support of which it the Liberation in 1884 on the idea of Konstantin was built. Founded in 1888, in the 1904 the high Jovanovic, an architect from Vienna in Neo- school was declared a university. He is called Renaissance style. The slogan “The Unity Makes of the name of St. Kliment Ohridski, founder of the Strength” is written above the entrance of the the Ohrid Literary School. The building of the National Assembly. Against the Parliament is the Rectorate is located on Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd., monument of the Tzar-liberator Alexander II, and and today the university is the largest and most in close proximity are the Sofia University and St.