Sofia This article is about the capital of Bulgaria. For other uses, see Sofia (disambiguation). Warning: Page using Template:Infobox settlement with unknown parameter “pushpin_map_caption1” (this message is shown only in preview). Warning: Page using Template:Infobox settlement with unknown parameter “pushpin_map1” (this message is shown only in preview). Sofia (/ˈsoʊfiə/ or /ˈsɒfiə/ or /soʊˈfiːə/;[9][10])(Bulgarian: София, Sofiya,[5][11]pronounced [ˈsɔfiə, ˈsɔfjə]) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. The city has a popu- lation of 1.26 million, while over 1.5 million people live in its functional urban area. The city is located at the foot of Vitosha Mountain in the western part of the coun- try, within less than 50 kilometres (31 mi) drive from the Serbian border. Its location in the centre of the Balkan peninsula means that it is the midway between the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea, whereas the Aegean Sea is the closest to it.[12][13] Sofia has been an area of human habitation since at least 7000 BCE.[3] Being Bulgaria’s primate city, Sofia is a hometown of many of the major local universities, cul- tural institutions and commercial companies.[14] Sofia is The feast day of Saint Sofia on September 17 is the official public one of the top 10 best places for start-up business in the holiday of the city.[17] world, especially in IT technologies.[15] Sofia is Europe’s most affordable capital to visit as of 2013.[16] πόλις, “City of the Serdi”) and Triaditza (Τριάδιτζα, “Trinity”), were mentioned by Byzantine Greek sources or coins. The Slavic name Sredets (Срѣдецъ), which is 1 Names related to “middle” (среда, “sreda”) and to the city’s earli- est name, first appeared on paper in an 11th-century text. The city was called Atralissa by the Arab traveler Idrisi For the longest time the city possessed[18] a Thracian and Strelisa, Stralitsa or Stralitsion by the Crusaders.[25] name, derived from the tribe Serdi, who were ei- ther of Thracian,[5][12] Celtic,[19] or mixed Thracian- Celtic origin.[20][21] The Serdi and the name of emperor Marcus Ulpius Traianus (53 – 117 AD) prompted the Romans to give the city the combinative name of Ulpia Serdica;[22][23] Ulpia is derived from an Umbrian cognate of the Latin word lupus, meaning “wolf.”[24] It seems that the first written mention of Serdica was made dur- ing his reign and the last mention was in the 19th cen- tury in a Bulgarian text (Сардакіи, Sardaki). During the Romans civitas Serdenisium was mentioned the “bright- est city of the Serdi” in official inscriptions. The city was The first seal of the city from 1878 which calls it Sredets major throughout the past ever since Antiquity, when Ro- man emperor Constantine the Great referred to it as “my [26] [18] The name Sofia comes from the Saint Sofia Church, as Rome”, and it nearly became his capital. opposed to the prevailing Slavic etymology among Bul- Other names given to Sofia, such as Serdonpolis (Σερδών garian cities and towns. It is ultimately derived from the 1 2 2 GEOGRAPHY Egyptian Kemetic word sbÅ (), meaning “star, Vladayska and the Perlovska. The Iskar River in its up- door, teaching and wisdom” and attested first in the 20th per course flows near eastern Sofia. The city is known century BC in the tomb of Intef I.[27] [28][29][30] This was a for its 49 mineral and thermal springs. Artificial and tradition of collection of wise literature, shared between dam lakes were built in the twentieth century. The 1818 Mediterranean cultures, which was called sophia (σοφία) Sofia earthquake was a 6.0–7.2 Medvedev–Sponheuer– in Greek.[31] The earliest works where this latest name is Karnik Scale earthquake, the 1858 earthquake was an 6,6 registered are the duplicate of the Gospel of Serdica, in same scale earthquake though reaching up to 10 in parts a dialog between two salesmen from Dubrovnik around such as Boyana, this was followed by a 7–8 MSK Sofia 1359, in the 14th-century Vitosha Charter of Bulgarian earthquake in 1917 and finally by the 2012 Pernik earth- tsar Ivan Shishman and in a Ragusan merchant’s notes quake which was a 5.6 M (or 5.8 ML)[35] magnitude of 1376.[32] In these documents the city is called Sofia, earthquake. The 2014 Aegean Sea earthquake was also but at the same time the region and the city’s inhabi- noticed in the city. tants are still called Sredecheski (срѣдечьскои, “of Sre- Air pollution is a problem in Sofia due to its location in dets”), which continued until the 20th century. The city the Sofia valley, which is surrounded by mountains that became somehow popular to the Ottomans by the name reduce the ability of the air to self-clean. The air is -In 1879 there was a dispute about what polluted mostly by particulate matters and nitrogen ox .(صوفيا) Sofya the name of the new Bulgarian capital should be, when ides.[36] Sofia has the most polluted air of any capital in the citizens created a committee of famous people, in- the EU.[37] sisting for the Slavic name. Gradually, a compromise arose, officialisation of Sofia for the nationwide institu- tions, while legitimating the title Sredets for the adminis- trative and church institutions, before the latter was aban- 2.1 Climate doned through the years.[33] The city’s name is pronounced by Bulgarians with a stress on the 'o', in contrast with the tendency of foreigners to place the stress on 'i'. The female given name “Sofia” is pronounced by Bulgarians with a stress on the 'i'. 2 Geography Summer lightning storms over Sofia Sofia has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb) with an average annual temperature of 10.6 °C (51.1 °F). Winters are cold and snowy. In the coldest days tem- The skyline of Sofia, Bulgaria, with the Vitosha mountain in peratures can drop below −15 °C (5 °F), most notably in the background during winter January. The lowest recorded temperature is −28.3 °C (−19 °F) (January 24, 1942).[38] Fog is not unusual, es- Sofia has an area of 492 km2, while Sofia City Province pecially in the beginning of the season. On average, Sofia has an area of 1344 km2.[34] Sofia’s development as a sig- receives a total snowfall of 97 cm (38.2 in) and 58 days with snow cover.[39][40] The snowiest recorded winter was nificant settlement owes much to its central position in the [41] Balkans. It is situated in western Bulgaria, at the northern 1995/1996 with a total snowfall of 171 cm (67.3 in). The record snow depth is 57 cm (22.4 in) (December 25, foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the Sofia Valley that is [42] surrounded by the Balkan mountains to the north. The 2001). valley has an average altitude of 550 metres (1,800 ft). Summers are warm and sunny. In summer, the city gen- Unlike most European capitals, Sofia does not have any erally remains slightly cooler than other parts of Bulgaria, large rivers or bridges, but is surrounded by comparatively due to its higher altitude. However, the city is also sub- high mountains on all sides. Three mountain passes lead jected to heat waves with high temperatures reaching or to the city, which have been key roads since antiquity, exceeding 35 °C (95 °F) in the hottest days, particularly Vitosha being the watershed between Black and Aegean in July and August. The highest recorded temperature is Seas. A number of low rivers cross the city, including the 41 °C (106 °F) (July 5, 2000 and July 24, 2007).[43][44] 3.1 Prehistory and antiquity 3 The hottest recorded summer was in 2012 with a daily average July temperature of 24.8 °C (76.6 °F).[45] Springs and autumns in Sofia are relatively short with vari- able and dynamic weather, intensive storms, sudden cold or heat waves. The city receives an average precipitation of 581.8 mm (22.91 in) a year, reaching its peak in late spring and early summer when thunderstorms are common. The wettest recorded year was 2014 with a total precipitation of 1,066.6 mm (41.99 in).[46] 3 History Main article: History of Sofia See also: Timeline of Sofia 3.1 Prehistory and antiquity A restored city plan of Roman Serdica under Marcus Aurelius (161–180) whereas others assume their mixed Thracian-Celtic ori- gin or relation to the Sards. The earliest evidence of O: head of river-god Strymon R: trident Celtic presence in the Sofia area (Pernik) can be from This coin imitates Macedonian issue from 187–168 BC. It was the 3rd century BC.[63] Some clues lead to the conclu- struck by Serdi tribe as their own currency. sion that the area of the settlement was between TZUM, [60][64] Sofia has been an area of continuous human habita- Sheraton Hotel and the Presidency. In the 500s tion since at least the 8th millennium BC,[3] but others BC, the area became part of a Thracian tribal union, have inhabited the area 30,000 years ago.[54] The city called the Odrysian kingdom, when another Thracian has a history of nearly 7000 years and it is the sec- tribe appeared in the town, the Odrysses. For a short ond oldest city in Europe according to the city’s offi- period the Thracian rule was possibly interrupted by the Achaemenid Empire. In 339 BC Philip II of Macedon de- cial website and other sources, though the meaning of [54] the claim is unclear as in the world there were hardly stroyed and ravaged the town which was its first time.