Bulgaria for Easter

This year I decided to head to Bulgaria for Easter. I had heard great things about Bulgaria before I left and it lived up to the hype, including how cheap it is (and I live in Berlin!). Sofia was home base for me. It is the capital of Bulgaria and reflects the diverse history the country has had. You can see influences from the Greeks, Romans, Ottoman Empire and Soviet occupation throughout the city. Following the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, it became a parliamentary democracy with its first free election in 1990.

Once again it was a free walking tour which starts at the Palace of Justice and heads straight towards Sveta Nedelya Plaza where Sveta Nedelya Church stands. 

The church was built at the end of the 19th century and is said to lie directly above the crossroads of ancient Serdica (the original Sofia). In 1925 it was largely destroyed in a bomb blast assassination attempt on Tsar Boris III which proved unsuccessful. The Bulgarians are famous for not being on time and in this case, it worked in the Tsar’s favour!

Just because Serdica is going to come a few times we will cover this now - The first Christian Emperor Constantine the Great, (he’s the one who made Christianity a lawful religion in Roman society),  moved the capital city of his empire to the East. This city was called Serdica or as Constantine called it - "my Rome."

In the middle of the intersection of Maria Louisa Blvd and Todor Alexandrov Blvd. is the statute of Sofia which is weird because it’s not even really the symbol of the city. It was put up to replace Lenin’s monument when the country became a democracy. While the replacement was accepted, the new statute was not so much which you can probably tell why by the photos . . .

In this area you can also see the diversity of the city – there is St Joseph's Catholic Church, Sofia Synagogue, Banya Bashi Mosque and a huge soviet style building which now houses a shopping centre.

Upon digging a new metro line, workers found some of Ancient Serdica which is what you see in the above and underground you can find some of the original gates to the city. 

Additionally you will find the site where stands Sveta Petka Samardzhiiska Church. It was built in the 14th century during Ottoman rule, which is why it is below ground level. The national hero, Vassil Levski, is said to have been buried here after having been hanged by the Ottomans though there is no proof.

The Central Baths are no longer used as such (now a museum) but still reside over the mineral springs. Each fountain is said to have different healing properties – for example, helping with heart disease. Locals will come by to fill up and bring the water home even though it has a slight sulphur smell and taste!

Completed in 1953, the Communist Party House was the seat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party until August 1990. In the summer of 1990 it was set on fire by crowds protesting against communist rule. Today it is a museum and the surrounding buildings are government offices.

Just behind the parliament, is St. George Rotunda, a red brick church that dates back to the 4th century, although it did not become a church till the 6th century. It is Sofia's oldest preserved building.

The next set of buildings border the City Park which was already in bloom and filled with people given the nice weather that day. The buildings include Ivan Vazov National Theatre built in 1907 and a part of the former royal palace which is now the Ethnographic Museum.

And then it was off to the final stops which are probably the most famous in Sofia – St. Sofia Church and Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.