At a single intersection in central Sofia, a mosque, a synagogue, a Catholic cathedral, and an Eastern Orthodox church all stand within easy sight of one another, an area locals and tourism officials have taken to calling the “Square of Religious Tolerance,” a physical layout that reflects Sofia’s genuinely long history as a crossroads city where Ottoman, Jewish, Catholic, and Orthodox communities coexisted, sometimes uneasily, across centuries of shifting rule.
Sofia is among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe, with archaeological evidence of settlement dating back roughly 7,000 years, and beneath its modern streets, particularly around the ancient Serdica archaeological complex, visitors can walk directly through excavated Roman ruins integrated into the working metro system, commuters passing 4th-century mosaics on their way to catch a train.
A City Named for Wisdom, Shadowed by a Mountain
Sofia takes its name from the Church of Saint Sophia, “Holy Wisdom,” a 6th-century Byzantine church still standing near the city centre, and the city sits directly beneath Vitosha Mountain, whose slopes rise close enough that Sofia is one of the few European capitals offering genuine hiking and skiing within a short tram ride of downtown. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia’s most recognisable landmark, was built in the early 20th century to commemorate Russian soldiers who died helping liberate Bulgaria from nearly five centuries of Ottoman rule, its golden domes now the defining image of the city’s skyline.
Despite over 40 years of Communist rule following the Second World War, Sofia has retained substantial pre-war architecture alongside its Soviet-era monuments, a layered cityscape still being actively reinterpreted since Bulgaria’s transition to democracy in 1990.
Painting Golden Domes Beneath a Mountain
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral’s golden domes against Vitosha Mountain’s slopes give a watercolourist rich colour and dramatic natural backdrop to work with. We’ve captured that setting in our own Sofia Watercolor Print, painted first by hand and printed to order on archival paper, a small piece of Bulgaria for a wall at home.
Home to four faiths within sight of one another and Roman ruins beneath its metro, Sofia remains one of Europe’s quieter capitals for a history this genuinely layered.