Sofia, of course, beautiful city. The capital of Bulgaria and one of the oldest cities in Europe is full of historical attractions. And what:
Banya-Bashi-Mosque
It is assumed that this mosque was built in the middle of the 16th century. At the same time, this is the only functioning Muslim temple in Sofia. The quadrangular building of red bricks with a large dome and high minaret is an excellent sample of the Ottoman architecture of that period. The walls of the prayer hall, arches and columns are made of stone, the main dome is covered with tin plates. Many changes of the mosque acquired in the 20s of the XX century, and the reconstruction sponsored the Turkish ambassador to Sofia. About 1,200 people can fit the mosque. There is a mosque in the city center, the nearest metro station - SSERDICA.
Buyuk-Mosque (Archaeological Museum)
The nine-footed temple, erected at the end of the 15th century on the ruins of the old Christian monastery, was a refuge for a wide variety of objects. The hospital and the library, and the printing house were located here. A beautiful building, seized by ivy, today is the oldest archaeological museum of the country. He was founded in 1879. The museum collections are impressive - more than 55,000 exhibits are not jokes. And here you can look at the largest collection of coins (in Bulgaria Doli, not all over the world). On the first floor of the museum - a collection of objects of Roman, Thracian, Greek and the Byzantine periods. For example, here you can see the early Christian mosaic from the Cathedral of Saint Sophia, pieces of Roman and Greek sarcophagus, tombstones of the III-IV centuries. Yesho There is something "Wolchitrunskoe Treasure" - 13 Golden Thracian vessels of 12.5 kilograms. Most likely, they were used for rituals. Very interesting things, they were even placed in a separate room. There are a statue of Apollo from bronze, covered with a hop. True, without part of the leg and hands. But still impressive. Another interesting statue is a copy of the statue of the Madar rider (the original statue is carved in a rock next to the Madara village, it did not succeed:) on the second floor - the Epoch of the Neolithic era: dishes from clay, weapons, dishes and other. There is also a room with icons and parts of old frescoes.
Address: ul. Edborn 2.
Cathedral Alexander Nevsky (Alexandronevskaya Lavra)
The temple was built in 1882 - 1912 on projects of Russian architects in honor of hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers who died in the war of 1878, helping Bulgaria to throw off the shackles of Turkish domination. The Cathedral is the largest Orthodox church in the Balkans and the biggest Cathedral of Bulgaria, its area - 2600 square meters. m., Height - 52 m. The bell tower of the cathedral is crowned with 12 gilded bells, the largest of which weighs 11,758 kg. This is a five-foot temple, richly decorated with mosaic, stained glass and frescoes. The Central Altar is dedicated to Saint Alexander Nevsky, the Southern Altar - St. Boris, who brought Christianity in Bulgaria, and the North - Saint Cyril and Methodius, those who created Kirillic. Under the cathedral there is a dungeon where the icon museum is located, where you can admire the collection of 300 icons and frescoes from the whole country.
Address: pl. Alexander Nevsky (metro St. Clement Ohridski)
Login: About 7 dollars (10 LV)
Schedule: Cathedral - daily 07:00 - 18:00. Museum - 10:30 - 18:30, except Tuesday.
Church of St. Sophia (Sofia Light)
This is an Orthodox church opposite the Temple of Alexander Nevsky. He was erected in the VI century on the ruins of older churches. The structure in the shape of a cross, with a large dome. An early christian floor mosaic is impressive. In the XVI century, the temple became a mosque, 2 minarets were added to the structure. In the first quarter of the last century, an earthquake occurred, which destroyed minarets. And some time later, Holy Sofia became the Orthodox church again.
Address: pl. Alexander Nevsky
Church of St. George (Sveti Georgi)
The church was built in about the end of the III - early IV centuries. It is believed that this is the most ancient Church of Sofia. From the 16th century to 1878, the church was a mosque. Internally, the decoration is very beautiful. The main value is the frescoes of the VI - XII centuries. The temple is still valid.
Address: Boulevard Prince Dontukov, 2 (Metro Angry)
National Historical Museum
The collection of this museum is more than 650,000 exhibits, and they are called upon to acquaint their guests with the history of Bulgaria from the most ancient times to the present day. The museum has three sections that are devoted to archeology, history and ethnography. I think you should not list what you can see. The museum was founded in 73 last centuries.
Address: ul. Vitoshko Lale, 16
Schedule: November-March 9:00 - 17:30, April-October 9:30 - 18:00 every day
Lviv Most.
Look for this bridge in the north of the city center. If you follow the central railway station. It runs through the river Vlayskaya. Bridge erected at the end of the 19th century instead of an old bridge. It is not difficult to guess what is called the bridge so because it is guarded by four sculptures of Lviv from bronze. The whole design cost is quite expensive, but now is one of the symbols of Sofia. By the way, one of these Lviv was depicted on a banknote of 20 levs from 1999 to 2007. Well, I think you definitely do not miss this bridge, exploring the historic center of the city.
Tomb of Prince Alexander I Bateberg
Alexander I Bateberg is the first after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the ruler of Bulgaria. His tomb is located in the city center. Prior to that, the remains of the ruler were in the Cathedral of St. George (up to 87 years of the last century). The tomb is an interesting construction with a height of 11 meters in the old-year style. Alexander Sarcofan is made of marble.
Doctoral garden
A small park in the center of Sofia is called, because there is a monument to medical workers, who in the Russian-Turkish war died, saving people. This monument from granite and sandstone in the center of the park was set here in 1884. Looking like a monument to a pyramid on which the names of 531 doctors participating are written. The base of the pyramid is decorated with bronze wreaths. Representatives of the Red Cross of Bulgaria honors the memory of colleagues on March 3 every year in this park. Also in the park there is a lapidarium - the exposition of ancient samples of the letter on the stones plates. He is small, but very intriguing. Also in the park are part of the ancient buildings with the Balkans. For example, decorating the temple of Zeus 2nd centuries - they were found under the Garibaldi square in the center of Sofia.