Showing 1-8 of 8 results
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1300 Years Monument
At the northern end of pl Bulgaria is the disintegrating 1300 Years Monument, built in 1981 to celebrate the anniversary of the creation of the First Bulgarian Empire. It has been falling to pieces and fenced off for years, and nobody seems to want to take responsibility for the renovation - or more likely, the demolition - of this unloved monstrosity.
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Borisova Gradina
Sofia's most attractive expanse of greenery is home to the Vasil Levski Stadium, CSKA Stadium and Maria Luisa Pool, as well as bike tracks and tennis courts. It's laid out with countless statues and flowerbeds, and is a relaxing place to take a leisurely stroll on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
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Doctors' Garden
Just behind the National Library, in one of the smartest residential areas in town, this neat, secluded and well-maintained park is a pleasant place to catch your breath. At the centre is a big, pyramidal monument dedicated to the medics who died in the Russo-Turkish War (1877-78). Also here is an outdoor lapidarium featuring lots of Roman architectural fragments dug up around Sofia.
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Monument to the Soviet Army
The giant Monument to the Soviet Army was built to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Russian 'liberation' of Bulgaria in 1944 and is a prime example of the forceful socialist-realism of the period. The place of honour goes to a Red Army soldier atop a column, surrounded by animated cast-iron sculptural groups depicting determined, gun-waving soldiers and grateful, child-caressing members of the proletariat.
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Pl Bulgaria
The National Palace of Culture (NDK) watches over an elongated park known as Pl Bulgaria. There are a few kiosks and sociable bars here for those in search of a cheap alfresco beer, as well as carts selling popcorn and ice cream. It's also a favourite venue for Sofia's skateboarding teens.
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Sofia City Garden
Take a break from pounding the city streets and rest up in the leafy Sofia City Garden, with its cafés, swings, flowerbeds and lovely fountain, where old men gather to play chess. Until its sudden and unceremonious demolition in 1999, the mausoleum of Bulgaria's first communist ruler, Georgi Dimitrov, squatted at the northern end of the park facing the Royal Palace. It has since been replaced by some shrubbery.
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Sofia Monument
Erected in 2001 on the site where a gigantic statue of Lenin once stood, the 24m-high Sofia Monument was created as a new civic symbol for the city. The bronze female figure at the top of the column, holding the wreath of victory in her right hand and balancing an owl on her left arm, represents Sofia, personification of wisdom and fate.
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Sveta Nedelya Cathedral
The magnificent domed Sveta Nedelya Cathedral is one of the city's major landmarks. Built between 1856 and 1863 on the foundations of several older churches, the cathedral's interior is covered with rich, Byzantine-style murals of saints. A glass case to the right of the iconostasis holds the body of Sveti Kral Stefan Milotin, a medieval king of Serbia, wrapped in a velvet robe. The bones are said to have miraculous healing powers.
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Showing 1-8 of 8 results
