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SOFIMUN.org ---> Sofia City --->
Sofia History |
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SOFIA History |
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 One
of the oldest cities in Europe, the history of
Sofia (Thracian name Serdika, ancient Bulgarian
name: Sredetz) can be traced back some 7000 years
ago - prehistoric settlements were excavated in
the centre of the present city. The well preserved
town walls (especially their substructures) from
antiquity date back before the 7th century BC,
when Thracians established their city next to the
most important and highly respected mineral
spring, still functioning today. Sofia has had
several names in the different periods of its
existence, and remnants of the city's millenary
history can still be seen today alongside modern
landmarks.
Sofia's development as a significant settlement
owes much to its central position in the Balkans.
It first became part of Bulgaria during The First
Bulgarian Empire in 809 and was proclaimed for
capitol in 1879, just a year after the Bulgarian
liberation from the Ottoman Empire in 1878.
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Antiquity
Sofia was originally a Thracian settlement called
Serdica, or Sardica, possibly named after the
Celtic tribe Serdi. For a short period during the
4th century BC, the city was ruled by Philip of
Macedonia and his son Alexander the Great.
Around BC 29, Serdica was conquered by the Romans.
It became a municipium, or centre of an
administrative region, during the reign of Emperor
Trajan (98-117) and was renamed Ulpia Serdica.
It seems that the first written mention of Serdica
was made by Ptolemy (around 100 AD). Serdica (Sardica)
expanded, as turrets, protective walls, public
baths, administrative and cult buildings, a civic
basilica, an amphitheatre - the City Council (Boulé),
a large Forum, a big Circus (Theatre), etc. were
built.
When Emperor Diocletian divided the province of
Dacia into Dacia Ripensis (at the banks of the
Danube) and Dacia Mediterranea, Serdica became the
capital of Dacia Mediterranea. The city
subsequently expanded for a century and a half, it
became a significant political and economical
centre, moreover — it became one of the first
Roman cities where Christianity was recognized as
a official religion (Åmperor Galerius). So it was
only very natural that Constantine the Great
called Serdica (Sardica) "My Rome". In 343 A.D. ,
the Council of Sardica was held in the city, in a
church located where the current 6th century
Church of Saint Sofia was later built. Serdica was
of moderate size, but magnificent as an urban
concept of planning and architecture, with
abundant amusements and an active social life. It
flourished during the reign of Byzantine Emperor
Justinian I, when it was surrounded with great
fortress walls whose remnants can still be seen
today.
The city was destroyed by the Huns in 447 but was
rebuilt by Justinian and for a while called
Triaditsa or Sredets by the slavonic tribes.
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Middle Ages
Sofia first became part of the First Bulgarian
Empire during the reign of Khan Krum in 809, after
a long siege. Afterwards, it was known by the
Bulgarian name "Sredets" and grew into an
important fortress and administrative centre.
After the fall of North-Eastern Bulgaria under
John I Tzimiskes' armies in 971, the Bulgarian
Patriarch Damyan chose Sofia for his seat in the
next year. After a number of unsuccessful sieges,
the city fell to the Byzantine Empire in 1018, but
once again was incorporated into the restored
Bulgarian Empire at the time of Tsar Ivan Asen I.
From the 12th to the 14th century, Sofia was a
thriving centre of trade and crafts. It is
possible that it had been called by the common
population Sofia (meaning "wisdom" in Ancient
Greek) about 1376 after the Church of St. Sofia.
However, in different testimonies it was called
both "Sofia" and "Sredets" until the end of the
19th century. In 1382, Sofia (Turkish: Sofya) was
seized by the Ottoman Empire in the course of the
Bulgarian-Ottoman Wars - after a long siege the
city was captured with treason. The new name
"Sofia" replaced the old one ("Sredets"), after
the liberation of the city from Turkish rule in
1878. Quite some time after 1878 there was a
strong will, expressed by Bulgarian committees, to
keep the name Sredets, but the Russian
administration accepted Sofia.
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Ottoman rule
After the campaign of Władysław III of Poland in
1443 towards Sofia, the city's Christian elite was
annihilated and became the capital of the Ottoman
province (beylerbeylik) of Rumelia for more than 4
centuries, which encouraged many Turks to settle
there. In the 16th century, Sofia's urban layout
and appearance began to exhibit a clear Ottoman
style, with many mosques, fountains and hamams
(bathhouses). During that time the town had a
population of around 7,000 which rose to 55,000 by
the mid 17th century.
The town was seized for several weeks by Bulgarian
haiduks in 1599. In 1610 the Vatican established
the See of Sofia for Catholics of Rumelia, which
existed until 1715 when most Catholics had
emigrated. In the 16th century there were 126
Jewish households, and there has been a synagogue
in Sofia since 967. It was the center of Sofya
Eyalet (1826–1864).
End of Ottoman Rule
Sofia
was taken by Russian forces on January 4, 1878,
during the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78, and became
the capital of the autonomous Principality of
Bulgaria in 1879, which became the Kingdom of
Bulgaria in 1908. It was proposed as a capital by
Marin Drinov and was accepted as such on 3 April
1879. By the time of its liberation the population
of the city was 11,649. For a few decades after
the liberation the city experienced large
population growth mainly from other regions of the
country.
In
1925 the St Nedelya Church assault was carried out
by the Bulgarian Communist Party which claimed the
lives of 170 people and injured another 500.
During
World War II, Sofia was bombed by Allied aircraft
in late 1943 and early 1944. As a consequence of
the invasion of the Soviet Red Army, Bulgaria's
government, which was allied with Germany, was
overthrown.
Republic of Bulgaria
The
transformations of Bulgaria into a People's
Republic in 1946 and Republic of Bulgaria marked
significant changes in the city's appearance. The
population of Sofia expanded at high rates due to
migration from province.
Names
Sofia
was first mentioned in the sources as Serdica in
relation to Marcus Licinius Crassus' campaigns in
29 BC. The name Serdica or Sardica was popular in
Latin, Ancient Greek and Byzantine Greek sources
from Antiquity and the Middle Ages; it was related
to the local Celtic tribe of the Serdi. The name
was last used in the 19th century in a Bulgarian
text, Service and hagiography of Saint George the
New of Sofia. Another of Sofia's names, Triaditsa,
was mentioned in Greek medieval sources. The
Bulgarian name Sredets, an adaptation of Serdica,
first appeared in the 11th-century Vision of
Daniel and was widely used in the Middle Ages. The
current name Sofia was first used in the
14th-century Vitosha Charter of Bulgarian Tsar
Ivan Shishman or in a Ragusan merchant's notes of
1376; it refers to the famous Hagia Sophia Church,
an ancient church in the city named after the
Christian concept of the Holy Wisdom. Although
Sredets remained in use until the late 18th
century, Sofia gradually overcame the Slavic name
in popularity. During the Ottoman rule it was
called Sofya by the Turkish population.
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'.
Interestingly, the female given name "Sofia" is
pronounced by Bulgarians with a stress on the 'i'.
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Twin towns — Sister cities - Sofia is twinned
with:
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Algiers, Algeria
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Ankara, Turkey
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Berlin, Germany
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Bratislava, Slovakia
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Brussels, Belgium
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Bucharest, Romania
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Budapest, Hungary
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Bursa, Turkey
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Helsinki, Finland
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Kiev, Ukraine
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London, United Kingdom
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Madrid, Spain
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Milan, Italy
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Paris, France
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Pittsburgh, United States
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Prague, Czech Republic
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Saint Petersburg, Russia
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Maraş, Turkey
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Skopje, Macedonia
- Tel
Aviv, Israel
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Tirana, Albania
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Warsaw, Poland
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SOFIA
Today |
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 Sofia
is the city of variety and contrasts. Along with
its remarkable heritage and rich cultural life,
plenty of galleries, museum, theatres, Sofia has a
good tradition in nightlife with huge number of
night clubs, disco’s, and restaurants. Together
with its...
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read more... |
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SOFIA Future |
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 Sofia’s
huge potential determined by the opportune
location from an international and local point of
view, the excellent communications and transport
connections by air, road and railway as...
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read more... |
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SOFIA Guide |
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Transportation in Sofia.
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Where can I buy...
- Be
careful with...
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Going to... not a good idea.
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Sight seeing - 1,2,3...
- Park
walk - yes, but...
- Must
see in Sofia.
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Restaurants & cafes.
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Events during SOFIMUN - out of program.
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Clubs where SOFIMUN parties will be held. |
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read
more... |
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SOFIA Maps |
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 Maps
of SOFIMUN events and Sofia city
- Map
of Sofia city.
- Map
of committees' venues.
- Map
of hotels.
- Map
of "Must see in Sofia".
- Map
of SOFIMUN parties.
- Map
of main transportation.
- Map
of embassies of foreign states.
- Map
of main institutions.
- Map
of museums and galleries.
- Map
of emergency help centres. |
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see the maps... |
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Bulgaria
Info |
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 Facts
and figures
- Where is Bulgaria?
- Why is it called Bulgaria?
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Nature of Bulgaria.
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Traditions of Bulgaria.
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Bulgaria and its culture.
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Bulgaria on the sports arena.
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Bulgarian food and drinks.
- You
use it everyday - Bulgarians invented it!
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Things you must see in Bulgaria!
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Bulgaria and the world!
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Bulgaria at the UN.
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Other stuff... ofcoarse about Bulgaria. |
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info here... |
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