In addition to being the dynamic capital of Bulgaria, the city of Sofia is a capital of Eastern Europe, with a lively and enticing centre that draws millions of visitors both to its unique and cultural streets and surrounding natural beauty. Although the city centre is restricted to the central area of Sofia, the whole city contains 1.4 million people, making it the largest city in the country and one of the most cultural in Bulgaria, renowned for its diverse and historic architecture. Sofia city centre is full of buildings that reveal its interesting past, displaying a range of communist style architecture along with a typical European cityscape that makes it a unique capital of the continent.
The city centre of Sofia is saturated in ancient ruins and historic landmarks, such as the preserved ancient amphitheatre of Serdica and even streets themselves, which are made from a distinct yellow stone that defines the landscape of the capital. One of the most defining features of Sofia city centre is the many Orthodox Churches, like St Nicholas, and, one of the largest in the world, St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Other interesting buildings include an abundance of museums, like the National Museum of Military History, the Earth and Man National Museum and the National Museum of Natural History, all of which reveal aspects of Bulgarian culture. Uniquely, in Sofia, visitors can see the natural phenomenon of mineral springs scattered around the city with one existing in the centre in a square behind the Banya Bashi mosque, open for everyone to witness, or visitors can enjoy nature at the City Garden.
Sofia Airport serves the centre, which only nine kilometres away is easily accessible and has public transport links throughout the city, including public buses and the local metro lines. Visitors can also travel by bus or train to Sofia as both main terminals are in the city centre, with connections throughout Bulgaria. Within the city centre, visitors can walk between the major landmarks, or use the Sofia metro system.
The history of Sofia city centre dates back 2,500 when the city was founded and used for its strategic location, later also utilised by the Roman Empire and it continued to grow outwards, gradually developing its historic architecture. The quintessential yellow stone pavements of the centre came from the 1900s, as a wedding present from the royal family of Austria-Hungary.