After the strangeness of Bucharest, it is nice to be back to just wandering around a vibrant European city - Sofia (incidentally pronounced Sof-ia not So-fia). Serdika is the Roman name for Sofia and this becomes very apparent around the Serdika metro station, which is right in the city centre. Like Athens and Thessaloniki digging down just a few metres reveals a lot about the city's past and like those two cities, Sofia has had to build its metro system around the archaeological remains. Serdika metro station is a station cum museum with a large area that is just part of the commuters daily journey and an area which is a paid for museum.
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| This is just outside the station |
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| Yes this is part of the metro station |
The statue of St Sofia herself stands on a pedestal in the city centre that once held a statue of Lenin. The guide that led the walking tour this morning, said the statue is very controversial not least because the Orthodox church complained she shows too much cleavage!
The city is heavy on churches ranging from the oldest St George's which is surrounded by large government buildings as the Communists wanted to hide it from view - to the massive St Alexander Nevesky Cathedral
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| St George's |
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| St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral |
The government buildings are nowhere near as brutal as in Bucharest. The Bulgarian parliament building now flies a flag from where historically there would have been a red star. I was also relieved to find the uniformed National Guard outside the presidential palace as we haven't had any men in funny clothes yet this trip.
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| Parliament Building |
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| Presidential Palace |
Sofia is unusual in European capitals in that it has no river running through it. The Romans built the original Sedika on this site because of the hot mineral springs, The water still bubbles up through public fountains in the city and for a hot spring it is pleasantly tasteless without the usual sulpherous odour and taste.
All in all Sofia is a very pleasant, walkable city with lots of well maintained parks and squares and a lively atmosphere in the evenings. Very a enjoyable place I would highly recommend.
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