Sofia Day 2

A brilliant tour guide Nikola, tried to teach us 6000 years worth of Sofia's history in 2 hours...

In photo order, St Kyriaki Cathedral (an orthodox Church) is where an attempt to kill the King was made, the revolutionaries killed a top general in the military, knowing it would draw the King to his funeral at this church. They bribed a member of the church staff to set of explosives in the roof, killing over 500 people (including all the top people in the army, government and some royals) which at the time was the biggest terrorist attack in the world in history. The King escaped without being killed, because in true Bulgarian style, he was late!

Sveta Petka (Catholic) was a church built in a time Communists ruled, and building such a building meant endless bribes for permission, after years of bribes, once permission was finally obtained, they had no money left to build the church itself, so they made it from ruins of other buildings that had been destroyed.

The third and fourth picture are ancient Roman ruins, from the red line down in photo 3 is original and above reconstructed.

Picture 4 shows a Jewish Synagogue on the left and the last remaining mosque in use still today in Sofia, joining with the first 2 churches they create what they now call the Square of Tolerance, demonstrating how the 4 religions can be so close and in harmony.

The old bath house used to be the social hub of the city, where people would spend all day with friends talking, 50 years ago they closed it, too beyond repair for baths, but it's now the History Museum.

The spring water is fully drinkable, and always 37°c regardless of weather, many locals come still daily as they believe it cures many illnesses and also broken hearts.

The Government buildings were all built by the Communists, the presidential office building now also shares it's building with a casino 🤷🏼‍♀️

Lastly, the old boundary gate of Sofia, built by the Romans, still original, missing the gate and of course no longer the boundary after years of expansionWeiterlesen