Welcome to Sofia

Sofia is the capital city of the Republic of Bulgaria. With a population of 1,205,548, it is the largest urban centre in the country and ranks as the 14th-largest city in the European Union. It is situated in the central part of the Balkan Peninsula.

The earliest written records attesting to the existence of the city date to the second century BC, when it functioned as the principal settlement of one of the Thracian tribes. Subsequently, Sofia emerged as one of the major strategic and administrative centres of the Roman Empire in the Balkans and, during the fourth century AD, served intermittently as a temporary residence of several Roman emperors.

At present, Sofia serves as the primary administrative, industrial, transportation, cultural, and educational hub of Bulgaria. Furthermore, Sofia is home to the National Art Gallery and an extensive range of archaeological, historical, natural history, and other specialized museums. Numerous visible archaeological remains from the Roman period have been preserved throughout the city’s central areas.