The history of Sofia, Bulgaria's capital and largest city, spans thousands of years from Antiquity to modern times, during which the city has been a commercial, industrial, cultural and economic centre in its region and the Balkans.
Slatina Neolithic settlement from the 6th millennium BCRoman city plan and archaeologySaint Sofia Basilica (6th century)The St. George Rotunda (4th century) with remains of Serdica in the foregroundEastern Gate (in subway)Western gate and double wallsAmphitheatre remains inside the Arena di Serdica hotel, a pastiche of classicism
A Neolithic settlement discovered in Slatina, north-eastern Sofia, is dated to be from the 6th millennium BC. Another Neolithic settlement around the National Art Gallery is traced to the 3rd–4th millennium BC.[1]
The Celtic tribe Serdi gave their name to the city.[3] The earliest mention of the city comes from an Athenian inscription from the 1st century BC, attesting Astiu ton Serdon, i.e. city of the Serdi.[4] A local inscription and Dio Cassius recorded that the Roman general Crassus subdued the Serdi and beheaded the captives.[5]
Around 29 BC, Sofia was conquered by the Romans.[6]
It gradually became the most important Roman city of the region and became a municipium, or centre of an administrative region, during the reign of Emperor Trajan (98-117) and was renamed Ulpia Serdica.
The city was burnt and destroyed in 170 by the Costoboci and the city was rebuilt, this time with its first defensive walls between 176-180 under Marcus Aurelius as evidenced by inscriptions above the gates.
The city expanded again, as public baths, administrative and cult buildings, a civic basilica and a large theatre, were built. When Emperor Diocletian divided the province of Dacia into Dacia Ripensis (on the banks of the Danube) and Dacia Mediterranea, Serdica became the capital of the latter.
In 268 a Gothic raid ravaged and burned parts of the city including the theatre which was abandoned.[9]
The city continued to expand and became a significant political and economical centre, more so as it became one of the first Roman cities where Christianity was recognised as an official religion. The Edict of Toleration was issued in 311 in Serdica by the Roman emperor Galerius, officially ending the Diocletianic persecution of Christianity. The Edict implicitly granted Christianity the status of "religio licita", a worship recognized and accepted by the Roman Empire. It was the first edict legalising Christianity, preceding the Edict of Milan by two years. Moreover, in the Edict of Milan, only one sentence was dropped: “Ne quid contra disciplinam agent.” So the Edict of Milan preached unconditional religious tolerance where the Edict of Serdica stated a conditional tolerance (meaning of disciplinam here is: unless they, the christians, disturb the good or social order of the State).
For Constantine the Great it was 'Sardica mea Roma est' (Serdica is my Rome). He considered making Serdica the capital of the Byzantine Empire instead of Constantinople.[10][11]
The Tetrarchs' and Constantine's efforts to secure a large supply network for the Danube army by building a large number of horrea in the late 3rd and early 4th centuries appears to have included Serdica as a principal gathering base due to the 8 horrea discovered by excavation.[12]
The city was destroyed by the Huns in 447, but was rebuilt by Byzantine EmperorJustinian in the 6th century and was renamed Triaditsa. Serdica again flourished during the reign of Justinian I, when its defensive walls were reinforced by doubling their thickness and adding more towers, and whose remnants can still be seen today.
Although also often destroyed by the Slavs, the town remained under Byzantine dominion until 809.
Archaeology
Buttress of Roman bridge of Serdica, 4-6th c.
Many remains of the ancient city have been excavated and are on public display today. These include:
Under Constantine the city expanded to the north of the walls (the so-called Northern Appendix) and the Roman bridge over the river became an important part of this area.
A set of no less than 8 horrea (warehouses) were found inside the southwestern quarter of the walls and dated to the early 4th century indicate that Serdica was probably a supply-centre of regional importance, connected to the Danube by the valley of the river Iskur (Oescus).[13]
Middle Ages
Sofia first became part of the First Bulgarian Empire during the reign of Khan Krum in 809. Afterwards, it was known by the Bulgarian name Sredets and grew into an important fortress and administrative centre.[14]
From the 12th to the 14th century, Sofia was a thriving centre of trade and crafts. It was renamed Sofia in 1376 after the Church of St Sophia. However, it was called both "Sofia" and "Sredets" until the 16th century, when the new name gradually replaced the old one.
During the whole of the Middle Ages, Sofia remained known for its goldsmithing, particularly aided by the wealth of mineral resources in the neighbouring mountains. This is evidenced by the number of gold treasures excavated from the period and even from Antiquity.
Ottoman period
A Bulgarian Cyrillic document from the early Ottoman rule of the city
In 1385 Sofia was besieged and conquered by the Ottoman Empire during the reign of Murad I. Ottoman subjects from Anatolia joined the predominantly Bulgarian-speaking population during that time. Sofia saw the 1443 crusade of John Hunyadi and Władysław III of Varna, a desperate effort to drive out the Ottomans. The crusade failed and many residents of Sofia were persecuted for their participation, particularly those from the elite classes.
With a significant growth in population, many Ottoman buildings emerged during the 15th and 16th centuries onwards. Few of them are preserved today, including only a single functioning mosque, Banya Bashi. This period was one of great diversity as well as public investments in infrastructure, education and the local economy. Amongst others the sources mention eight Friday Mosques, three public libraries, numerous schools, 12 churches, three synagogues, and the largest bedesten of the Balkans.[15]
The tax registers of the 16th century witness a significant rise in the Muslim population at the expense of Bulgarian-speaking Orthodox Christians: there were 915 Muslim and 317 Christian households in 1524–1525, 1325 Muslim, 173 Christian and 88 Jewish in 1544–1545, 892 Muslim, 386 Christian, 126 Jewish and 49 Romani in 1570–1571, as well as 1017 Muslim, 257 Christian, 127 Jewish and 38 Roma households in 1573.
Ottoman Sofia map in 1879 with the 1881 master plan of today's streets superimposed
As already mentioned, Ottoman rule brought major demographic growth for Sofia. As the city became a centre of commercial activity, it grew from a total population of 6,000 (1620s) through 55,000 (middle 17th century) to 70-80,000 (18th century). This data from foreign travellers is most possibly exaggerated, but still shows the significance of Sofia during these times.
During the 16th century, Sofia was a thriving trade centre inhabited by Bulgarians, Romaniote, Ashkenazi and SephardicJews,[16]Armenians, Greeks and Ragusan merchants. In the 17th century, the city's population even included Albanians and Persians.[17] At the end of the Ottoman occupation, the city had a population of 20,501, of whom 56% were Bulgarian, 30% Jewish, 7% Turkish and 6% Roma.
In 1610 the Vatican established the Bishopric of Sofia for Ottoman subjects belonging to the Catholic millet in Rumelia, which existed until 1715 when most Catholics had emigrated to Habsburg or Tsarist territories.[18]
Most mosques in Sofia perished in that war, seven of them destroyed in one night in December 1878 when a thunderstorm masked the noise of the explosions arranged by Russian military engineers.[19] Following the war, the great majority of the Muslim population left Sofia.[15]
↑ Paunov, Evgeni (May–June 2007). "Roman entertainment in Sofia-Serdica". Minerva: The International Review of Ancient Art & Archaeology. London: Aurora Publications. 19: 40–41. ISSN 0957-7718.
↑ Nikolova, Kapka Sofia University of Indiana. "Emperor Constantine the Great even considered the possibility for Serdika to become the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire"
↑ Jahrbuch des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 60. Jahrgang 2013, Efthymios Rizos: Centres of the late roman military supply network in the Balkans: a survey of horrea p 678
↑ Jahrbuch des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 60. Jahrgang 2013, Efthymios Rizos: Centres of the late roman military supply network in the Balkans: a survey of horrea p 678
↑ Bakalov, Georgi; Kumanov, Milen (2003). Електронно издание "История на България" (in Bulgarian). Sofia: Trud, Sirma. ISBN954528613X.
1 2 Ivanova, Svetlana, “Ṣofya”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 21 January 2018.
↑ Гюзелев, Боян (2004). Албанци в Източните Балкани (in Bulgarian). София: Международен център за изследване на малцинствата и културните взаимодействия. pp.206–207. ISBN954-8872-45-5.
Gigova, Irina. "The City and the Nation: Sofia's Trajectory from Glory to Rubble in WWII," Journal of Urban History, March 2011, Vol. 37 Issue 2, pp 155–175; the 110 footnotes provide a guide to the literature on the city
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Rumania". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
The history of Bulgaria can be traced from the first settlements on the lands of modern Bulgaria to its formation as a nation-state, and includes the history of the Bulgarian people and their origin. The earliest evidence of hominid occupation discovered in what is today Bulgaria date from at least 1.4 million years ago. Around 5000 BC, a sophisticated civilization already existed which produced some of the first pottery, jewellery and golden artifacts in the world. After 3000 BC, the Thracians appeared on the Balkan Peninsula. In the late 6th century BC, parts of what is nowadays Bulgaria, in particular the eastern region of the country, came under the Persian Achaemenid Empire. In the 470s BC, the Thracians formed the powerful Odrysian Kingdom which lasted until 46 BC, when it was finally conquered by the Roman Empire. During the centuries, some Thracian tribes fell under ancient Macedonian and Hellenistic, and also Celtic domination. This mixture of ancient peoples was assimilated by the Slavs, who permanently settled on the peninsula after 500 AD.
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river and has many mineral springs, such as the Sofia Central Mineral Baths. It has a humid continental climate. Being in the centre of the Balkans, it is midway between the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea and closest to the Aegean Sea.
Niš, less often spelled in English as Nish, is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in the southern part of Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 182,797, while its administrative area has a population of 260,237 inhabitants.
Byzantine Greece has a history that mainly coincides with that of the Byzantine Empire itself.
Sofia Province is a province (oblast) of Bulgaria. The province does not include Sofia in its territories, but Sofia remains its administrative center. The province borders on the provinces of Pernik, Kyustendil, Blagoevgrad, Pazardzhik, Plovdiv, Lovech, Vratsa, Montana, and "Sofia City Province", and borders with Serbia to the northwest.
The Diocese of Sofia and Plovdiv is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church which includes the whole southern part of Bulgaria. The remainder of Bulgaria falls within the Diocese of Nicopoli. The diocese is exempt, i.e. immediately subject of the Holy See, not part of any ecclesiastical province.
Pomorie, historically known as Anchialos, is a town and seaside resort in southeastern Bulgaria, located on a narrow rocky peninsula in Burgas Bay on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast.
Stara Zagora is a city in Bulgaria, and the administrative capital of Stara Zagora Province. It is located in the Upper Thracian Plain, near the cities of Kazanlak, Plovdiv, and Sliven. Its population is 121,582 making it the sixth largest city, just below Ruse and above Pleven.
The Balkans and parts of this area may also be placed in Southeastern, Southern, Eastern Europe and Central Europe. The distinct identity and fragmentation of the Balkans owes much to its common and often turbulent history regarding centuries of Ottoman conquest and to its very mountainous geography.
Kyustendil is a town in the far west of Bulgaria, the capital of the Kyustendil Province, a former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see.
The Church of Saint George is a Late Antique red brick rotunda in Sofia, Bulgaria. Built in the early 4th century as Roman baths, it became a church inside the walls of Serdica, capital of ancient Dacia Mediterranea during the Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire. The Early Christian church is considered the oldest building in modern Sofia and belongs to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
Kostinbrod is a town in western Bulgaria. It is the seat of Kostinbrod Municipality. It is located 15 km west of the capital city of Sofia. It is located on two important transport corridors: Lom — Sofia — Thessaloniki and Sofia — Belgrade. The international railway line to Western Europe passes through the municipality, with a train stop at Kostinbrod Station.
Dacia Ripensis was the name of a Roman province in the northern Balkan peninsula, immediately south of the Middle Danube. Its capital was Ratiaria. It was a district less urban than neighbouring Dacia Mediterranea and more militarized; "military camps and forts, rather than cities, were typical of the province". Besides Ratiaria, Oescus was the major settlement.
Dacia Mediterranea was a late antique Roman province, whose capital city was Serdica.
The Diocese of Dacia was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, in the area of modern western Bulgaria, central Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, northern Albania and northern North Macedonia. It was subordinate to the Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum. Its capital was at Serdica.
The history of the city of Thessaloniki dates back to the ancient Macedonians. Today with the opening of borders in Southeastern Europe it is currently experiencing a strong revival, serving as the prime port for the northern Greek regions of Macedonia and Thrace, as well as for the whole of Southeastern Europe.
The military history of Romania deals with conflicts spreading over a period of about 2500 years across the territory of modern Romania, the Balkan Peninsula and Eastern Europe and the role of the Romanian military in conflicts and peacekeeping worldwide.
The Serdi were a Celtic tribe inhabiting Thrace. They were located around Serdica, now Sofia in Bulgaria, which reflects their ethnonym. They would have established themselves in this area during the Celtic migrations at the end of the 4th century BC, though there is no evidence for their existence before the 1st century BC. Serdi are among traditional tribal names reported into the Roman era. They were gradually Thracianized over the centuries but retained their Celtic character in material culture up to a late date. According to other sources they may have been simply of Thracian origin; according to others they may have been of mixed Thraco-Celtic origin.
The history of Skopje, North Macedonia, goes back to at least 4000; remains of Neolithic settlements have been found within the old Kale Fortress that overlooks the modern city centre. The settlement appears to have been founded around then by the Paionians, a people that inhabited the region. It became the capital of Dardania, which extended from Naissus to Bylazora in the second century BC. Roman expansion east brought Scupi under Roman rule on the eve of the 1st century AD. When the Roman Empire was divided into eastern and western halves in 395 AD, Scupi came under Byzantine rule from Constantinople. During much of the early medieval period, the town was contested between the Byzantines and the Bulgarian Empire. It served as Bulgarian capital from 972 to 992. After 1018, it was a capital of Byzantine theme of Bulgaria after the fall the First Bulgarian Empire. In 1189 the town was part of the Serbian realm later becoming the capital of the Serbian Empire. In 1392 the city was conquered by the Ottoman Turks and they named the town Üsküb. The town stayed under Ottoman rule for over 500 years. During that period it was famous for its oriental architecture.
The history of Kyustendil as a settlement goes back 8000 years and as a city for 2009.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
