X-Nico

100 unusual facts about Sofia


1989 Winter Universiade

The 1989 Winter Universiade, the XIV Winter Universiade, took place in Sofia, Bulgaria.

A.E.P. Olympias Patras

The most famous athlete of the department was Nikos Angelopoulos, who achieved victory in the Balkan Track And Field Games in Sofia, in 1980, in the men's 200m with a record time of 20.71.

Anna Veleva

Veleva came to prominence in 2003 after her critically acclaimed debut at the Sofia National Opera in the role of Lucia in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor.

Ariana Brewery

The Ariana Brewery is a defunct company, founded in 1884 in Sofia, Bulgaria under the name Sofia Brewery, changing to Ariana in 1996.

AS 23 Sofia

In the same year the club merges with Shipka (Sofia) to became Chavdar (Sofia) and eventually gave the basis to what is known today PFC CSKA Sofia - the most successful bulgarian football club in the history.

Association of Special Fares Agents

The administrative office of ASFA moved in 1998 to Sofia, Bulgaria.

Balgariya tarsi talant

Auditions were held in the three biggest cities in Bulgaria - Varna, Plovdiv and Sofia.

Bela Palanka

The town is accessible from the nearby city of Niš by the "Niš Express" buses that run from Niš to Pirot, Babušnica, Dimitrovgrad and Sofia.

Blaga Dimitrova

She finished High School in 1942, and Slavic Philology at the University of Sofia in 1945.

Bogdan Stefanov Dobranov

Bogdan Dobranov was a Bulgarian Catholic priest and bishop Ordinariate of Sofia, Plovdiv diocese.

Bozhidar Boyadzhiev

He is also a two-time Olympian, and a member of Levski Sofia Wrestling Club in Sofia, under his personal coach Peter Kasabov.

Bozhidar Dimitrov

Being a member of the Supreme Party Council of BSP, he declared himself openly against the party in 2005 by not supporting BSP Mayor of Sofia candidate Tatyana Doncheva and instead favouring the independent Boyko Borisov.

Bulgaria–Republic of Macedonia relations

Rules for governing good neighbourly relations were agreed between Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia in the Joint Declaration of February 22, 1999 and reaffirmed by a joint memorandum signed on January 22, 2008 in Sofia.

Bulgarian Development Bank

Bylgarska banka za razvitie) (BDB) is a leading Bulgarian development and commercial bank with headquarters in Sofia.

Bulgarian Helsinki Committee

The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee was founded on July 14, 1992 with a headquarters in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Bulgartabac

Bulgartabac produces over 50 cigarette brands and sub-brands in its modernized factories in Sofia and Blagoevgrad using both domestic and imported tobacco.

Buxton Brothers Boulevard

The neighbourhoods located along Buxton Boulevard, listed in a north to south order, include Buxton, Pavlovo on the western side of the boulevard and Manastirski Livadi West on the eastern side.

Chaira Hydro Power Plant

The Chaira Pumped Storage Hydro Power Plant (Chaira PSHPP) was built in Rila mountains, about 100 km southeast of capital city, Sofia.

Charles Champaud

According to the Bulgarian Olympic Committee, Champaud, a Swiss national living in Bulgaria and working as a gymnastics teacher at a Sofia high school, competed for that country at the first modern Olympics.

Daniel Mladenov

However, the team from Sofia had already been eliminated from the competition.

Daniel Pancu

Pancu made his official debut for CSKA Sofia in the 3-2 win against Lokomotiv Plovdiv in Sofia, scoring his first goal for the club.

Daniel Peev

On 29 April 2009, he scored the only goal for his team in the 1:0 win against Levski Sofia in a 1/2 final of the Bulgarian Cup.

Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria

The DSB candidate for Mayor of Sofia, former finance minister and head of the Central Bank of Bulgaria Svetoslav Gavriyski arrived third in the first round with 18% of the votes.

At the last legislative elections, 25 June 2005, DSB won 7.0% of the popular vote and 17 out of 240 seats, their support coming mainly from big cities (appr. 18% of voters in Sofia).

Dennis Sharp

In 1988, he became editor of the journal World Architecture: Journal of the International Academy of Architecture of the IAA - International Academy of Architecture in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Dimitar Andonov

In Sofia, they connected with the foreign representation body of the revolutionary organization IMARO and in Kyustendil they joined the Prilep revolutionary band of Konstantin Kondov.

Dimitar Milanov

Dimitar Milanov Stoyanov (18 October 1928 – 1995) was a Bulgarian international footballer who played as a striker for CSKA Sofia.

Elections in Bulgaria

The decisive winner with 40% of the vote was Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (or GERB) party, led by Sofia mayor Boyko Borisov.

The majority vote provided additional 31 seats corresponding to the constituencies of the 28 Provinces of Bulgaria with an additional 3 reserved for the most populated cities of Sofia and Plovdiv.

Emena Thes

Originally, Proto Thema reported that the music video would be shot in the week following the Balkan Music Awards, held on 16 May 2010, where Rouvas won the award for Best Balkan Song from Greece for his previous single, and, according to the newspaper, had planned to perform the song at the ceremony in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Eternal derby of Bulgarian football

The Eternal Derby of Bulgarian Football or simply The Eternal Derby is the name of the local derby football match between the two most popular and successful football clubs in Sofia and Bulgaria - PFC Levski Sofia and PFC CSKA Sofia.

FC Septemvri Sofia

In 1968, during another period of football reform in Bulgaria, Septemvri is again merged into CSKA Sofia.

Georgi Bliznakov

In 1949 he joined the Department of Physical Chemistry at the Polytechnic Institute in Sofia (now the University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy) as an assistant where he stayed until moving to the Department of Inorganic Chemistry at Sofia University in 1951, becoming full professor and head of department in 1960.

Georgi Karaslavov

A school in Sofia is named for Karaslavov, and there is a bust of Karaslavov in the park behind Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia.

Gheorghi Ivanov Jovcev

George Ivanov Jovcev (born May 9, 1950 in Sekirovo, a part of the town of Rakovski, Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian Catholic priest and XXVI Bishop of Sofia - Plovdiv diocese.

Golyamata Gramada

The stone river is ‘descending’ from elevation 1900 m above sea level at the foothills of Golyam Rezen Peak to 1550 m off the track between Bistritsa village and Aleko site (1810 m), the most popular tourist centre on Vitosha Mountain accessible also from Sofia by gondola lift.

Graffiti in Russia

An example of this is the Russian Red Army soldiers on a monument in Sofia, Bulgaria, which has been turned into popular superheroes and cartoon characters (including Superman, Santa Claus, Ronald McDonald, and the Joker) by an anonymous graffiti artist.

Gymnastics at the Friendship Games

Rhythmic gymnastics was held in Sofia, Bulgaria, between 17 and 19 August 1984, with 5 events (all of them women's).

Heraclea Sintica

Professor Lyudmil Vagalinski, of the National Institute with Museum of Archaeology in Sofia, noticed strange structures above it: tunnels and an arch.

Himni i Flamurit

The hymn was first published as a poem in Liri e Shqipërisë (in English: Freedom of Albania), an Albanian newspaper in Sofia, Bulgaria, on April 21, 1912.

Iliya Zhelev

His paintings are owned by the National Art Gallery Sofia, many galleries and collections in Germany, United States, Switzerland, Italy, Sweden United Arab Emirates, UK, Austria, Greece, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Russia and Israel.

Interoute

Interoute's offices: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, plus a Network Operations Centre in Sofia and a Customer Service Centre in Prague and Luleå.

Ivailo Petrov

Ivailo Petrov (19 January 1923, Bdintsi – 16 April 2005, Sofia) was a Bulgarian writer, who authored a number of short stories.

Ivan Vedar

Later, new lodges were founded in Varna (where the first Great lodge was located for a short time), Sofia, and some other cities, but in 1887 Vedar was forced to "put asleep" all lodges, because of the danger that their activity gets spoiled by political and interpersonal struggles, so common in the young and inexperienced country.

Ivaylo Ivanov

Ivaylo Ivanov is a product of CSKA Sofia's youth system, but joined the first team of CSKA following spells four seasons at amateur side Skala Bov.

July 2007 in Africa

The 5 Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian assistant, imprisoned in Libya for 8 years and that had been sentenced to death, in several trials based on allegations of having inoculated AIDS to children, are leaving Libya and returning to Sofia with Mrs Sarkozy who negotiated their liberation.

Katarina-Sofia

Katarina-Sofia was made up of the eastern half of Södermalm and Hammarby Sjöstad (Södra Hammarbyhamnen).

Kiril Bratanov

His academic career began in 1940 when he became Assistant Professor at the Department of Physiology and Biochemistry at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sofia.

Krakra of Pernik

As Basil II's forces headed to seize Sredets, however, in 1004 they came up against Krakra's well-defended fortress of Pernik and the emperor was forced to return to Constantinople after sustaining heavy losses.

Liège-Brescia-Liège

The Royal Motor Union of Liège, Belgium, organisers of the Liège-Rome-Liège Rally (and later the Liège-Sofia-Liège and other events), under its Commissaire-Général Maurice Garot, decided to create a rally specifically for these tiny cars, to test them thoroughly and find out which, if any, were really capable of transporting two people at a good speed over all types of road conditions.

Livingston Island

Several squares and streets in Bulgarian towns and cities are named after Livingston Island, such as Livingston Island Square in Samuil and Kula, and Livingston Island Street in Gotse Delchev, Yambol, Petrich, Sofia, Lovech and Vidin.

Lyulin motorway

The largest neighborhood of Sofia from which the highway starts is also named Lyulin, there is also a village of Lyulin around Pernik

Maia Chiburdanidze

The next defense came against Elena Akhmilovskaya in Sofia in 1986, and Chiburdanidze won the match by 8½–5½.

Margarita Popova

Margarita Popova graduated Bulgarian philology in University of Sofia in 1980, and later (1989) law in the same university.

Marin Drinov

Taking an active part in the organization of the newly liberated Bulgarian state, Marin Drinov is known as one of the authors of the Tarnovo Constitution, the person to have proposed Sofia instead of Tarnovo (favoured by Austrian diplomats) for the new Bulgarian capital, and the person to have introduced the standardized 32-letter edition of Cyrillic that was used in Bulgaria until the orthographic reform of 1945.

Marin Gruev

In 1991 he graduated with excellence from the Bulgarian National Academy of Fine Arts in Sofia.

Martin Kamburov

Kamburov had an excellent start to the season, netting 10 goals in just 6 games, including a spectacular hat-trick in Loko Sofia's away game against Levski Sofia on April 11, 2009 to help the team from the Nadezhda district to secure a historic 3:0 win.

Montenegrin Orthodox Church

In the Church of St. Paraskeva in Sofia, on March 15, 1998, he was ordained as bishop by Bulgarian Alternative Synod's head Patriarch Pimen and seven Metropolitans and Episcops of his synod.

Namık Kemal

During his youth, Kemal traveled throughout the Ottoman Empire, staying in Istanbul, Kars, and Sofia, and studied a number of subjects, including poetry.

National Gallery for Foreign Art

The NGFA is situated in the very centre of Sofia, at St. Alexander Nevsky Square, behind the building of the National Assembly and the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.

Nikephoros Xiphias

Towards the end of the same year he campaigned from Mosynopolis to the region of Triaditza (Sofia), razing its environs and capturing the fort of Boyana.

Nikola Marinov

Marinov has also done a great number of frescoes in churches in Plovdiv, Lovech, Biala Cherkva, Pernik and Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia.

Between 1921 and 1940 he was a professor in the National Academy of Arts, Sofia where he served as Chancellor in the period 1935-1937.

Nikola Petroff

In 1921, he established his own private school of wrestling in Sofia.

Nikolay Binev

In 1959, after several months on the stage with the Ruse Theater, Binev entered the Mladezhki Theater, Sofia where he stayed until the end of his life.

During most of his career he was the soul and history of the Mladezhki Theater, Sofia and remained devoted to it until the end of his life.

Ogan v kravta

It includes 14 songs.The album was released in March 2008 and the promotion of it was on 17 March 2008 in "Plazza" Club in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Panteley Kiselov

In 1908, he was unexpectedly recalled to Sofia and assigned commandant of the city for several months but was soon dispatched by the Bulgarian General Staff to receive further training in France.

Pat Moss

Her most notable results were 3rd at the Acropolis Rally and 4ths at the Liège-Sofia-Liège and the RAC Rally.

Peace of Szeged

They had several advantages over the Ottomans, allowing them to win the first encounters, such as forcing Kasim Pasha of Rumelia and his co-commander Turakhan Beg to abandon camp and flee to Sofia, Bulgaria to warn Murad of the invasion.

PFC Akademik Sofia

In the next campaign Akademik finished fourth and reached the final of Bulgarian Cup, losing 0-1 to CSKA Sofia.

PFC Minyor Pernik

They have legendary hatred for Levski Sofia and the fans of both teams have some big fights over the years some of which even invole rifles.

Minyor's fans are also famous for their general hatred for Sofia.

Pyotr Suvchinsky

) Suvchinsky emigrated from Russia in 1922 and lived in Berlin and Sofia, where he founded the Russian-Bulgarian Publishing House; then in Paris, where he remained for the rest of his life.

Raion

In Bulgaria, raions are subdivisions of three biggest cities: Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna.

Richard Dunne

He played in all ten games helping Ireland finish second and qualify for a play-off whilst also scoring goals in both 1–1 draws with Bulgaria, as well as winning the man of the match award in the away game held in Sofia.

Sânnicolau Mare

The pieces are on display in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna and the National Museum of History, Sofia.

SC Kremikovtsi

SC Kremikovtsi was a Bulgarian women's basketball club from the Kremikovtsi district in Sofia.

Siege of Lovech

In the late autumn of 1186, the Byzantine army marched northwards through Sredets (Sofia).

Simeon Ivanov

In February 2012, Ivanov was close to signing with A PFG club Vidima Rakovski, but eventually put pen to paper on a contract with second division side Akademik Sofia.

Sofia boys choir

The performers, aged 8–15, are selected from schools in Sofia.

Sofia's Choice

This would be the first of several "websites" (set up by The Walt Disney Company) featured in the series that actually lead to the show, since the websites don't exist.

...To where it all began, at MYW, where Betty, who just after settling into her new job and meeting another unattractive doppelgänger named Ruthie (played by Amanda's actress, Becki Newton), gets her first assignment from Sofia.

Staro Groblje

It is bordered on the west by the neighborhood of Bubanj, on the south by the neighborhood of Tutunović Podrum, on the east by the neighborhood of Palilula and on the north by the railroad connecting Niš with Sofia, Bulgaria.

Stefan Nemanja

Without difficulties the Hungaro-Serbian military pushed the Greeks out of the Valley of Morava, advanced all the way to Sofia, raiding Belgrade, Braničevo, Ravno, Niš and Sophia itself.

Stefan Toshev

On 10 May 1879 he graduated the Military School in Sofia in its first year.

General Stefan Toshev died on 27 November 1924 in Plovdiv and was buried in Sofia.

Stoyan Ormandzhiev

The most successful period in his career cames when he joins Lokomotiv Sofia.

Svilen Neykov

He graduated from the National Sports Academy in Sofia, where he is currently head assistant professor of basic sports training.

Technical University of Sofia

It has had its present name and university status since 21 July 1995 and has 14 main faculties based in Sofia, Plovdiv and Sliven, as well as 3 additional ones with education only in foreign languages — German, English and French.

Toplo

The story develops at the end of the seventies, the time of the vast expansion of the centralized system for heat- and warm water supply, in Sofia.

TRACECA

The objectives of TRACECA were underlined by the Baku Initiative of 2004, followed by a further ministerial conference in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 2006.

Tsvetan Atanasov

He played for CSKA Sofia form the spring of 1966 to the 1976 having 231 match and 36 goals for the A PFG.

V-Ray

The core developers of V-Ray are Vladimir Koylazov and Peter Mitev of Chaos Software production studio established in 1997, based in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Vasil Kutinchev

He began his military career in 1879 after graduating from the Military School in Sofia .

Vasil Levski Boulevard

Some of the most prominent landmarks of the capital are situated along the boulevard, including the National Academy of Arts, SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library, Sofia University, the State Agency of Youth and Sports, Battenberg Mausoleum, the Monument to Vasil Levski and others.

Ventsislav Hristov

Hristov continued his fine form by scoring the second goal in Beroe's 2–0 win over Slavia Sofia in the first round of 2013–14 A PFG season on 22 July.

Vera Nabokov

With the turmoil of the Russian Revolution, the family moved to Moscow, and after fleeing through Kiev, Odessa, Istanbul, and Sofia, arrived in Berlin, where they joined the large Russian émigré population.

Vinkenti Peev

He succeeded Archbishop Roberto Meni on 14 October 1916 as Vicar Apostolic of Sofia and Plovdiv.

Yordanka Fandakova

She graduated the 35th Russian Language School in Sofia and the University of Sofia, majoring in Russian Studies.


Aleksandar Protogerov

Alexandar Protogerov (1867 Ohrid, Ottoman Empire, today Republic of Macedonia - 1928, Sofia) was a Bulgarian general, politician and revolutionary as well as a member of the revolutionary movement in Macedonia, Thrace and Pomoravlje.

Bezmer Air Base

The base is situated in the eastern part of the Upper Thracian Lowland, in Yambol Oblast (Region), 10 km west of the city of Yambol and 30 km southeast of the city of Sliven, between the villages of Bezmer and Bolyarsko, and near the Sofia-Burgas railway.

Bulgaria Оn Аir

In 2009 the canal was acquired by the owners of the airline company Bulgaria Air and moved to Sofia, from where he began building a national network.

Ceuta Heliport

Destinations include more than one hundred cities in Europe (mainly in the United Kingdom, Central Europe and the Nordic countries) but also the main cities of Eastern Europe: Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Budapest, Sofia, Warsaw, Riga and Bucharest), North Africa, the Middle East (Riyadh, Jeddah and Kuwait) and North America (New York, Toronto and Montreal).

Charles Champaud

In Bulgaria, Charles Champaud also played an important role in introducing football to the country and was the person to bring the sport to the capital city of Sofia in 1895 (the first football game in Bulgaria being in Varna in 1894, organized by another Swiss teacher, Georges de Regibus).

Dimitar Nenov

Nenov went on to become a professor of piano at the Sofia Conservatoire, where he taught piano to the Bulgarian pianists Genko Genov, Svetla Protich, Lazar Nikolov, Trifon Silyanovski, and many others.

Farsighted for Two Diopters

The scenes when they test the car, while going to Old Pano's village, are filmed on the road from Sofia to the villages of Bistritsa and Zheleznitsa in Pancharevo suburban district.

Friedrich von Scholtz

His Army Group Headquarters was moved from Skopje to Jagodina, but the situation continued to deteriorate, and some Bulgarian soldiers even mutinied and headed towards Sofia.

Georgi Asparuhov Stadium

Many reconstructions of the stadium started in 1969 after the unification of the sport and football clubs Levski Sofia and Spartak Sofia.

Knyaginya Maria Luiza Metro Station

Afterwards, the official name was chosen to be in honour of Maria Luiza, Princess consort of Bulgaria, as one of four stations constructed under Maria Luiza Blvd. in Sofia, the other three being Central Railway Station, Lavov most, and Serdika II.

Lovech

He was arrested by the Turkish military in a village near Lovech called Kakrina and later hanged in Sofia.

Luna\TBWA

In 2003, it established the regional advertising network TBWA Adriatic, established in 2003, with agencies in Zagreb, Belgrade, Sarajevo and Sofia.

Mary Ann Peters

A senior diplomat, fluent in six foreign languages, Ambassador Peters has also served in Sofia, Bulgaria, as deputy chief of mission; in Moscow as economic counselor; and in Mandalay as principal officer.

Maxim Staviski

In September 2000, Denkova / Staviski began dividing their time between Sofia and Odintsovo, near Moscow, Russia where they worked with coach Alexei Gorshkov and choreographer Sergei Petukhov.

Mirkovo

It is the administrative centre of Mirkovo Municipality, which lies in the central eastern part of Sofia Province.

Miroslav Naydenov

From 2006 to 2009 he was director of the municipal company "Ekoravnovesie" of Sofia Municipality.

MKB Unionbank

MKB Unionbank (Bulgarian: МКБ Юнионбанк, Em Ka Be Yunionbank) is a major Bulgarian retail and commercial bank with headquarters in Sofia.

Nikola Lazarov

Left an orphan, Lazarov moved to the capital Sofia, where he worked as a draftsman at the Capital Direction of Public Buildings under Friedrich Grünanger, Aleksi Nachev, Mihail Hashnov and Karl Heinrich.

Nikolay Kedrov, Jr.

His mother was Sofia Gladkaya (1875—1965) was a singer in the Mariinsky Theatre and a teacher of Conservatoire de Paris.

Pernik sword

The sword is preserved in the National Archaeological Museum of Bulgaria in Sofia under inventory number 2044.

Russian Monument, Sofia

The first monument to be built in the capital of the newly liberated Principality of Bulgaria, it was unveiled on 29 June 1882 and is located on the road which Osman Nuri Paşa used to flee from Sofia to Pernik on 22 December 1877.

Shivachevo

Shivachevo is located 260 km east of Sofia, 35 km west of the city of Sliven (pop. 147,000), and 140 km west of the port city of Bourgas and the Black Sea.

Silvia Sorina Munteanu

Aside from her native country, she has performed in Frankfurt, Essen, Sofia, Varna, Prague, Bratislava, and Budapest, as well as at festivals in other European countries, Thailand, and the United States.

Slatina Peak

Named after the Bulgarian settlements of Slatina in Montana, Lovech, Plovdiv, Silistra and Sofia regions (the last one now part of the city of Sofia).

Sofia Constantinas

When Steve broke away from his captors, Sofia chased him into an underground cavern where they discovered the bones of Artemis, the first Wonder Woman, as well as a scepter belonging to the goddess Athena.

Sofia och Anna

Sofia och Anna (Sofia and Anna) were a Swedish duo composed of Sofia Jannok and Anna Kärrstedt, both from Gällivare, Sweden, who sang in Northern Sámi.

Southern Bulgaria

Much later, after the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878, all of Northern Bulgaria and the region of Sofia became the Principality of Bulgaria while most of the rest of Southern Bulgaria was part of Eastern Rumelia until the Bulgarian unification in 1885.

Stefan Nerezov

These successful military operations couldn't prevent the Romanian Army from threatening the rear of the Bulgarian Army and reaching the vicinity of capital Sofia which forced the Bulgarian capitulation.

Tenerife Airport

TFS Tenerife South Airport (1978–present), also known as Reina Sofia Airport

Vasil Levski National Stadium

It was used as the home venue for Levski Sofia's Champions League games, and is often used for important derbies between the big clubs from Sofia, instead of their own home stadiums.

Vladimir Atlantov

In 1967 Atlantov won the first prize at the 3rd International Competition in Sofia and the fourth prize winner at the International competition in Montreal.

Wilfred Burchett

Burchett moved to Bulgaria in 1982 and died of cancer in Sofia the following year, aged 72.