Guarded by the imposing presence of Mount Vitosha, Sofia is an amazing melange of culture and history, tugged at by religion, politics, and the traditions of East and West. The nation’s capital has a long and storied past and was known to Neolithic peoples as well as to the Romans, Thracians, and Bulgars. Celebrated for its enviable location and mineral springs, the town has been known alternately through the ages as Serdica, Triaditsa, and Sredets, finally deriving its most recent name in the 14th century from its imposing basilica.

Even today, beneath the modern structures that gave it renewed life after liberation from the Turks in the late 19th century and following World War II bombings, you can find remnants of the city’s ancient past. These days, after wriggling from the strictures of the Soviet state, Sofia has a new lease on life, albeit amid economic struggles. Resilient citizens, ever optimistic, embrace the new chapter with verve, and its million-plus residents eagerly look to new opportunity and challenge. Given the city’s many religious structures, it’s somehow apt that Sofia’s name means “wisdom.” Its churches and basilicas testify to a faith that extends – along with the settlement’s history – back 7000 years, and can be seen firsthand in such awe-inspiring edifices as Alexander Nevski Memorial Church, an opulent, gold-domed structure, and St. Sofia Basilica, a beautiful, quiet sanctuary dating from before the 6th century. Other almost mandatory attractions include museums of history and archaeology, the Rotunda of St. George's (with Roman and Byzantine artifacts), the medieval frescoes at the Boyana Church, and the city’s markets, Turkish baths, and 16th century mosque.

To eyes unfamiliar with the juxtaposition of such individual cultures, the city is curious and captivating, a constant seduction; to denizens, it’s simply home, a familiar, time-kissed setting where place and history fall together as one.