Free Sofia Tour's Blog

For the third consecutive year the Christmas lights of Bulgaria’s capital Sofia will be lit on December 1. Sofia is getting ready for the holidays 😉 Free Sofia Tour is ready to show you the Christmas lights of the city and much more every single day at 18:00 and as of 4th of December both at 11:00 and 18:00 on the weekends. Source: Bulgarian Capital Sofia to Light Christmas Tree Dec 1

You might get some money from Tourist Service Municipal Company at Sofia City Municipality for your unique photo with sights from Sofia. Why don’t you give it a try? (link only in Bulgarian, though): http://www.info-sofia.bg/

“Bulgaria’s Culture Minister, Vezhdi Rashidov, is planning on bringing back the atmosphere of the demolished Sofia mausoleum of Communist leader, Georgi Dimitrov. The future Museum of Totalitarian Art will be located the building of the Culture Ministry in the Sofia “Darvenitsa” district.” Georgi Dimitrov, leader of the Bulgarian Communist Party, best known about the Leipzig Case, where he was tried for being part of an alleged plot to set the Reichstag on fire, died on July 2, 1949, in the Barvikha sanatorium near Moscow. The decision to embalm his body body and place it on display in the Sofia Georgi Dimitrov Mausoleum was made the next day. The deadline for the design was 24 hours, and architects Ovcharov and Ribarov, amazingly, were able to adhere to it, while the deadline for the construction was 138 hours. On July 10, Dimitrov’s body was placed in the mausoleum on “Knyaz Alexander I” square. Source: Bulgarian Culture Minister Mulls Museum of Totalitarian Art Hopefully we would see this museum and one on Communism very soon in Sofia 🙂 Both are long […]

Time to visit the National Gallery of Foreign Art located right behind St. Alexander Nevsky cathedral. Unique illustrations by the prominent Spanish painter Salvador Dali would be shown there, starting Wednesday. Did you know that this building used to be the State Printing House?                   Photo source: http://www.foreignartmuseum.bg/

Sofia is among the cheapest in Europe when it comes to public transportation according to a Price of Travel survey. We say walking around while learning about the city with Free Sofia Tour is even cheaper! 😉

Unlike the Roman Catholic Church preaching meat abstinence on Fridays only during the whole fasting period, the Orthodox Church recommends abstinence throughout all 40 days. One of the Bulgarian traditions you would learn about during the tour 🙂 Actually, not eating meat in Bulgaria is very very hard. We can give you some tips where to find good vegetarian restaurants, among others. Source: Christmas Fast Purifies Bulgarians’ Bodies and Souls

The relics, unearthed this summer off Sozopol on Bulgaria’s southern coast and purported to be John the Baptist, will be displayed in the capital Sofia for three days as of November 12. Another reason to visit Sofia and Free Sofia Tour! The relics are expected to arrive on Saint Alexander Nevsky square around 5 pm and will be welcomed solemnly by the clergy, politicians and citizens, according to a statement of the Holy Synod. A mass will be served for the health and welfare of the Bulgarian people in fornt of the relics, which will be displayed at the patriarchal cathedral, giving opportunity to the faithful to take a glimpse of the relics. The remains believed to be John the Baptist, including a skull fragment and a tooth, were uncovered at the end of July during the excavation of a fourth-century monastery on St. Ivan Island, off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast. They were in a sealed reliquary buried next to a tiny urn inscribed with St. John’s name and his birth date. Source: Controversy Provoking John The […]