February 24, 2015
One of the most beautiful buildings in the heart of Bulgaria’s capital is not an administrative building, a palace, an art gallery or a temple. It’s a public bath. Or at least it used to be. Sofia’s Central Bath – past The public bath’s story starts a long time ago with the mineral water spring on top of which it was built. Centuries ago, when these lands were part of the Roman Empire, Romans already knew of the mineral water’s healing properties. They used it for SPA procedures as well as for drinking. In fact, the Roman city of Serdica – Sofia’s old name – was well-known in Roman times for its healing mineral waters. In the following centuries these precious territories became part of the Bulgarian states, but at the end of the 14th century everything was conquered by the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans also had ways of using the water and as a result a hamam was built on the same place, where the public bath sits today […]