SOFIA BETWEEN THE ANCIENT AND THE MODERN

Sofia between the ancient and the modern, by Hristo Boukovsky; 224 pages with 187 colour illustrations, hardcover with a jacket, size 12х16.5 cm.

With an introduction by Hristo Boukovsky and 187 colour photographs, this book presents both historical landmarks as well as the modern face of Bulgaria’s capital Sofia. Few are probably aware that Sofia is the only city in Europe that has not moved its administrative centre for at least 20 centuries – the still preserved foundations of the complex of buildings from which Saint-Emperor Constantine the Great has given out his orders at the beginning of the 4th century AD and from which Bulgarian and Byzantine rulers have done the same in later times, today are encircled by the Presidency building. Where once solemnly and full of respect Friedrich Barbarosa, Gottfried of Boulogne, Count Robert of Flanders, Duke Robert of Normandy and Count Raymond of Toulouse, have stepped forward, today pass the heads of states on state visits to their Bulgarian counterparts. The ethnic and religious tolerance of Bulgarians can be seen at first glance in the city centre where some 200 meters apart stand a Christian Orthodox church, a mosque and a synagogue and from not long ago, also a Roman-Catholic temple…