Timeline of Sofia explained

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Sofia, Bulgaria.

Prior to 14th century

• 2nd C. CE – Serdica founded by Trajan.
• 268 CE – Serdica raided by Goths.
• 343 CE – Council of Serdica convenes (approximate date).^[1]
• 4th C.
  • • • Church of St. George Amphitheatre of Serdica built (approximate date).
  • Saint Sophia Church, Sofia originates.
• 447 – Town burned by Huns.
• 809 -
  • Town becomes part of Bulgarian Empire.
  • Town renamed "Sredetz."
• 987 - Successful resistance to the attacks of the emperor Basil II.
• 11th C. – Boyana Church built near town (approximate date).
• 1194
  • Town becomes part of Byzantium.
  • Town renamed "Triaditsa" (approximate date).

14th–18th centuries

• 13th C. – Church of St. Nicholas built.
• 1329 – Town renamed "Sofia".
• 1382 – Ottomans take Sofia.^[2]
• 1443 – Town occupied briefly by Hungarian forces under John Hunyadi.
• 1493 – Kremikovtsi Monastery reestablished near Sofia.
• 1494 – built.
• 1528 – Black Mosque built.
• 1576 – Banya Bashi Mosque built.
• 1610 – Catholic See of Sophia established.

19th century

• 1818 – Earthquake.
• 1829 – Town occupied by Russian forces.
• 1858 – Earthquake.
• 1863 – St Nedelya Church rebuilt.
• 1878 – Town liberated by Russian forces.
• 1879
  • Capital of Bulgaria relocated to Sofia from Veliko Tarnovo.
  • Area of city: 3 square kilometers.
• 1881 – Population: 20,501.
• 1882 – Royal palace built.
• 1884 – Boris' Garden (park) laid out.
• 1886 – National Assembly building constructed.
• 1888
  • Sofia University founded.
  • Sofia Central Station and Sofia Zoo open.
  • Dimitar Petkov becomes mayor.
• 1890 – 31 May: "Destructive thunderstorm."
• 1891 – Eagles' Bridge and Lions' Bridge built.
• 1893
  • Bulgarian Literary Society relocates to Sofia.
  • Population: 46,593.
• 1897 – Battenberg Mausoleum erected.
• 1898 – Central Hunters' Society headquartered in Sofia.^[3]

20th century

• 1903
  • Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers' Party (Narrow Socialists) headquartered in Sofia.
  • Sveti Sedmochislenitsi Church inaugurated.
• 1904 – National Theatre founded.
• 1905 – National Archaeological Museum opens.
• 1907
  • Central Military Club built.
  • Population: 82,187.
  • The Monument to the Tsar Liberator was inaugurated on Tsar Osvoboditel Boulevard in Sofia
• 1908
  • Bulgarian Opera Society established.
  • City becomes capital of the Kingdom of Bulgaria.
• 1909 – Sofia Synagogue built.
• 1910 – Population: 102,812.
• 1911
  • Central Sofia Market Hall opens.
  • Union of Bulgarian Chitalishta headquartered in Sofia.
• 1912 – Alexander Nevsky Cathedral built.
• 1913 – L'écho de Bulgarie newspaper begins publication.^[4]
• 1914
  • Levski Sofia (sports club) founded.
  • Russian Church consecrated.
  • Vrana Palace built near Sofia.
• 1919 – Simplon Orient Express (Paris–Sofia) begins operating.
• 1922 – National Opera established.
• 1925
  • 16 April: St Nedelya Church assault.
  • Thracian student society founded.
• 1926 – Vladimir Vazov becomes mayor.
• 1927 – Kino Vlaikova (cinema) established (approximate date).^[5]
• 1929 – Ivan Vazov National Theatre rebuilt.
• 1930 – Church of St Paraskeva built.
• 1934
  • City becomes seat of Sofia Oblast.
  • Population: 287,095; department 1,152,053.
  • French Institute built on Slaveykov Square.
• 1939
  • Bulgarian National Bank built.
  • Area of city: 42 square kilometers.
• 1940 – Sofia Court House built on Vitosha Boulevard.
• 1943 – Bombing of Sofia in World War II by Allied forces.
• 1944 – Bombing of Sofia in World War II by Allied forces.
• 1946 – City becomes capital of the People's Republic of Bulgaria.
• 1949 – Sofia Power Plant commissioned.
• 1951 – Vecherni Novini newspaper begins publication.
• 1953 – Vasil Levski National Stadium and National Opera and Ballet building open.
• 1955 – Communist Party Centre built.
• 1956 – Park Hotel Moskva built.
• 1959 – Borisova Gradina TV Tower erected.
• 1962 – Boyana Film studio established.
• 1963 – Georgi Asparuhov Stadium opens.
• 1964 – Population: 739,200 urban agglomeration.^[6]
• 1965 – Theatre 199 founded.
• 1968 – City hosts World Festival of Youth and Students.^[7]
• 1974 – Sofia Central Station rebuilt.
• 1976 – Hemus Hotel built.
• 1977 – Princess Hotel Sofia built.
• 1978 – CITUB Administrative Building built.
• 1979 – Hotel Rodina and Vitosha New Otani (hotel) built.
• 1981 – National Palace of Culture opens.
• 1984 – Population: 1,097,791 (estimate).^[8]
• 1991
  • New Bulgarian University and Higher Islamic Institute^[9] established.
  • Aleksandar Yanchulev becomes mayor.
  • Odeon Cinema active.
• 1993 – June: Union of Democratic Forces demonstration.^[10]
• 1995 – Stefan Sofiyanski becomes mayor.
• 1997
  • January: .^[11]
  • Sofia Film Festival begins.
• 1998 – Sofia Metro begins operating.

21st century

• 2001
  • November: Protest.^[12]
  • Iceberg Sofia hockey team formed.
• 2003
  • Radio Nova begins broadcasting.
  • City plan "Sofia 2020" adopted.
• 2004 – Central Bus Station Sofia opens.
• 2005
  • Boyko Borisov becomes mayor.
  • landfill protest.^[13]
• 2006
  • Mall of Sofia in business.
  • Kino Cineplex opens.^[14]
  • Cathedral of St Joseph rebuilt.
• 2007
  • Olympia Sofia women's football club established.
  • Bulgaria becomes part of the European Union.^[15]
• 2008
  • Sofia Pride begins.
  • 3 July: 2008 Chelopechene explosions.
• 2009
  • Sofia Middle East & North Africa Film Festival begins.^[16]
  • Yordanka Fandakova becomes mayor.
  • Benchmark Tower built.
• 2011
  • September: Anti-Roma demonstration.
  • Armeets Arena and Sofia Arsenal Museum of Contemporary Art opens.
  • Sopharma Business Center towers built.
• 2012
  • Line 2 of Sofia Metro began operation.
  • Population: 1,241,396.
• 2013
  • February: Protest against the Borisov cabinet.
  • June: Protest against the Oresharski cabinet.^[17]
• 2015 – Capital Fort became the tallest building in Sofia with its 126 meters (413 ft).
• 2017 – Millennium Center was completed.
• 2020 – Sofia Metro Line 3 is set to open.

See also

• History of Sofia
• List of mayors of Sofia
• Timelines of other cities in Bulgaria: Plovdiv, Varna
• List of the oldest buildings in Sofia

References

This article incorporates information from the Bulgarian Wikipedia.

Bibliography

• • Book: Chambers's Encyclopaedia . London . https://archive.org/stream/chambersencyclop09lond#page/556/mode/1up . Sofia . 1901 . . Chambers's Encyclopaedia .
  • Sofia . 25 . Bourchier . James David . James David Bourchier . 344 - 345 . 1910 . . 1.
  • Book: Catholic Encyclopedia . Sardica . S. Vailhe . https://archive.org/stream/catholicencyclop13herbuoft#page/472/mode/1up . New York . 1913 . . Catholic Encyclopedia .
• Book: William Harman Black. The Real Europe Pocket Guide-Book . 10 . Black's Blue Books . https://books.google.com/books?id=C_MxAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA44 . 1920. . New York . Bulgaria: Sofia .
• Book: Bulgaria Guide Book . 1959 . Balkantourist . Bulgaria . Sofia . https://archive.org/stream/BulgariaGuideBook1959/bulgaria_guide59#page/n11/mode/2up . .
• Book: Sofia: portrait of a city . Philip Ward . Cambridge, England . Oleander . 1993 . 0906672651 .
  • Book: Trudy Ring . Southern Europe . International Dictionary of Historic Places . 3 . 1996 . Fitzroy Dearborn . 31045650 . Sofia .
• Irina Gigova . The City and the Nation: Sofia's Trajectory from Glory to Rubble in WWII . Journal of Urban History . 2011 . 37 .
• Book: Greening the City: Urban Landscapes in the Twentieth Century . 2011. University of Virginia Press. 978-0-8139-3114-2 . Integrating City and Nature: Urban Planning Debates in Sofia, Bulgaria . . .
• Book: Roman A. Cybriwsky. Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture . 2013. . 978-1-61069-248-9 . Sofia . 282+ .

External links

• Europeana. Items related to Sofia, various dates.
• Digital Public Library of America. Items related to Sofia, various dates

Notes and References

1. Book: Catholic Encyclopedia . Council of Sardica . Patrick J. Healy . https://archive.org/stream/catholicencyclop13herbuoft#page/473/mode/1up . New York . 1913 . Catholic Encyclopedia .
2. Book: Bulgaria: a Guide . 1986 . Dimiter Mihailov and Pancho Smolenov . translated by E. Yanev and R. Yossifova . Collet's, Sofia Press . Sofia .
3. Associational Culture in Pre-Communist Bulgaria: Considerations for Civil Society and Social Capital . Nikolay Valkov . Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations . 20 . 4 . 424–447 . 2009 . 27928186 . 10.1007/s11266-009-9093-0 . 143842129 .
4. Web site: Global Resources Network . . Chicago, USA . 28 December 2013.
5. Web site: 36 Hours in Sofia, Bulgaria . 30 August 2012 . New York Times .
6. Book: https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/1960_round.htm . Demographic Yearbook 1965 . 1966 . . New York . Population of capital cities and cities of 100,000 and more inhabitants .
7. Book: Karin Taylor. Let's Twist Again: Youth and Leisure in Socialist Bulgaria . 2006. LIT Verlag Münster. 978-3-8258-9505-1.
8. Book: https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/1980_round.htm . 1985 Demographic Yearbook . 1987 . United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistical Office . New York . Population of capital cities and cities of 100,000 and more inhabitants . 247–289 .
9. Book: Jørgen S. Nielsen . Yearbook of Muslims in Europe . 2010. . 978-90-04-18475-6.
10. Book: Europa World Year Book 2003 . 2003. Taylor & Francis. 978-1-85743-227-5.
11. Seeing Beyond the Crowd: A Case Study of the Political Protests in Sofia in the Beginning of 1997 . Viara Djoreva . Polish Sociological Review . 99–122 . 133 . 2001 . 41274789 .
12. News: Bulgaria Profile: Timeline . 29 February 2012 . BBC News . 28 December 2013.
13. Web site: Global Nonviolent Action Database . . Pennsylvania, USA . 28 December 2013 .
14. Web site: Movie Theaters in Sofia, Bulgaria . CinemaTreasures.org . Cinema Treasures LLC . Los Angeles . 28 December 2013 .
15. Web site: Change Comes Slowly for Bulgaria, Even With E.U. Membership . 24 December 2013 . New York Times . Andrew Higgins . 28 December 2013.
16. Web site: Festival . Sofia Middle East & North Africa Film Festival . Pozor Company . 28 December 2013.
17. Web site: The Protest . Sofia . Noresharski.com . Nikolay Staykov . 28 December 2013 . Antigovernment Press Centre .