Georgi Bradistilov

Vassil Tzankov Tzankov (Bulgarian: Васил Цанков Цанков) (April 2, 1905, Gorna Oryahovitsa, Bulgaria – August 25, 1986, Sofia, Bulgaria) was a Bulgarian geologist and paleontologist. He is best known for his work on Upper Cretaceous ammonites and bivalves. Tzankov was head of Bulgarian Geological Survey from 1941 until 1944. In 1945 he became docent and in 1947 - professor, and was appointed to the paleontology chair at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski". In the late 1950s Tzankov organized the launch and became the first editor and one of the principal authors of the multi-volume treatise "Fossils of Bulgaria" (Bulgarian: Фосилите на България). Contributors to the treatise included leading Bulgarian specialists in the field. He served as deputy director of the Geological Institute at the Committee for Geology and Mineral Resources in the period 1960-1966. From 1967 to 1982 Tzankov also served as head of the Department of Paleontology with the Geological Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. In 1967 he was elected as a corresponding member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

The Central Sofia Cemetery (Bulgarian: Централни софийски гробища, Tsentralni sofiyski grobishta) or the Orlandovtsi Cemetery ("Орландовци") is the main cemetery in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. The cemetery has several chapels used by various Christian denominations, such as a Bulgarian Orthodox church of the Dormition of the Theotokos, a Roman Catholic chapel of Saint Francis of Assisi, an Armenian Apostolic chapel, a Jewish synagogue, etc. The cemetery also features Russian, Serbian, Romanian and British military sections.

Serdika or Serdica is the historical Roman name of Sofia, now the capital of Bulgaria, and is also the name of a district (Bulgarian: Сердика [ˈsɛrdikɐ]) located in the center of the city. It includes four neighbourhoods: "Fondovi zhilishta"; "Banishora", "Orlandovtsi" and "Malashevtsi" as well as the central parts of "Draz mahala". It has an area of 17.53 km² that counts for 1.3% of the total Capital Municipality area and 8.8% of the city proper. As of 2006 Serdica has a population of 52,918. There are 6 kindergartens, 13 schools and 6 chitalishta in the territory of the district. Healthcare infrastructure includes II and V City Hospitals; Institute of Transport Medicine and two polyclinics. The Sofia Central Railway Station; Central Bus Station Sofia and the Lavov Most are also located in Serdica.

Central Bus Station Sofia (Bulgarian: Централна автогара София, romanized: Tsentralna avtogara Sofiya; abbreviated as CBS) is the main bus station of Sofia, Bulgaria. Its building was opened in 2004 and covers an area of 7,173 square metres (77,210 sq ft), of which the waiting area is 1,500 square metres (16,000 sq ft). The bus station has 57 ticket windows, which accept cash, debit and credit. At any time, between 47 and 50 buses may enter or leave the station from 50 domestic and international bus stops. Ten additional bus stops are made available on days with heavy traffic. 2,250 passengers may pass through the waiting area in one hour. There are 130 surveillance cameras.

Sofia Thermal Power Plant (Bulgarian: ТЕЦ София) is a power plant situated near the capital of Bulgaria, Sofia. It has an installed capacity of 130 MW.

Lavov most Metro Station (Bulgarian: Метростанция "Лъвов мост") is a station on the Sofia Metro in Bulgaria. It opened on 31 August 2012. Bulgaria's PM Boyko Borisov and the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso inaugurated the new section of the Sofia Metro, which was funded with EU money.

The Principality of Bulgaria (Bulgarian: Княжество България, romanized: Knyazhestvo Balgariya) was a de facto independent, and de jure vassal state under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. It was established by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. After the Russo-Turkish War ended with a Russian victory, the Treaty of San Stefano was signed by Russia and the Ottoman Empire on 3 March 1878. Under this, a large Bulgarian vassal state was agreed to, which was significantly larger: its lands encompassed nearly all ethnic Bulgarians in the Balkans, and included most of Moesia, Thrace and Macedonia, stretching from the Black Sea to the Aegean. However, the United Kingdom and Austria-Hungary were against the establishment of such a large Russian client state in the Balkans, fearing it would shift the balance of power in the Mediterranean. Due to this, the great powers convened and signed the Treaty of Berlin, superseding the Treaty of San Stefano, which never went into effect. This created a much smaller principality, alongside an autonomous Eastern Rumelia within the Ottoman Empire. Although an Ottoman vassal, Bulgaria only acknowledged the authority of the Sublime Porte in a formal way. It had its own Constitution, flag and anthem, and conducted its own foreign policy. In 1885, a bloodless revolution resulted in Eastern Rumelia being de facto annexed by Bulgaria, which the Ottoman Empire accepted with the Tophane Agreement. On 5 October 1908, Bulgaria declared its independence as the Kingdom of Bulgaria.

The Siege of Sofia took place in 1382 or 1385 during the course of the Bulgarian–Ottoman wars. Unable to defend his country from the Ottomans, in 1373 the Bulgarian emperor Ivan Shishman agreed to become an Ottoman vassal and to marry his sister Kera Tamara to their sultan Murad I, while the Ottomans were to return some conquered fortresses. Despite the peace, in the beginning of the 1380s the Ottomans resumed their campaigns and besieged the important city of Sofia which controlled major communication routes to Serbia and Macedonia. There are little records about the siege. After the futile attempts to storm the city, the Ottoman commander Lala Shahin Pasha considered to abandon the siege. However, a Bulgarian renegate managed to lure the city governor ban Yanuka out of the fortress to hunt and the Turks captured him. Leaderless, the Bulgarians surrendered. The city walls were destroyed and an Ottoman garrison was installed. With the way to the north-west cleared, the Ottomans pressed further and captured Pirot and Niš in 1386, thus wedging between Bulgaria and Serbia.

The Church of St Paraskeva (Bulgarian: църква "Света Параскева", tsarkva "Sveta Paraskeva") is a Bulgarian Orthodox church in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. The church, dedicated to Saint Paraskeva, is located on 58 Georgi Rakovski Street in the centre of the city. It is the third-largest church in Sofia. Plans to build a church at the site date to 1910, when Stuttgart-educated Bulgarian architect Anton Tornyov (1868–1942) won a competition for the church's design. Due to the Balkan Wars and World War I, however, the construction was postponed. In 1922, the church board of trustees announced another competition, which was again won by Tornyov. The construction of the Church of St Paraskeva was complete by 1930, but the finishing works on the porticos did not cease until 1940. St Paraskeva has a somewhat unusual design for an Eastern Orthodox church. For example, the cella is in practice a round chamber over 20 metres (66 ft) in diameter. The cella gradually disintegrates into the surrounding apses.

The Princess Hotel Sofia is a 4-star hotel in Sofia, Bulgaria. It has 601 hotel rooms, a luxury lobby bar and a restaurant. The hotel is located near the Central Bus Station and the Central Railway Station

Lions' Bridge (Bulgarian: Лъвов мост; Lavov most) is a bridge over the Vladaya River in the centre of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, built 1889–1891 by Czech architect Václav Prošek, his brother Jozef and his cousins Bohdan and Jiří. It gives the name to the important and busy junction of Marie Louise Boulevard and Slivnitsa Boulevard, at which it is located, connecting the Central Railway Station with the city centre and marking its northern border.

The Sofia Central Railway Station (Bulgarian: Централна железопътна гара София, romanized: Tsentralna zhelezopatna gara Sofiya) is the main passenger railway station of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, as well as the largest railway station in the country. It is located 1 km north of the city centre after Lavov most, on Marie Louise Boulevard in the immediate proximity of the Central Bus Station Sofia. It was completely renovated in 2016.