Royal Palace (Sofia)

The National Art Gallery (Bulgarian: Национална художествена галерия, Natsionalna hudozhestvena galeriya) is Bulgaria's national gallery, and houses over 50,000 pieces of Bulgarian art.

Prince Alexander I Square (Bulgarian: площад Княз Александър I, Ploshtad Knyaz Aleksandar I), often called simply Battenberg Square (площад Батенберг) is the largest square of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. It is named after Alexander Joseph of Battenberg (Alexander I of Bulgaria), the first prince of modern Bulgaria. During the Communist rule of Bulgaria, the square was named September 9th Square, after a coup on September 9, 1944, made the country a Communist state. Before 1944, the square was known as Tsar's Square because the former royal palace, now the National Art Gallery was located there. It was the site of the Georgi Dimitrov Mausoleum from 1949 until 1999. It is arguably the most suitable place in Sofia for major open-air concerts such as the concert series "Opera on the Square", demonstrations, parades (including the military parade on St George's Day) and other large-scale events.

The Georgi Dimitrov Mausoleum (Bulgarian: мавзолей на Георги Димитров) was a ceremonial tomb on Prince Alexander of Battenberg Square in Sofia, Bulgaria. It was built in 1949 to house the embalmed body of Georgi Dimitrov, the first leader of Communist Bulgaria. After his death in 1950, the second communist leader of Bulgaria, Vasil Kolarov, was buried in the second niche of the east wall of the mausoleum. In 1999, following a heated public debate, it was destroyed by Ivan Kostov's UDF government.

The National Museum of Natural History (Bulgarian: Национален природонаучен музей, Natsionalen prirodonauchen muzey; abbreviated НПМ, NMNHS) of Bulgaria is a natural history museum located in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, on Tsar Osvoboditel Boulevard, next to the Russian church. Founded in 1889, it is affiliated with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and is the first and largest museum of this kind in the Balkans. The Museum's collection includes over 400 stuffed mammals, over 1,200 species of birds, hundreds of thousands of insects and other invertebrates, as well as samples of about one quarter of the world's mineral species. The National Museum of Natural History was founded in 1889 as the Natural History Museum of Knyaz Ferdinand of Bulgaria, with various foreign and Bulgarian specialists (e.g. Ivan Buresh, director from 1913 to 1947) serving as its directors until 1947, when the museum became part of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences' Zoological Institute. The Museum became autonomous as a separate institute within the system of BAS in 1974. In 1992, the Asenovgrad Palaeontology Museum, an NMNH branch in Asenovgrad, was formed. Currently the museum publishes Historia naturalis bulgarica journal.

The Amphitheatre of Serdica (Latin: Amphitheatrum Serdicense; Bulgarian: Амфитеатър на Сердика, Amfiteatar na Serdika) was an amphitheatre in the Ancient Roman city of Ulpia Serdica, now Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Discovered in 2004 and the subject of excavations in 2005 and 2006, the ruins of the amphitheatre lie on two adjacent sites in the centre of modern Sofia. The amphitheatre was built in the 3rd–4th century AD on top of a 2nd–3rd century theatre, which had been ravaged by the Goths. However, the amphitheatre remained in use for less than a century and was abandoned by the 5th century. The Amphitheatre of Serdica was among the biggest in the eastern part of the Roman Empire and the largest in what is today Bulgaria. It lay outside the city walls of Serdica and hosted fights between gladiators and wild beasts, which were advertised at the entrance of the city.

The Bulgarian National Bank (Bulgarian: Българска народна банка, romanized: Balgarska narodna banka, IPA: [ˈbɤɫɡɐrskɐ nɐˈrɔdnɐ ˈbaŋkɐ]) is the central bank of the Republic of Bulgaria with its headquarters in Sofia. The BNB was established on 25 January 1879. It is an independent institution responsible for issuing all banknotes and coins in the country, overseeing and regulating the banking sector and keeping the government's currency reserves. The BNB is also the sole owner of the Bulgarian Mint. The governor is Dimitar Radev. The bank has a key role in Bulgarian economy. Since October 1, 2007 the bank is a member of European system of central banks. The governor of BNB is a member of General Assembly of European central bank. It is the 13 oldest central bank in the world.

The Russian Church (Bulgarian: Руска църква, romanized: Ruska tsarkva), officially known as the Church of St Nicholas the Miracle-Maker (Bulgarian: църква „Св. Николай Чудотворец“, romanized: tsarkva "Sv. Nikolay Chudotvorets"), is a Russian Orthodox church in central Sofia, Bulgaria situated on Tsar Osvoboditel Boulevard.

The City Garden (Bulgarian: Градска градина, Gradska gradina) is Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria's oldest and most central public garden, in existence since 1872. It is located between Tsar Osvoboditel Boulevard to the north, Knyaz Alexander Battenberg Street to the west and Joseph Vladimirovich Gourko Street to the south, in the historical centre of the city. Originally arranged in the last years of the Ottoman rule of Bulgaria, it was radically transformed immediately after the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878 and the choice of Sofia as the capital the following year under the city architect Antonín Kolář on the initiative of the temporary governor Pyotr Alabin. The alley network was reorganized, new plants were added, as well as a low wooden fence, a coffeehouse and a kiosk for musicians. The garden was initially named the Alexander II Garden in honour of Russian tsar Alexander II, who initiated the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, which led to the Liberation of Bulgaria. Until the end of the 19th century the City Garden was repeatedly reorganized and further developed. Among the noted gardeners that worked on it were Karl Betz, Daniel Neff and Iliya Todorov, who shaped the garden's appearance that it would retain until the Second World War. The construction of the now-demolished Georgi Dimitrov Mausoleum soon after the beginning of Communist rule of Bulgaria after the war was followed by multiple fundamental reorganizations, such as in 1951 and 1959 by Sugarev and R. Robev, 1976 and 1978 by A. Agura. These led to the orientation of the garden not towards the former royal palace as previously, but towards the Ivan Vazov National Theatre. The new composition was often in conflict with the initial planning and the City Garden lost territory and key architectural elements in the period. Today the City Garden is not only a popular retreat for the residents of the capital, but also a favoured place for amateur chess players, who can be regularly seen in the small garden in front of the National Theatre. It was also the place where a group of around 300 people gathered on 27 August 1895 to climb Cherni vrah in Vitosha led by the writer Aleko Konstantinov on what is regarded as the birth date of tourism in Bulgaria.

The Ivan Vazov National Theatre (Bulgarian: Народен театър „Иван Вазов“, Naroden teatar „Ivan Vazov“) is Bulgaria's national theatre, as well as the oldest and most authoritative theatre in the country and one of the important landmarks of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. It is located in the centre of the city, with the facade facing the City Garden.Founded in 1904 by the artists from the Salza i Smyah company, it was initially called simply the National Theatre, but before being named after the prominent writer Ivan Vazov it also bore the name of Krastyu Sarafov between 1952 and 1962. Vazov's play The Outcasts was the first to be performed at the theatre when it opened. The theatre's Neoclassical building, designed by famous Viennese theatre architects Hermann Helmer and Ferdinand Fellner, was finished in 1906 and opened on 3 January 1907. The building was extensively damaged by a fire in 1923 during an anniversary celebration, but was reconstructed in 1929 by German architect Martin Dülfer. A theatrical school was established as part of the National Theatre in 1925. The bombing of Sofia in World War II caused considerable damage to the building, but it was reconstructed in 1945. Another reconstruction followed in 1971–1975, and a €100,000 restoration project was implemented in 2006.The Ivan Vazov National Theatre has a well-equipped main stage with 750 seats, a smaller 120-seat stage and an additional 70-seat one on the fourth floor. The building's facade is depicted on the obverse of the Bulgarian 50 levs banknote, issued in 1999 and 2006.The theatre has been host to productions from notable theatre directors such as Alexander Morfov who has been the Chief director since 1993.

The National Archaeological Museum (Bulgarian: Национален археологически музей, Natsionalen arheologicheski muzey) is an archaeological museum in the centre of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. It occupies the building of the largest and oldest former Ottoman mosque in the city, originally known as Koca Mahmut Paşa Camii. The construction started in 1451 under grand vizier Veli Mahmud Pasha but due to his death in 1474 the mosque has been completed in 1494. The museum was established as a separate entity in 1893 as the National Museum directed by Czech Václav Dobruský with its headquarters in the former mosque that previously housed the National Library between 1880 and 1893. The museum was officially opened and inaugurated in 1905, as by then all archaeological exhibits previously kept all over the city were moved there, in the presence of Knyaz Ferdinand of Bulgaria and Minister of Enlightenment Ivan Shishmanov. Several additional halls and administrative buildings of the museum were constructed in the following years, which continues to use the historic stone building of the old mosque despite the often unfavourable conditions, notably the humidity in the summer. The museum has five exhibition halls: Central Hall, Prehistory, Middle Ages, Treasure, and a special temporary exhibition. It is managed by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

The Central Military Club (Bulgarian: Централен военен клуб, Tsentralen voenen klub) is a multi-purpose monument of culture building in the centre of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, located on Tsar Osvoboditel Boulevard and Georgi Rakovski Street. It serves the Bulgarian Army and is administered by the Executive Agency of Military Clubs and Information. The 2010 world chess championship match between Viswanathan Anand of India and Vaselin Topalov of Bulgaria was held in this building that was won by Viswanathan Anand. The foundation stone of the edifice was laid in 1895. The Military Club was designed by Czech architect Antonín Kolář in the Neo-Renaissance style and finished by Bulgarian architect Nikola Lazarov in 1907. The lot and the funding was provided by the Sofia Officers' Assembly. A stone from the battlefield at Slivnitsa from the Serbo-Bulgarian War (1885-1886) was laid in the foundations. The building has three stories and features a coffeehouse, an art gallery, a number of refined halls varying in size, as well as an imposing concert hall with 450 seats. Due to all this, the Central Military Club has always been an important cultural centre of the capital, once exhibiting works by Ivan Mrkvička, Vladimir Dimitrov, Jaroslav Věšín and providing these noted artists with studios. The concert hall has also seen performances by actors and opera singers like Krastyu Sarafov, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Feodor Chaliapin, Boris Christoff, and bands like Ladytron etc.

Knyaz Aleksandar Dondukov Boulevard (Bulgarian: Булевард Княз Александър Дондуков), shortly referred to as Dondukov, is an important central boulevard in Sofia. It is named after the Russian general and statesman Alexander Dondukov-Korsakov. It lies between the TZUM and the Chavdar bridge. It crosses several other major streets such as the Vasil Levski Boulevard and Georgi Rakovski Street.