Editing Sofia (section)

==Culture==
{{See also|Tourist attractions in Sofia|List of churches in Sofia}}

===Arts and entertainment===
{{see also|Art galleries in Sofia}}
[[File:Aleksander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia BUL.jpg|thumb|[[Cathedral]] dedicated to [[Alexander Nevsky]]]]
Sofia concentrates the majority of Bulgaria's leading performing arts troupes. Theatre is by far the most popular form of performing art, and theatrical venues are among the most visited, second only to cinemas. There were 3,162 theatric performances with 570,568 people attending in 2014.{{Sfn|Sofia|2016|page=159}} The [[Ivan Vazov National Theatre]], which performs mainly classical plays and is situated in the very centre of the city, is the most prominent theatre. The [[National Opera and Ballet of Bulgaria]] is a combined opera and ballet collective established in 1891. Regular performances began in 1909. Some of Bulgaria's most famous operatic singers, such as [[Nicolai Ghiaurov]] and [[Ghena Dimitrova]], made their first appearances on the stage of the National Opera and Ballet.

Cinema is the most popular form of entertainment: there were more than 141,000 film shows with a total attendance exceeding 2,700,000 in 2014.{{Sfn|Sofia|2016|page=160}} Over the past two decades, numerous independent cinemas have closed and most shows are in shopping centre [[Multiplex (movie theater)|multiplexes]]. ''Odeon'' (not part of the [[Odeon Cinemas]] chain) shows exclusively European and independent American films, as well as 20th century classics. The Boyana Film studios was at the centre of a once-thriving domestic film industry, which declined significantly after 1990. [[Nu Image]] acquired the studios to upgrade them into [[Nu Boyana Film Studios]], used to shoot scenes for a number of action movies like ''[[The Expendables 2]]'', ''[[Rambo: Last Blood]]'' and ''[[London Has Fallen]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.novinite.com/articles/191895/UPDATE%3A+Stallone+Returning+to+NU+BOYANA+Film+Studios+in+Bulgaria+for+%E2%80%98Rambo+5%E2%80%99|title=UPDATE: Stallone Returning to NU BOYANA Film Studios in Bulgaria for 'Rambo 5'|publisher=Novinite|date=30 August 2018|access-date=28 October 2018|archive-date=31 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180831164251/https://www.novinite.com/articles/191895/UPDATE%3A+Stallone+Returning+to+NU+BOYANA+Film+Studios+in+Bulgaria+for+%E2%80%98Rambo+5%E2%80%99|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3300542/companycredits|title=London Has Fallen: Company Credits|publisher=IMDb.com|access-date=28 October 2018|archive-date=27 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170127202134/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3300542/companycredits|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Museum of Contemporary Art - Sofia Arsenal Front facade, Софийски арсенал - Музей за съвременно изкуство.jpg|thumb|left|The Museum of Contemporary Art]]
Bulgaria's largest art museums are located in the central areas of the city. Since 2015, the [[National Art Gallery (Bulgaria)|National Art Gallery]], located in the former [[Royal Palace (Sofia)|royal palace]], the [[National Gallery for Foreign Art]] (NGFA) and the [[Museum of Contemporary Art – Sofia Arsenal]] were merged to form the [[National Gallery]]. Its largest branch is Kvadrat 500, located on the NFGA premises, where some 2,000 works are on display in twenty eight exhibition halls.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://bnr.bg/en/post/100561824/national-gallery-square-500-the-non-standard-museum |title=(source) |access-date=16 July 2016 |archive-date=16 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816161734/http://bnr.bg/en/post/100561824/national-gallery-square-500-the-non-standard-museum |url-status=live }}</ref> The collections encompass diverse cultural items, from [[Ashanti Empire]] sculptures and [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] art to [[Dutch Golden Age]] painting, works by [[Albrecht Dürer]], [[Jean-Baptiste Greuze]] and [[Auguste Rodin]]. The [[crypt]] of the Alexander Nevsky cathedral is another branch of the National Gallery. It holds a collection of Eastern Orthodox icons from the 9th to the 19th century.

The [[National Historical Museum (Bulgaria)|National History Museum]], located in [[Boyana]], it has a vast collection of more than 650,000 historical items dating from Prehistory to the modern era, although only 10,000 of them are permanently displayed due to the lack of space.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historymuseum.org/collection.php|title=Колекции – НИМ|website=Historymuseum.org|access-date=11 April 2018|archive-date=17 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217203853/http://www.historymuseum.org/collection.php|url-status=live}}</ref> Smaller collections of historical items are displayed in the [[National Archaeological Museum (Bulgaria)|National Archaeological Museum]], a former mosque located between the edifices of the National Bank and the Presidency. Two natural sciences museums—the [[National Museum of Natural History (Bulgaria)|Natural History Museum]] and [[Earth and Man National Museum|Earth and Man]]—display minerals, animal species (alive and [[Taxidermy|taxidermic]]) and rare materials. The Ethnographic Museum and the [[National Museum of Military History (Bulgaria)|Museum of Military History]] hold large collections of Bulgarian folk costumes and armaments, respectively. The [[National Polytechnical Museum|Polytechnical Museum]] has more than 1,000 technological items on display. The [[SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library]], the foremost information repository in the country, holds some 1,800,000 books and more than 7,000,000 documents, manuscripts, maps and other items.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationallibrary.bg/wp/?page_id=250&lang=bg|title=Funds and collections|publisher=SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library|access-date=28 October 2018|archive-date=28 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181028151523/http://www.nationallibrary.bg/wp/?page_id=250&lang=bg|url-status=live}}</ref> 
[[File:Boyana Church Mural Paintings.jpg|thumb|right|Interior of the medieval [[Boyana Church]]]]
[[File:Banya Bashi Mosque (37849692391).jpg| The [[Banya Bashi Mosque]], an example of [[Ottoman architecture]]|thumb]]
The city houses many cultural institutes such as the Russian Cultural Institute, the [[Polish Cultural Institute]], the Hungarian Institute, the Czech and the Slovak Cultural Institutes, the [[Italian Cultural Institute]], [[Confucius Institute]], [[Institut Français]], [[Goethe-Institut|Goethe Institut]], [[British Council]] and [[Instituto Cervantes]] which regularly organise temporary expositions of visual, sound and literary works by artists from their respective countries.

Some of the biggest telecommunications companies, TV and radio stations, newspapers, magazines, and web portals are based in Sofia, including the [[Bulgarian National Television]], [[BTV (Bulgaria)|bTV]] and [[Nova Television (Bulgaria)|Nova TV]]. Top-circulation newspapers include ''[[24 Chasa]]'' and ''[[Dneven Trud|Trud]]''.

The [[Boyana Church]], a [[UNESCO]] World Heritage site, contains realistic frescoes, depicting more than 240 human images and a total 89 scenes, were painted. With their vital, humanistic realism they are a [[Renaissance]] phenomenon at its culmination phase in the context of the common-European art.<ref name="ecker">{{cite book|title= Bulgarien. Kunstdenkmäler aus vier Jahrtausenden von den Thrakern bis zur Gegenwart.|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Y1lKNBGLs7oC&pg=PA205|language= de|last= Ecker|first= Gerhard|publisher= DuMont Buchverlag|location= Köln|year= 1984|isbn= 9783406398667|access-date= 12 September 2017|archive-date= 20 August 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200820024306/https://books.google.com/books?id=Y1lKNBGLs7oC&pg=PA205|url-status= live}}</ref>

===Tourism===
Sofia is one of the most visited tourist destinations in Bulgaria alongside coastal and mountain resorts. Among its highlights is the [[Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia|Alexander Nevsky Cathedral]], one of the symbols of Bulgaria, constructed in the late 19th century. It occupies an area of {{convert|3170|m2|0|abbr=off}} and can hold 10,000 people.

The city center contains many remains of ancient Serdica that have been excavated and are on public display, including ''Complex Ancient Serdica'', eastern gate, western gate, city walls, thermal baths, 4th c. [[Church of St. George, Sofia|church of St. George Rotunda]], [[amphitheatre of Serdica]], the tombs and basilicas under the [[Saint Sophia Church, Sofia|basilica of St. Sophia]].

[[Vitosha Boulevard]], also called ''Vitoshka'', is a pedestrian zone with numerous cafés, restaurants, fashion boutiques, and [[luxury good]]s stores. Sofia's [[geographic coordinate system|geographic location]], in the foothills of the weekend retreat [[Vitosha]] mountain, further adds to the city's specific atmosphere.<gallery mode="packed" caption="Some of tourist attraction in Sofia">
File:Ivan Vazov National Theatre, Sofia.JPG|[[Ivan Vazov National Theatre]]
File:Boulevard Vitosha (5) (37448099450).jpg|[[Vitosha Boulevard]], the main shopping street in the city
File:Central Market Hall in Sofia 2012 PD 07.jpg|[[Central Sofia Market Hall]]
File:St. George Rotunda, Sofia, Bulgaria (17680380465).jpg|[[Church of Saint George, Sofia|Church of Saint George]]
File:Gallery for Foreign Art TodorBozhinov 041009.jpg|[[National Gallery for Foreign Art]]
</gallery>