Editing Sofia (section)

=== Early modern history ===
From the 14th century till the 19th century Sofia was an important administrative center in the Ottoman Empire. It became the capital of the [[beylerbey]]lik of [[Rumelia]] ([[Rumelia Eyalet]]), the [[Administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire|province]] that administered the Ottoman lands in [[Europe]] (the [[Balkans]]), one of the two together with the beylerbeylik of [[Anatolia]]. It was the capital of the important [[Sanjak of Sofia]] as well, including the whole of [[Thrace]] with [[Plovdiv]] and [[Edirne]], and part of [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]] with [[Thessaloniki]] and [[Skopje]].<ref>{{cite book | title=Godisnjak | publisher=Drustvo Istoricara Bosne i Hercegovine, Sarajevo | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-4wxAQAAIAAJ | year=1950 | page=174 | quote=Санџак Софија Овај је санџак основан око г. 1393. | access-date=27 June 2019 | archive-date=18 August 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818181152/https://books.google.com/books?id=-4wxAQAAIAAJ | url-status=live }}</ref>

During the initial stages of the [[Crusade of Varna]] in 1443, it was occupied by Hungarian forces for a short time in 1443, and the Bulgarian population celebrated a mass [[Saint Sofia Church, Sofia|Saint Sofia Church]]. Following the defeat of the crusader forces in 1444, the city's Christians faced persecution. In 1530 Sofia became the capital of the [[Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman province]] (beylerbeylik) of [[Rumelia]] for about three centuries. During that time Sofia was the largest import-export-base in modern-day Bulgaria for the caravan trade with the [[Republic of Ragusa]]. In the 15th and 16th century, Sofia was expanded by Ottoman building activity. Public investments in infrastructure, education and local economy brought greater diversity to the city. Amongst others, the population consisted of [[Muslim]]s, [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] and [[Greek language|Greek]] speaking [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christians]], [[Armenians]], [[Georgians]], [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] Ragusans, Jews ([[Romaniote Jews|Romaniote]], [[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazi]] and [[Sephardi]]), and [[Romani people]].<ref name=":0" /> The 16th century was marked by a wave of persecutions against the Bulgarian Christians, a total of nine became [[New Martyrs]] in Sofia and were sainted by the Orthodox Church, including [[George of Kratovo|George the New]] (1515), Sophronius of Sofia (1515), George the Newest (1530), [[St. Nicholas of Sofia|Nicholas of Sofia]] (1555) and Terapontius of Sofia (1555).<ref>{{harvnb|Stancheva|2010|pp=165, 167–169}}</ref>

[[File:Sofia-oberbauer.png|thumb|alt=Sofia with the clock tower|Sofia in mid-19th-century]]

When it comes to the cityscape, 16th century sources mention eight [[Jama Masjid|Friday mosques]], three public libraries, numerous schools, 12 churches, three synagogues, and the largest [[bedesten]] (market) of the Balkans.<ref name=":0" /> Additionally, there were fountains and ''[[Turkish bath|hammams]]'' (bathhouses). Most prominent churches such as Saint Sofia and Saint George were converted into mosques, and a number of new ones were constructed, including [[Banya Bashi Mosque]] built by the Ottoman architect [[Mimar Sinan]]. In total there were 11 big and over 100 small mosques by the 17th century.<ref>{{harvnb|Stancheva|2010|pp=154–155}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Sofia – Trip around Sofia|url=http://old.omda.bg/biblioteka/obikolka_sofia_1968/obikolka_sofia_balkantourist_1968_3.htm|publisher=Balkan tourist, 1968|access-date=8 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305050426/http://old.omda.bg/biblioteka/obikolka_sofia_1968/obikolka_sofia_balkantourist_1968_3.htm|archive-date=5 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1610 the [[Catholic Church|Vatican]] established the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Sofia and Plovdiv|See of Sofia]] for Catholics of [[Rumelia]], which existed until 1715 when most Catholics had emigrated.<ref>{{Catholic|title=Sardica|url=http://oce.catholic.com/index.php?title=Sardica}}</ref> There was an important uprising against Ottoman rule in Sofia, [[Samokov]] and Western Bulgaria in 1737.

Sofia entered a period of economic and political decline in the 17th century, accelerated during the period of anarchy in the Ottoman Balkans of the late 18th and early 19th century, when local Ottoman warlords ravaged the countryside. 1831 Ottoman population statistics show that 42% of the Christians were non-taxpayers in the [[kaza]] of Sofia and the amount of middle-class and poor Christians were equal.<ref>[[Kemal Karpat]] (1985), [https://kupdf.net/downloadFile/59e4a7b908bbc56144e653d7 Ottoman Population, 1830-1914, Demographic and Social Characteristics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010124553/https://kupdf.net/downloadFile/59e4a7b908bbc56144e653d7 |date=10 October 2019 }}, [[The University of Wisconsin Press]], p. 36</ref> Since the 18th century the ''[[beylerbey]]s'' of Rumelia often stayed in [[Bitola]], which became the official capital of the province in 1826. Sofia remained the seat of a [[sanjak]] (district). By the 19th century the Bulgarian population had two schools and seven churches, contributing to the [[Bulgarian National Revival]]. In 1858 [[Nedelya Petkova]] created the first Bulgarian school for women in the city. In 1867 was inaugurated the first ''[[chitalishte]]'' in Sofia – a Bulgarian cultural institution. In 1870 the Bulgarian revolutionary [[Vasil Levski]] established a [[Internal Revolutionary Organization|revolutionary committee]] in the city and in the neighbouring villages. Following his capture in 1873, Vasil Levski was transferred and hanged in Sofia by the Ottomans.