//
The National Museum of History in the Rezidentsia Boyana provide a comprehensive view on Bulgarian history from the prehistory to present, in as broad of a European context as possible. With more than 650,000 exhibits, it is one of the largest history museums on the Balkans, so be prepared to spend several hours. One main attraction are golden and silver mugs and jewellery from Thracian (around 4th century BC) and Roman periods. About half of the exhibits have English captions.
The National Historical Museum in Sofia is Bulgaria's largest museum. It was founded on 5 May 1973. A new representative exhibition was opened in the building of the Court of Justice on 2 March 1984, to commemorate the 13th centenary of the Bulgarian state. The museum was moved in 2000 to one of the major buildings in the complex serving as official residence of the President, Vice President and Government of the Republic of Bulgaria., and currently contains over 650,000 objects connected to archaeology, fine arts, history and ethnography, although only 10% of them are permanently exhibited.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
This small 11th-century church and garden is on the UNESCO World Heritage List for its well-preserved murals. The layer of fresco from 1259 shows realism and emotion evocative of the early Renaissance, but painted a century earlier. No photos are allowed inside, as the interior is dark and cramped. There is little interpretive information inside; you can hire an on-site tour guide or ask questions to the docent. Only 8 people are permitted inside at a time, for a maximum of 10 minutes. During busy periods you may have to wait for over an hour, yet the queue is self-policed so be prepared to stand outside doing nothing for a while and don't forget who arrived after you! This is at the foot of Vitosha mountain and is a good starting point for day trips in the mountain.
The biggest congress center in the Balkans (a massive monolithic communist-style building). If asking for directions, ask for NDK (en-de-ka), as most Bulgarians refer to it by this acronym.
An obelisk built by the Russians.