Things to see in Sofia

Probably Sofia's most photographed monument, Alexandar Nevski is a magnificent neo-Byzantine cathedral-sized church, topped by copper and golden domes and one of the largest Eastern Orthodox churches in the world. Built between 1882 and 1912, the church takes its name from Alexandar Nevski, credited with saving Russia from Swedish troops in 1240, and the patron saint of the family of the tsar at that time, Alexander II (also known as Tsar Osvoboditel, the ‘Tsar Liberator') who led the army that drove out the Turks. The inside is even more impressive; a darkened interior with vast domes covered with delicate murals. The central altar is dedicated to St Alexandar Nevski, the southern altar to St Boris (who brought Christianity to Bulgaria) and the northern altar to Saints Cyril and Methodius (who created the Cyrillic alphabet). The Icon Museum, located in the crypt, has over 300 icons and mural frescoes tracing the development of Bulgarian icon-painting from the late ninth century up to the end of the 19th century.

Located inside the former Tsar's palace, Sofia's National Art Gallery houses Bulgaria's largest art collection, with some 60,000 works. Its creaky wooden floors, original marble fireplaces and high ceilings ensure the building is a sanctuary from the Sofia heat, which can feel quite sticky in the summer.

When Sofia was conquered by the Turks in 1382, this building became akonak (headquarters) of the local Ottoman administrators. At one time these were used to interrogate Bulgarian rebels. These days it charts the development of Bulgarian art from 1878 to the mid-20th century, beginning with the Revivalist period and portraiture with painters like Zograf, Dospevski and Pavlovic. Moving into the early 20th century, examples of the popular 1930s movement includes scenes by Nikola Tanev, a Gaugin-esque Stoyan Sotinov and wonderful paintings of old Plovdiv by Tzanko Lavrenov. There are also regularly changing exhibitions from international artists.

After entering Hall 1 of the Ethnographic Museum you’ll be greeted with step-by-step instructions on how to make kirpich (bricks). It's around this point you’ll probably consider the entrance fee money badly spent, but don’t give up. Ethnography is the study of different cultures and how they behave and evolve, and in this sense the museum mirrors its aims completely. After starting with the building blocks of Bulgarian rural life, things progress into an exhibition about the town of Yugavo in the Rhodope Mountains. It includes some beautiful black and white pictures from the village including men in fezzes and straight-backed woman, all with darkened skin from a lifetime in the fields. In the next rooms you will see a different kind of building block: looms and knitting needles the size of pneumatic drills. There are also children’s toys and dolls that would not out of place in a horror film today. Certainly one of the city’s less trumpeted attractions, it’s without doubt one of its most charming.

Standing in the courtyard of the Sheraton Balkan Hotel, the tiny sunken redbrick Rotunda of St George is the oldest preserved building in Sofia, built in the fourth century as a Roman temple. Careful restoration work has revealed three layers of exquisite medieval frescoes, which had been hidden by plaster during the 500 years of Ottoman rule. The impressive cupola bears a 14th-century portrait of Christ the Pantocrator, surrounded by four angels and symbols of the Evangelists. Beneath, 12th-century fresco work depicts 22 prophets holding scrolls, with texts alternately in Bulgarian and Greek. To the east lie excavated foundations of an octagonal-shaped Roman public building and paved street.