Largo or "Independence" Square
This is the square that is shaped up among the buildings of the Presidency, the Council of Ministers and the building that is the former Party House, in the past it used to be headquarters of the communist party, and today it is part of the Parliament buildings.
It is called “Independence” Square in honour of the independence of the Third Bulgarian kingdom, proclaimed on the 22nd of September 1908 by Knyaz Ferdinand Saxe-Coburg Gotha who back then accepted the title “tsar of Bulgaria”.
It is 200 meters long and 50 meters wide and is being used predominantly for official ceremonies, public performances and protests. Today, here state’s governance is focused, but for more than 2000 years it is the central-most place in Sofia, a crossing point of many cultures that have left their traces until today.
Beneath the square we could find the remnants of the Antique Serdika Forum – centre of the city dating back to the times when Serdika or today’s Sofia used to be part of the Roman Empire. Each and every has the chance to take a walk along the original pavement of the main Roman street of Serdika. And in Presidency’s backyard we could still find an antique church preserved up to its roof – the rotunda “Saint George”, built in IV century.
The Archaeological Museum is facing the Presidency that is located in one of the oldest buildings in Sofia, constructed as mosque in 1474 during the Ottoman period.
In the bottom beneath the city level another temple is located – the small medieval church dating back to the ХI century “St. Petka of the Saddlers”, veiled by numerous legends.
The buildings of power that we see today, have been built in the 50-ies of the ХХ century. Before that the place suffered numerous destructions during the bombarding over Sofia during the Second World War and this provided the opportunity for large-scale construction. Their style is typical to the communism epoch – monolithic with classic architectural elements and highlighted Soviet influence. Today, there are no Socialist symbols that have been dismantled in the beginning of the 90-ies – the red five-pointed start that is emblem of the Communism, which decorated the top of the Party House, Lenin’s statue, replaced by the statue of Saint “Sofia” and the Mausoleum of the Communist leader Georgi Dimitrov that was located opposite the Palace was eliminated.
In addition to the important state buildings, as continuation of the building of the Council of Ministers, is the one of the former Central Universal Store, something like a socialist version of malls, and at the other side, the Presidency building is connected to the one of Hotel Balkan – at present, “Sheraton”.
Two of the busiest boulevards in Sofia pass through the square, there is a large pedestrian area, and the underpass shelters one of the most important stations of Sofia subway, which operates as central connection of all its rays.
In the bottom of the square, high above all the statue of “Saint Sofia” rises – symbol of the capital and exemplification of its ancient history, soaring its eyesight above the dynamic city and the memories from different epochs.
