Sofia is Bulgaria's capital and largest city — around 1.3 million people at the foot of Vitosha mountain. Over 7,000 years of history, a four-line metro, the country's leading universities and hospitals, and its most active property market — spread across 24 districts, each with its own character.
Sofia is Bulgaria's capital and largest city, home to around 1.3 million people (2025) — nearly 18% of the country's population. It sits in the Sofia Valley at an average elevation of about 550 m, at the foot of Vitosha mountain, making it one of Europe's highest capitals. It concentrates the state institutions, the Bulgarian National Bank, the country's leading universities and its largest business and IT sector.
Continuously inhabited for over 7,000 years, Sofia is among Europe's oldest cities. Ancient Serdica surfaces right in the centre — its ruins are on display inside Serdika metro station, beside the 4th-century St George Rotunda and the Roman amphitheatre. The post-1878 centre has a distinctly Central European feel with Neoclassical and Secession façades, and the city motto — "Ever growing, never ageing" — captures the blend of history and new construction.
The city is divided into 24 administrative districts — from stately Sredets, Oborishte and Vazrazhdane in the centre, through the prestigious southern Lozenets, Triaditsa and Izgrev, to the large residential Mladost and Lyulin and the green foothill districts of Vitosha, Pancharevo and Bankya. Each district groups neighbourhoods buyers know well: Ivan Vazov, Strelbishte, Manastirski Livadi, Dragalevtsi, Boyana, Simeonovo, Druzhba, Nadezhda and many more.
The metro runs four lines with 47 stations across more than 52 km, complemented by trams (running since 1901), trolleybuses and buses. Sofia Airport is about 20 minutes from the centre by metro, and the Central Railway and Central Bus stations link the capital to the whole country. An M3 extension towards Levski and the new M6 branch through Slatina are under construction.
Sofia is home to Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", the Technical University, UNWE and dozens of other higher schools, alongside elite secondary and international schools. The country's leading hospitals — Alexandrovska, the Military Medical Academy, Tokuda — are here. The green belt includes Borisova Gradina and the South, West and North parks, while Vitosha Nature Park — the oldest in the Balkans — puts real mountain trails half an hour from the office.
The capital is Bulgaria's most active property market — from apartments in the centre and the southern districts, through new construction in Krastova Vada, Manastirski Livadi and Vitosha, to houses in Boyana, Dragalevtsi, Bankya and Pancharevo, plus offices and development land. Whatever you are looking for, Scala Di knows every district and neighbourhood.
