Sofia celebrated its holiday with festive ceremonies and cultural events

On September 17, the Orthodox Church honours the holy martyrs Hope, Faith, Love and their mother Sofia. On this day, the city, which took the name of the Saint Sophia Church, celebrates its holiday. President Rumen Radev received a guard of honour at St. Alexander Nevsky Square on the Day of Sofia.

The Bulgarian Patriarch and Metropolitan of Sofia Daniil held a solemn water blessing ceremony.

The atmosphere in Sofia Municipality was festive today and the municipal councillors briefly forgot about their disputes. They wished each other more wisdom and reconciliation.

Vasil Terziev, Mayor of Sofia: "On Sofia Day, let us lay the foundations for a new political climate, one in which solutions are sought, not occasions for division. Dear fellow citizens, the challenges facing Sofia and Bulgaria are great, but together with unity and political will we can overcome them."

At the solemn session on the occasion of the Day of Sofia, 11 prominent Bulgarian personalities became honorary citizens of Sofia. These are prof. Hristo Balarev, mountaineers Ivan Valchev and Kiril Doskov and the country’s eight Olympic medalists - Boryana Kaleyn, Karlos Nasar, Bozhidar Andreev, Semen Novikov, Magomed Ramazanov, Kimia Alizadeh, Javier Ibaniez and Ruzhdi Ruzhdi.

Today also marks the start of the "I am Sofia" festival, which will run until September 23. A selection of films about Bulgaria’s capital city from the BNT archive will be shown on the big screen.

Images by BTA