On 28 November 2025, at the Peroto Literary Club in the National Palace of Culture, Visit Sofia and the New Architectural Heritage Foundation officially presented Postwar SOFIA Map, the first tourism map dedicated to Sofia’s postwar architectural heritage.
The map systematically explores key architectural layers from the second half of the 20th century. It features 20 landmark buildings and locations, organised into two themed routes – East and West – tracing the transformation of Sofia’s urban environment after the Second World War.
Rather than focusing on the best-known symbols of the socialist era, the map highlights lesser-known but architecturally significant sites that often remain outside the typical visitor experience.
Featured locations include Zona B-5, Hotel Shipka, Hotel Rodina, Park Hotel Moskva, the National Palace of Culture, residential buildings on Solunska Street, Frédéric Joliot-Curie Street and Cherni Vrah Boulevard, Hotel Marinela, the Embassy of Cuba, 122 Nikolay Liliev Primary School, Lozichka Kindergarten and others. The two routes meet at the National Palace of Culture, symbolically connecting the different architectural layers of the period.
“The routes give visitors a small but meaningful reason to extend their stay in Sofia and discover the city’s postwar architectural heritage. Our goal is to attract travellers who leave a stronger cultural and economic impact on the city. In spring, we plan to organise a series of thematic tours along both routes,” said Anton Penev, Director of Visit Sofia.
“The map sits at the intersection of cultural heritage, cultural tourism and urban exploration. It presents Sofia in a new and architecturally informed way,” added architect Aneta Vasileva, lecturer at UACEG and co-founder of the New Architectural Heritage Foundation.
Postwar SOFIA Map also presents the results of the New Architectural Heritage project, initiated by Sofiaplan in 2021–2022 to encourage exploration of Sofia’s modern architectural history and its relationship with earlier periods.
The map is designed in a compact format and allows easy navigation via Google Maps, making it a practical tool for visitors and urban explorers.
Postwar SOFIA Map is available free of charge at Visit Sofia’s tourist information centres:
- Sofia Tourist Information Centre, Sofia University underpass;
- Chitalnyata, City Garden;
- Tram 83, Banski Square.
