The History of Sofia Trivia Quiz

Answer: Serdica

It was the Serdi tribe that was living in what would become Sofia, Bulgaria. Sofia was part of Thracian territory until it was conquered by Philip of Macedon a century after its founding. It eventually wound up as part of the Roman Empire in 24 BC.

Answer: Amphitheater

The Bouleutherion was essentially a slightly smaller version of the Coliseum in Rome. Like the Coliseum, it was home to gladiator fights although its use was much shorter as Goths constantly damaged the building and it was eventually abandoned. Today, the Bouleutherion is generally called the Amphitheatre of Serdica.

Answer: Krum

Krum was khan of Bulgaria from sometime around 800 to 814. He was known as a particularly strict ruler, outlawing things like drinking and debauchery. Despite, this he was very popular because of his social programs for the poor and made Sofia, which renamed Sredets, an important fortified city and center of government.

Answer: Her daughters

Saint Sophia the Martyr watched as the Roman Emperor Hadrian's troops tortured and killed her three daughters in a failed attempt to get her to recant her Christian faith. She buried her daughters, who were named Faith, Hope and Love, and died soon afterward.

The Saint Sofia Church is not named after this Sophia but rather a different one depicted as sitting on a rainbow near a young Christ.

Answer: Ottoman Empire

The Ottomans had been expanding their territory in the Middle East and the Balkan region of Europe during this time. When Ottoman invaders arrived in Sofia in 1382, the Bulgarian Tsar, Ivan Shishman essentially surrendered without fighting as he believe he could not defeat the Ottomans and did not want to destroy the city.

Answer: Black Mosque

The Black Mosque is now the Sveti Sedmochislenitsi Church, as it has been converted from the mosque. The Black Mosque was planned by Suleiman the Magnificent and was built by the architect Mimar Sinan over a pagan temple. It was called the Black Mosque because the minaret, which was destroyed in an earthquake, was made from black granite.

After the Ottomans left Bulgaria in 1878, the mosque was abandoned and used as a prison and military base before it was converted into a church in the early 1900s.

Answer: Russo-Turkish War

The Russo-Turkish War took place between Russia and the Ottoman Empire after the Ottomans closed off the Dardanelles to Russian trade ships. Russia then took most of Bulgaria including Sofia and Varna. Russia later occupied Sofia again in 1877 during another Russo-Turkish War, after which Bulgaria became an autonomous region of the Ottoman Empire and later its own kingdom at the turn of the century.

Answer: Tarnovgrad

Tarnovgrad, now called Veliko Tarnovo, was the capital of Bulgaria until the National Assembly approved the switch to Sofia. The document, called the Tarnovo Constitution, officially lays out the move and established Sofia as the capital of Bulgaria.

The Tarnovo Constitution remained in effect until after World War II when it was replaced with the Dimitrov Constitution. However, Sofia remained the capital.

Answer: General Konstantin Georgiev

General Georgiev had been killed in an attack perpetrated by Communists on April 14, 1925. The St. Nedelya Church Assault took place two days later. The attack was an attempt by the Communist Party to gain recognition and power after being banned in 1923 after a failed uprising. Approximately 150 people died including Paskel Paskelov, Sofia's mayor.

Answer: Munitions depots

The explosions began early in the morning on July 3, 2008. No one was killed but a few people were injured and roads and airports were closed and panic spread throughout the city of a terrorist attack. While the cause of the explosions is unknown, it had been noted by several public officials that the explosions were too big to be an accident, even though one of the munitions plants has been deemed structurally inadequate.