Ottoman Sofia: mosques, baths and bazaars

About Ottoman Sofia: mosques, baths and bazaars

By the ULTIMATE Sofia Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

For almost five hundred years, from the late 14th century to 1878, Sofia was an Ottoman town of mosques, baths, caravanserais and bazaars. Much has gone, but a few remarkable buildings survive, and they are among the most interesting in the city.

An Ottoman town

Under Ottoman rule, Sofia was an important regional centre on the road between Belgrade and Constantinople, and travellers described a town of gardens, minarets and public baths fed by its hot springs.

Banya Bashi

Banya Bashi Mosque, completed in 1566, is attributed to Mimar Sinan, the greatest architect of the Ottoman Empire. It is still an active mosque, and its name, “many baths”, recalls the thermal baths that once surrounded it.

Banya Bashi means “many baths”, and the hot springs still flow beside it.

The Black Mosque

The Church of the Seven Saints, on Graf Ignatiev Street, began life as the Black Mosque, built in the 16th century and named after its dark granite minaret. It was converted into an Orthodox church in the early 20th century.

The Great Mosque

The National Archaeological Museum occupies the Büyük Mosque, a 15th-century building with nine lead-covered domes, and its great hall is one of the most beautiful museum spaces in the city.

Our advice: walk from the Archaeological Museum past the Largo to Banya Bashi and the mineral-water fountains, then on to the Seven Saints; it takes under an hour and tells five centuries of the city’s story.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Ottoman Sofia: mosques, baths and bazaars before you go.