Occupied by the Turkish Governors

The process of transformation was commenced in the reign of Prince Alexander, who built a residence for himself on the foundations of the dwelling occupied by the Turkish Governors, and also constructed the blocks of public buildings surrounding the public gardens, which lie at the gate of the royal dwelling. The palace itself is situated at the highest point of the low hillock on which the town is placed, and, in consequence, all streets emerging from the Alexander Square slope downwards in every direction towards the plain. The process of reconstruction was retarded for a time by the diplomatic troubles between the Russian Protectorate and the protected State, by the war with Servia, and by the intrigues which culminated in Prince Alexander’s resignation.

The descriptions of Sofia, which were written by travellers who visited the city during Prince Alexander’s reign, dwell mainly—and I have no doubt with perfect justice— upon the startling contrast between the European quarter and the Turkish quarter, lying close at hand, with its narrow, ill-lit, unpaved, and squalid streets. At present this contrast is no longer visible, owing to the simple fact that the Turkish quarter has been almost improved off the face of the earth.

Reconstruction of Sofia

As soon as Prince Ferdinand had become firmly seated on the throne, the reconstruction of Sofia was again taken in hand. I should doubt any very definite plan having been laid out for the rebuilding of the city. The old town was pulled down street by street, block by block, and house by house, and in lieu of the narrow Turkish alleys, broad avenues were carried in every direction without much regard to their correlation to each other.

Thus, when you look down upon the town from any of the surrounding heights, Sofia has somewhat the look of a huge starfish, the centre being the palace, and the claws consisting in a number of avenues stretching out into the plain, these avenues being connected with each other by any number of side streets running at all sorts of angles.