SOFIA, since 1878 the capital of Bulgaria, though previously only a district town of the Tuna (Danube) vilayet of Turkey, is situated 1755 feet above the sea, in the midst of a dreary plain between the Stara Planina or main range of the Western Balkans and the bare but imposing granite mass of the Vitosh Mountains (3400 feet). It stands at the meeting of five great routes from Nish and Belgrade, Lorn and Vidin, Plevna and Rustchuk, Philippopolis and Constantinople, and Köstendil and Salonica. At present (1887) it is two days’ journey from the nearest railway station (Tatar-bazarjik), and as the seat of government is inconveniently near the south-west extremity of the kingdom; but it lies on the prospective great railway route between Constantinople and Belgrade, and was in the eyes of those who selected it the prospective capital of a much more extensive territory. The climate of Sofia is subject to severe seasonal and diurnal changes: in January the thermometer sinks 4° below zero and in August approaches 100°, and the daily range is frequently 27 or 28 degrees. Minarets and gardens give a certain beauty to the aspect of the town itself, but the outskirts are painfully destitute of foliage. In an eastern suburb stands the royal palace, a vast building which cost more than 4,000,000 francs; and in that neighbourhood, on the site of an abandoned Turkish quarter, quite a new “European” town has sprung up. The rest of Sofia retains its Turkish character, with tortuous streets and mean wooden houses. The modern cathedral and the archbishop’s palace are both large edifices of no special note. Of the many mosques the most striking is the Buyuk-Jami, with its nine metal cupolas; but more historical interest attaches to the Sophia mosque, occupying the highest point ...