The exhibition "At the Heart of Sofia", dedicated to the 140th anniversary of the announcement of Sofia as the capital of Bulgaria, shows the European presence in the architecture of the city. The Mayor of Sofia, Yordanka Fandakova opened the exhibition in Vienna. The event was attended by the Bulgarian Ambassador, His Excellency, Ivan Sirakov, intellectuals, cultural operators, as well as the Deputy Mayor, Todor Chobanov and the director of the Sofia City Art Gallery, Adelina Filleva.

The exhibition is organized by the Sofia City Art Gallery and will be at the Cultural Institute “Haus Wittgenstein” in the Austrian capital for one month.

"This year we celebrate 140 years since the announcement of Sofia as the capital of Bulgaria. This is a landmark moment in the history of our city, which I and my team appreciate as an opportunity to show the development of the city and the potential that Sofia brings", said Mayor Yordanka Fandakova to the guests at the exhibition in Vienna.

According to Mayor Fandakova, Sofia is one of the oldest European cities along with Rome and Athens, which today are capitals.

In recent years Sofia has been rediscovered as a center for successful investments by global companies, as a city of journeys reaching the history of the Roman Empire and Byzantium, as a place of encounter between different epochs and architectural styles.

The exhibition shows works by Bulgarian artists, which reflect the architectural heritage of Sofia. The works attest to the bright presence of European architects in the capital or Bulgarian architects, the majority of whom have received their professional education in Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy, Germany, etc. 

The works selected for the exhibition in Austria are by distinguished brush masters such as Nikola Tanev, Nayden Petkov, Tsanko Lavrenov, Alexander Stamenov, Denyu Chokanov, Vladimir Kavaldzhiev, Todor Hadzhinikolov and others. Among the architectural monuments immortalized on their canvases are the National Assembly, the monument "Tsar Liberator", National Theater "Ivan Vazov", Eagle Bridge, Sofia University, the Sofia Synagogue, and the medieval emblems of the city – the "St. Sofia" church and the rotunda "St. George".

All these architectural sites, which reveal a rich and centuries-old history of the Bulgarian capital, have been made with the participation of a number of prominent architects such as Friedrich Gruenanger (Austria), Ludwig Richter (Vienna), Hermann Helmer (Germany), Arnoldo Zocchi (Italy), etc.

Thanks to the Sofia City Art Gallery and Mrs. Adelina Filleva, we can see at the exhibition in Vienna, which for the tenth time ranks first as the best city to live in, said Mayor Yordanka Fandakova.

Curators of the exhibition are Natasha Noeva, Nikoleta Gogoganova, Plamen Petrov and Ramona Dimova.

Later today, the Mayor of Sofia Yordanka Fandakova will meet with the Mayor of Vienna Dr. Michael Ludwig. Sofia and Vienna have a traditional cooperation in the fields of culture, transport, environment protection and urban mobility.