Sophia

SOPHIA. - Capital city of Bulgaria (v.), thus named after the ancient Basilica dedicated to St. Sofia (Sveta Sofija), it is the most populous center of the country, situated at 550 m. above sea level, on a plateau enclosed between the Bragoman pass and the Vitosha massif, between the Balkan and Rila ranges.

Capital of the new State of Bulgaria (1879), it progressed more and more owing to the importance of its industries (woolen mills, cotton mills, essences, oils, rubber) and to the increase of the population. S. is in an eccentric position with respect to the territory of the State, and favorable to communications and international trade, being on the road that goes from Belgrade to the Black Sea, also touched by the railway line of the Orient Express (Belgrade - Niš - S. - Plovdiv - Adrianople - Istanbul). At the end of the 19th century S. counted ca. 50,000 inhabitants, had ca. 290,000 in 1934 and 400,000 (with the suburbs) in 1942.

Bulgaria, past and present, Manchester 1936;
Y. Teodorov, Le grandi strade romane in Bulgaria, Rome 1937; G. Caraci, La Bulgaria, in Geogr. univ. illustr., I, part 2, Turin 1940.
Gastone Imbrighi

I. ARCHAEOLOGY

To the south of ancient Ulpia Serdica were its pagan burial areas and the open-air Christian cemetery areas, consisting of vaulted inhumation tombs in brick and of chapels, found in explorations beneath the present church of St. Sofia. The coins found there date from the time of Galerius up to Justinian II. Some tombs were found at ca. 3 m. of depth; one of them contained 15 corpses. Among the inscriptions are noted those of a « vir beatissimus Theupreprius episcop(us) » (CIL, III, 14207), of a « Maxentius presby(ter) » (ibid., 14207), of a « vir religiosus Leonianus presbyter » (E. Diehl, Inscr. latin. christ. veteres, Berlin 1925-31, no. 1666 A), of a « Demetrius diaconus » (ibid., 1225 A), of a « Decius famulus sci Andreae » (ibid., 1301), of a « Iulius Dafnidius neofitus » (Revue archéol., 5th series, 9-10 [1919], p. 350, no. 172), of a « Ioannes filius Georgi inlustris » (E. Diehl, op. cit., no. 215). Besides these and other inscriptions in Latin there are a few in Greek, namely one « Μαρία πάρθενος » and one « Αμμοῦσις ἀπὸ Σεληνοῦντες » that is from Selinunte in Cilicia (Revue archéol., 9-10 [1919], p. 317, no. 169 and p. 348, no. 3). In 1893 in a tomb was found a silver casket measuring cm. 7 x 8 containing remains of organic materials; on the outside on one of the faces was the « signum Christi » Αχω between the two apocalyptic letters; on the other the monogrammatic cross &; on the other two sides and on the lid geometric decorations (E. Le Blant, Inscriptions chrétiennes et Coffret de S., in Comptes rendus de l'Acad. des Inscr. et belles lettres, 1896, p. 291 ff.). In a tomb was found a fresco with the adoration of Uriel (J. Mijatev, Dekorativnata živopis na sofijskija nekropol, Sofia 1925, fig. 36). Above this cemetery area there arose in the 6th century the church of St. Sofia, with three naves divided by pillars with a wide transept and a dome over the crossing; rebuilt by the Byzantines (1018-1186), it later underwent other restorations; in the walls are frescoes of the 12th and 14th centuries (J. Ebersolt, Monum. d'archit. byz., Paris 1934, p. 45 and fig. 38; V. Ivanova, Les anciennes basiliques de Bulgarie, in Bull. de l'Inst. arch. Bulgare, 9 [1935], pp. 211-15). The church of St. George was originally a Roman bath later transformed into a church, the Roman dome partially collapsed and a new higher dome was built. Beneath the pavement was the hypocaust; the four apses were originally pools (V. Ivanova, Godilnik du Musée nat. de S., 1921, p. 183; J. Ebersolt, op. cit., p. 20). In the national Library of S. are con-

Two remarkable manuscripts are preserved there: the first (cod. 307), known as the "Dobrejšo Tetraevangelion," on parchment, written in Bulgarian and dated to ca. 1221, comes from Macedonia (48 folios are in the National Library of Belgrade) and is decorated with three miniatures depicting the Evangelists; the one of Matthew is missing (A. Grabar, Rech. sur les influences orient. dans l'art byz., Paris 1928, pp. 92-107); the second, from the 15th century (cod. 771), contains the Alexander romance and is illustrated with 13 miniatures (A. Grabar, op. cit., pp. 108-33).

The great mosque erected by the Turks in 1474 is today used as the National Museum, which also contains the most remarkable collection of paintings and sculptures of ancient, medieval and modern art.

II. INSTITUTES

S. has a State University and a free University; an Academy of Sciences founded as early as 1869 in Braila in Romania and transferred to S. in 1881 with its three sections of history and philology, philosophy and sociology, and physics-mathematics; the Academy of Fine Arts founded in 1896 and transformed in 1921; the Academy of Music founded in 1921; the Macedonian Scientific Institute founded in 1925.

III. APOSTOLIC VICARIATE OF SOPHIA AND PHILIPPOPOLIS

It was founded in 1758 for the Paulicians and Bogomils (v.) of the Latin rite converted to Catholicism through the work of the Franciscans. The vicariate comprises the southern part of Bulgaria and depends on the S. Congregation for the Eastern Churches. The main centers are, besides S.: Plovdiv (= Philippopolis), Serirovo, Nikolaevo, Jitnissa and Kaloyanovo.

In 1948 S. counted 28,230 faithful, 13 parishes, 19 churches and 15 secular priests. In addition there were 51 religious priests, predominantly foreign. The communist regime stifled Catholic life also in the vicariate of S. As early as Aug. 1948 the closure of the Catholic schools was decreed; subsequently 3 schools in S. and two in Plovdiv were suppressed. The law on cults of 17 Feb. 1949 sought to subjugate the Church and banished foreign priests and religious. In the summer of 1952 a veritable persecution led to the arrest of the majority of the priests, among them also the apostolic vicar Msgr. Giovanni Romanoff. Only a few priests retain a certain freedom. S. is also the seat of the Apostolic Administrator of the approximately 6000 Bulgarian Catholics of the Eastern rite.

Guglielmo de Vries

29. - ENCICLOPPDIA CATTOLICA. - XI.