Prehistoric settlements wur excavatit in the centre o the present ceety, near theryal palace, as well as in ooter districts sic as Slatina an Obelya. The well-preserved toun walls (especially thair substructures) frae antiquity date back afore the7t century BC, whenThracians establisht thair ceety next tae the maist important an heichlie respectit mineral sprung, still functionin the day. Sofia haes haed several names in the different periods o its existence, an remnants frae the ceety's past can still be seen the day alangside modren laundmerks.
Sofia wis first mentioned in the soorces asSerdica in relation taeMarcus Licinius Crassus' campaigns in 59 BC. The nameSerdica orSardica (Σερδική, Σαρδική) wis popular inLaitin,Auncient Greek anByzantine Greek soorces frae Antiquity anthe Middle Ages; it wis relatit tae the localCeltic[7] tribe o theSerdi. The name wis last uised in the 19t century in a Bulgarie text,Service an hagiografie o Saunt George the New o Sofia:ВЪ САРДАКІИ. Anither o Sofia's names,Triaditsa (Τριάδιτζα), wis mentioned in Greek medieval soorces. The Bulgarian nameSredets (СРѢДЄЦЪ), which is relatit tae средаsreda (middle), first appeared in the 11t-centuryVision o Daniel an wis widely uised in the Middle Ages. The current nameSofia wis first uised in the 14t-century Vitosha Chairter o Bulgarian tsarIvan Shishman or in aRagusan merchant's notes o 1376; it refers tae the famousHagia Sophia, an auncient kirk in the ceety namit efter the Christian concept o theHoly Wisdom. AwthoSredets remained in uise till the late 18t century,Sofia gradually owercame the Slavic name in popularity.[8] Durin the Ottoman rule it wis cawed Sofya bi the Turkish population.
The ceety's name is pronooncit bi Bulgaries wi a stress on the 'o', in contrast wi the tendency o foreigners tae place the stress on 'i'. Interestingly, the female gien name "Sofia" is pronooncit bi Bulgaries wi a stress on the 'i'.
↑eurometrex.orgArchived 2012-04-02 at theWayback Machine, Sofia Metro Aurie (1,280,000 in 2001 an 1,450,000 in 2020, equal tae 1,370,000 in 2011); Sofia Metro Region (1,435,000 in 2001 an 1,540,000 in 2020, equal tae 1,490,000 in 2011)
↑The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 3, Part 2: The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and Other States of the Near East, from the Eighth to the Sixth Centuries BC by John Boardman, I. E. S. Edwards, E. Sollberger, and N. G. L. Hammond,ISBN 0-521-22717-8, 1992, page 600: "In the place of the vanished Treres and Tilataei we find the Serdi for whom there is no evidence before the first century bc.It has for long being supposed on convincing linguistic and archeological grounds that this tribe was of Celtic origin"
↑Чолева-Димитрова, Анна М. (2002).Селищни имена от Югозападна България: Изследване. Речник (in Bulgarian). София: Пенсофт. pp.169–170.ISBN9546421685.OCLC57603720.CS1 maint: unrecognised leid (link)
