Historical figures associated with the city of Sofia from the ancient, medieval and renaissance eras

• St. app. Clement was bishop of Serdika (now Sofia), after which he became one of the first Roman popes.
• Emperor Aurelian – remarkable Roman emperor, “Restorer of the world”, born in Sofia on September 9, 214.
• Saint Empress Helena – mother of the baptizer of the world – Emperor Constantine the Great. In Jerusalem, she sought out where Golgotha was, ordered excavations there and discovered the Holy Sepulcher and the Holy Cross. She was born in Serdika (Sofia) in 250 and lived here.
• Emperor Galerius – stopped the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire, was the first to recognize Christianity as a legal religion with the Serdic Edict in 311. Born, resided and died in Sofia, due to the great similarity of the rotunda of St. George with the rotunda he built St. George in Thessaloniki, it is possible that it is part of his palace complex in Sofia.
• Emperor Saint Constantine the Great – a remarkable Roman emperor, the “Baptizer of the World”, born in nearby Nis, ruled the Empire from Sofia for a long time, his words “Serdika is my Rome” are known, his palace was the Constantine Quarter – from the Presidency to the -l Rila, so called until the Liberation in 1878, where the rotunda “St. George”. His mother, the holy empress Elena, is from Sofia.
• Saint Ivan Rilski – patron saint of Bulgaria, he spent the first years of his asceticism in the vicinity of Sofia, immediately after his ascension his relics were transferred to the rotunda “St. George” and were here for centuries until they were transferred to Tarnovo after the liberation of Bulgaria from Byzantine rule; they stayed there again in the 15th century during their solemn return to the Rila Monastery.
• Tsar Samuil – son of the Sofia governor, the comite Nikola, was most likely born in Sofia, among all the remarkable things he did for Bulgaria, he inflicted one of the most crushing defeats that a Byzantine emperor suffered from Bulgaria, comparable to the defeat of Nicephorus by Khan Krum, precisely during the defense of Sofia in the Battle of Trajan’s Gate on August 17, 986.
• Patriarch Damian Bulgarian – after the capture of Preslav in 971 by John Tsimishii, he saved himself in Sofia and de facto established here for a long time the seat of the Bulgarian Patriarchate until it was moved to the new Bulgarian capital, Ohrid.
• Tsar Ivan Vladislav – son of Tsar Samuel’s brother – Aaron Bulgarian, born and raised in Sofia.
• Botko voivoda – governor of Sofia, ally of Tsar Petar Delyan in his struggle to restore the independence of Bulgaria, rejected the Byzantine power in Sofia and bravely defended the city from the imperial troops in 1041.
• Sevastokrator Alexander – brother of Tsar Ivan Asen II, lived and ruled Western Bulgaria for many years.
• Sevastokrator Kaloyan – son of Sevastokrator Alexander, built the Boyan church, a remarkable monument of the European Proto-Renaissance. From the Middle Ages and during the Ottoman rule, the neighborhood where his city residence was called “Kaloyan Mahala”, today the name survives as “Kaloyan Street” next to the residence of the Bulgarian Patriarch, inaccurately named “Tsar Kaloyan” after the Liberation.
• Saint King Stephen – Serbian saint, king of Serbia, buried in Sofia at his personal request. His relics are kept first in the rotunda of St. George”, later they were moved to “Holy Sunday”, which for this reason is also known as “Holy King”, for a short time, so as not to be insulted by the Turks, they were hidden in the Gornoban monastery “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” and when the danger passes, they are returned to “Holy Sunday”, where they are at the present time.
• Ivan Asen IV – Bulgarian heir to the throne, son of Tsar Ivan Alexander, died in a battle with the Turks in defense of Sofia in 1349.
• Michael Asen – Bulgarian heir to the throne, son of Tsar Ivan Alexander, died in a battle with the Turks in defense of Sofia in 1355.
• Ban Yanuka (Yanko) – a Bulgarian boyar who defended Sofia from the Turkish invasion in 1382.
• Ivan Asen V – Bulgarian heir to the throne, son of Tsar Ivan Shishman, who died in a battle with the Turks in defense of Sofia in 1388.
• Radivoy – a Bulgarian boyar from Sofia, who restored the Kremikovsky Monastery “St. George”. On his order, the remarkable late medieval Bulgarian frescoes in the monastery church were created.
• Radoslav Mavr – a Bulgarian boyar from Sofia, who restored the Dragalev monastery “St. Virgin Vitoshka”, the remarkable Bulgarian frescoes in the monastery church were created by his order.
• St. Martyr George Sofia the Elder – Bulgarian saint, born in Sofia, killed by the Turks in Edirne in 1437.
• St. Martyr George Sofia Novi – a Bulgarian saint, burned by the Turks in Sofia on February 11, 1515.
• Matej Gramatik – a prominent representative of the Sofia literary school in the 16th century.
• St. Venerable Sophronius of Sofia – a Bulgarian saint from Sofia, enlightened in 1515.
• St. Martyr George of Sofia Most recent – a Bulgarian saint from Sofia, killed by the Turks on May 26, 1530.
• Pop Peyo – a prominent representative of the Sofia literary school in the 16th century.
• St. Great Martyr Nicholas of Sofia Novi – a Bulgarian saint from Sofia, killed by the Turks on May 17, 1555.
• St. Venerable Pimen Zografski – prominent Bulgarian clergyman, scribe, miniaturist, painter and builder, born and raised in Sofia, died in 1620.
• St. Martyr Constantine of Sofia – Bulgarian saint from Sofia, slandered by tzintsars, killed by the Turks in 1737.
• St. martyr Simeon Samokovsky and Sofia – metropolitan, hanged by the Turks on August 21, 1737 in Sofia because of his patriotism and his participation in the uprising of the bishops in Sofia, Samokovsky and Western Bulgaria from 1737.