Bulgaria: Sofia, Eastern Europe Unknown City Of Arts.

Bulgaria's capital is infrequently anyone's first recommendation for a little break. In any case, effortlessly arrived at through a three-hour (direct) flight from London, it is meriting closer consideration – not minimum in light of the fact that few urban communities wear their past as straightforwardly as this intriguing little corner of Eastern Europe.

Pretty much every prevailing power that ever flourished with our home landmass – antiquated Greeks, street building Romans, Ottoman Turks, and the overwhelming hand of the Soviet Union – has had its say here eventually. The outcome is a charming mixed drink of compositional styles and covering periods that is sure to joy more courageous vow

In reality, it is tricky to Miss Sofia's keynote building. It is the kind of envisioning marvel of a congregation that, were it spotted in Paris, Rome or Barcelona, would look out from a million postcards.

In truth, it would appear that it has gotten away from Moscow – an epic, domed creation that was assembled somewhere around 1878 and 1912, during an era when Bulgaria was in thrall to Tsarist Russia. Its flanks are beautified with mosaics – while its inside, where the fragrance of incense hangs thick noticeable all around, is a dining experience of space.

It has a neighbor as well, the littler St Sophia – a humble red-block heap that, strikingly, has possessed its site following the sixth century. Inside, medieval frescoes supply shading and magnificence, holy persons peering devoutly at the only

The Sofia City Art Gallery, with its 3500-in number group of contemporary works, is a fortune trove.

Yet the motherlode is the National Art Gallery. Pitched inside a previous imperial castle, this is a satisfying spot to spend an evening, its numerous painted creations hung in high-ceilinged chambers where the issues of court once played out. The names of the painters whose pieces brighten the dividers won't, maybe, be commonplace – yet the striking scenes and provincial scenes made by Bulgarian illuminating presences like Anton Mitov and Vera Nedkova are eye-getting regardless.

To a degree peculiarly, the National Museum of History is shrouded four miles south-west of the core, in the suburb of Boyana. You have to take a taxi to achieve it – yet the burden is balanced by the gathering that is standing by.

Bulgaria's full story is uncovered here. The extremely valuable Panagyurishte Treasure – a grip of gold cups from the fourth century BC – reviews the days when the territory was a piece of the old Greek district of Thrace. Crusader swords and World War weaponry tell military stories of diverse vintages.

Furthermore the building amuses you with the most sensational yarn of all. This strong square of cement, with its clearing staircases and gigantic rooms, was utilized for state occasions as a part of the Iron Curtain age. There is still a different whiff of Bond scalawag's refuge to its precise cumbersomeness.