A park and a projector — on March 22, two of Sofia’s most enduring urban pleasures both took their first breath, each in its own way shaping what city life would mean in Bulgaria’s history.
March 22, 1882 — Borisova Gradina Is Established
On March 22, 1882, the plot that would become Sofia’s largest park, Borisova Gradina, was established as a tree nursery on municipal pasture land. The decision came only a few years after Sofia became the capital of the restored Bulgarian state, reflecting the ambition to build a modern European city from a modest Ottoman town. Parks are not decorative extras: they structure public health, leisure, civic identity, and the rhythm of daily life.
Borisova Gradina grew into one of Sofia’s most beloved green spaces over the following decades — a place associated with walks, sport, monuments, childhood memories, and seasonal rhythms. That it began as a nursery is fitting: it was planted before it existed, tended before it was loved.
March 22, 1897 — Sofia Holds Its First Film Screening
On March 22, 1897, the first film screening in Sofia took place at the Plzen Pub on Dondukov Boulevard. Moving images were still a new technological wonder in Europe, and their arrival in the Bulgarian capital signalled the city’s appetite for modern spectacle. Early cinema was not yet the narrative art form of later decades; audiences came simply to see pictures move — that alone was astonishing.
Sofia would eventually become a centre of Bulgarian film culture, with studios, a rich documentary tradition, and generations of celebrated directors. But March 22 captures something earlier and rarer: the moment of first encounter, when an audience sat in the dark and watched the world flicker on a wall.
Step through more of Bulgaria’s story: March 21 | March 23. See Sofia and beyond in our Bulgaria From Above photography and Bulgaria travel guides.
