Fun Fact #427

 Fun Fact # 427

Sofian Legends

Sofia, Bulgaria is an old city, and being the 3rd oldest capital in Europe (after Athens and Rome) it has a fair number of Myths, Legends, and Cryptids. It was founded because of its key strategic position in the Sofia Valley connecting Eastern Europe, to the Mediterranean, Black, and Aegean seas, while being one of the last major stops on the silk road overland leading into Western Europe. It also happened to be one of the best defended places until the advent of aircraft, as the city historically is only accessible by 3 mountain passes and one river. It even has valuable mineral deposits and much of the valley is still devoted to agriculture today.
With all that said, what about the cryptids? To be honest they might outnumber the people with all the legends they’ve gathered since the city was founded 29BC. However many of them deal with guardians such as the Stopani or Talasulam, both of whom guarded places, and objects. As such they kept fortifications to honor these spirits in those places –establishing the very defenses they needed. 

Other more recent additions include illustrations by Tochka of friendly monsters through-out Sofia, an exhibit of 23 mechanical Dragons in Vazrazhdane Park, and the Kukeri Festival where people dress up as monsters on January 1st to scare away bad spirits for the coming year.