Patriarch Evtimiy Square (, ''ploshtad Patriarh Evtimiy''), more popularly known as Popa (Попа, "The Priest"), is a small urban square and a busy intersection in the centre of
Sofia
Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...
, the capital of
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
. The square was named after
Evtimiy of Tarnovo
Saint Euthymius of Tarnovo (also ''Evtimiy''; , ''Sveti Evtimiy Tarnovski'') was Patriarch of Bulgaria between 1375 and 1393. Regarded as one of the most important figures of medieval Bulgaria, Euthymius was the last head of the Bulgarian Ort ...
,
Patriarch of Bulgaria
The Patriarch of All Bulgaria () is the patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The patriarch is officially styled as ''Patriarch of All Bulgaria and Metropolitan of :bg:Софийска епархия, Sofia''. The current patriarch Daniil of ...
from 1375 to 1393 and one of the most important figures of
medieval Bulgaria Bulgarian Empire may refer to:
* First Bulgarian Empire, medieval Bulgarian state that existed from 681 to 1018
* Second Bulgarian Empire, medieval Bulgarian state that existed from 1185 to 1396
* Third Bulgarian Empire
The Tsardom of Bulgaria ...
; a monument to Evtimiy by sculptor Marko Markov has adorned the square since 1939.
Patriarch Evtimiy Square is located at the crossing of the car-freeGraf Ignatiev Street,
Vasil Levski Boulevard
Vasil Levski Boulevard () is a major boulevard in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. It lies between the Freight Station Square at the Slivnitsa and Danail Nikolaev Boulevards and the area of the National Palace of Culture. It is named after Bulgari ...
and Patriarch Evtimiy Boulevard, which branches off Vasil Levski at the square. Due to its central location, between
Sofia University
Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" () is a public university, public research university in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is the oldest institution of higher education in Bulgaria.
Founded on 1 October 1888, the edifice of the university was constr ...
National Palace of Culture
The National Palace of Culture (, ; abbreviated as , NDK), located in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, is one of the largest multifunctional conference and cultural centers in the world. It was opened in 1981 in celebration of Bulgaria's 1300th ...
to the west, it is a very popular
meeting point
Meeting Point ( Chinese: 匯點) was a liberal and moderate Chinese nationalist political organisation and party in Hong Kong formed by a group of former student activists in the 1970s and intellectuals for the discussion for the Sino-British ...
, particularly for teenagers and young adults.
The Odeon Cinema lies in the western part of the square and the Bulgartabac headquarters lie to the south of it. Other nearby landmarks include Slaveykov Square to the north along Graf Ignatiev Street and the
Vasil Levski National Stadium
Vasil Levski National Stadium (), named after Bulgarian Folk hero, national hero and revolutionary Vasil Levski (1837–1873), is the country's second largest stadium. The stadium has 43,230 seats and is located in the centre of Sofia, on the te ...
to the southeast.
The square is well connected to many parts of Sofia through the nearby
tram
A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...
way,
trolleybus
A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...
and
bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...
stops; many routed taxicabs of the
marshrutka
''Marshrutnoye taksi''St. Patriarch Evtimiy Metro Station of
Sofia Metro
The Sofia Metro (, also colloquially called ) is the rapid transit network servicing the Bulgarian capital city Sofia. It is the only metro in Bulgaria. It began operation on 28 January 1998. , the Sofia Metro consists of four interconnected lin ...