Women’s Market

Located near Lion’s Bridge, the Women’s market is the oldest functional marketplace on the territory of the Bulgarian capital city. First established in the year 1878, not long before Bulgaria became a free state, the Women’s market started growing rapidly and soon became a trade centre of big significance, not only for its time, but for the times to come. The marketplace was the most prestigious and influential for the capital city of Sofia throughout the 20^th century.

Nowadays, especially after some modernization work done in 2014, the Women’s marketplace has become a cross point for past and present and for different cultures. The newly built dazzling pavilions are contrasting magnificently with the old city architecture. The Women’s market is also in close proximity to temples, which represent every official religion in the country, giving the area around the marketplace the nickname “the tolerance zone”.

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the Women’s market is a multicultural place – it is ground to merchants not only from Bulgaria, but also the Middle East and Turkey – thus giving it an unique combination of tastes and items. The best part is that you get to experience a truly specific customer-merchant relationship and meet the people, who have grown the fresh vegetables and fruits, which you are willing to buy. The eastern presence, which makes the Women’s market such a diverse place, brings exotic foods, spices and goods to the marketplace, but it all seems in balance, as the imported items are sold right next to traditional Bulgarian foods, clothing and other.

The busy marketplace is selling fresh goods from vegetables to meats all year round. But most importantly – it can be a place to relax. There is a children’s daycare center nearby, which makes browsing through the endless souvenir and trinket stands easy. To reward oneself for the great purchases and to end a day well-spent there are a lot of Middle Eastern, Turkish and Bulgarian restaurants and coffee bars in the marketplace’s perimeter. Gallery “Serdika” is also located on the market grounds and it offers a peak into the local cultural scene.