More modern architecture is represented by the Bulgarian National Opera and Ballet, the Ivan Vazov National Theatre, the Rakovski Str theatre district, Slaveykov Square's outdoor book market, and the NDK, which is Southeastern Europe's largest cultural and congressional centre.

There are 16 universities in the city, among them Sofia University, founded in 1888. Sofia is the see of an Eastern Orthodox and of a Roman Catholic diocese.

Museums
Sofia houses numerous museums, notably the National Historical Museum, the Bulgarian Natural History Museum, the Museum of Earth and Men, the Ethnographic Museum, the National Museum of Military History, the National Polytechnical Museum and the National Archaeological Museum. In addition, there are the Sofia City Art Gallery, the Bulgarian National Gallery of Arts, the Bulgarian National Gallery for Foreign Art as well as numerous private art galleries

Places of special interest
The city also offers many places of special interest such as the Sts. Cyril and Methodius National Library (which houses the largest national book collection and is Bulgaria's oldest cultural institute), the Sofia State Library, the British Council, the Russian Cultural Institute, the Polish Cultural Institute, the Hungarian Institute, the Czech and the Slovak Cultural Institutes, the Italian Cultural Institute, the French Cultural Institute, Goethe Institut, Instituto Cervantes, the Open Society Institute — Sofia, along with Sofia Land, the nearly nine-acre amusement park adjacent to the Sofia Zoological Garden founded in 1888.
Sofia currently enjoys a booming film industry as it is the filming ground of several international film productions. Vitosha Boulevard, also called Vitoshka — ranked as the world's 22nd most expensive commercial street — represents numerous fashion boutiques and luxury goods stores and features exhibitions by world fashion designers. Sofia's geographic location, situated in the foothills of the weekend retreat Vitosha mountain, further adds to the city's specific atmosphere.
Tourist attractions
Some of Sofia's popular tourist attractions include:
The late Roman Church of St George (4th century), situated in the courtyard of the Sheraton Sofia Hotel.
The outdoor book-market on Slaveykov Square.
The early Byzantine Church of St Sophia, built in the 6th century.
The gold-domed Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, built in the early 20th century in memory of the 200,000 Russian soldiers, who died in the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-1878, which led to the liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule.
The tiny Church of St Petka of the Saddlers from the 14th century featuring some fine frescoes.
The Monument to the Tsar Liberator commemorating Alexander II of Russia.
The Banya Bashi Mosque, built in the 16th century.
The Sofia Synagogue, the largest in the Balkans.
The Bulgarian National Historical Museum, noteworthy for its Thracian treasures.
The National Palace of Culture cultural and congressional centre — the largest multifunctional complex in Southeastern Europe, inaugurated in 1981 and situated in a lush green park surroundings.
The Ivan Vazov National Theatre.
The National Gallery of Foreign Art.
The National Archaeological Museum.
Sofia Central Mineral Bath, decorated with the finest majolica tiles and completed in 1911.
TZUM, Sofia's oldest and largest department store.
Sofia's central boulevards paved with Viennese yellow cobblestones.
Vitosha mountain, one of the symbols of Sofia, just a short drive or lift trip away, open year round. Ski and snowboard are popular in the winter, and hiking in the summer.
Borisova gradina, Sofia's main and oldest garden, the construction of which began in 1884.