Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

Startups develop travel mobile applications making architectural monuments in Sofia accessible online

БНР Новини
Cardo Maximus, the main street linking the North and South gates of ancient Serdica found beneath today’s Maria Louisa and Vitosha boulevards
Photo: Veneta Gavrilova

Thousands of years of history lying hidden beneath the streets of the capital of Bulgaria Sofia, or ancient Serdica, are now being “brought to the surface”, thanks to an interactive map, says Ivailo Tsankov, co-founder and owner of a company that is developing a tourist application, and goes on to explain just how simple it is to make all of this information available online:

“We are developing an augmented reality travel application. It features photographs, as well as general information in three languages – English, German and Bulgarian. The idea is to have a compass, which, in augmented reality, shows where the historical sites are located, and exactly what they looked like in antiquity.”

Martin Ivanov, who is also developing a travel application explains that the sites are located on their real GPS coordinates, but that for this project, he was inspired by something else:

“My work is connected with architecture, with the preservation of architectural monuments. And this is a different way of showing visitors the ancient sites that once existed, without any need of physical contact or intervention with the real monuments of culture. We shall show them digitally, a way that is also very well suited to the age we live in. For now, we have incorporated the sites of ancient Sedrica, eight in number, which have protected monument status. There are other sites from the age of Serdica that are in the basements of buildings in the city centre, or beneath streets. We have incorporated the historical remains that have remained visible, the sites that a tourist can go and see into the application. Thanks to our partnership with the Regional Museum of History, Sofia, we have information about these sites, as it is the museum that is in charge of them, and many of the artifacts found on site are on display at the museum.”

Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova says innovative projects of this kind have her support:

“We support these young people via the Sofia Investment Agency. We set up a loan programme, via the municipal guarantee fund, together with 13 banks, especially for innovative startups. And we are now seeing the products developed by these young people, they are now ready to make their applications operational. Digital technologies are developing exponentially. To my mind what is most important is to invest in education and the digitization of education,” said Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova.

English version: Milena Daynova  




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Facebook /Faculty of Law of Sofia University

The language of European law is the basis of the oldest specialized master's program in Bulgaria

In the midst of this year's student candidate campaign, the question what the most desired major at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski” would be, sounds like a rhetorical one. In the past four years, the undisputed number one..

published on 6/11/24 1:08 PM

Bulgaria has voted! Where are we heading to now?

Election fatigue, extremely low voter turnout (just over 30%), more young people at the polls and a fragile, barely perceptible hope for stability and political normality. This is how we can describe the past election Sunday for..

published on 6/10/24 4:11 PM

Bulgarians in UK: The civil servants Sofia send for the elections are unnecessary

Voter turnout among the Bulgarians living in London was very low, Svetlana Kaneva, chair of the "Luton" section in the English capital, told Radio Bulgaria. She summarizes the impressions of her colleagues from another four areas in..

published on 6/10/24 12:35 AM