Sofia's essentials cluster around the central square. Start at the gilded Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, drop into the older and much smaller St. Sofia Basilica that gave the city its name, then walk south through the Tsar Osvoboditel Boulevard past the Russian Church to the Palace of Culture. A half-day covers the centre; the National History Museum in the old communist-era residence on the outskirts is worth a second half-day for the Thracian gold alone.