Sofia's oldest public garden, laid out in 1872 in front of the Ivan Vazov National Theatre. A patch of plane trees, fountains, and chess players that has been the city's central meeting place for 150 years.
The garden is small but the theatre behind it, with its yellow neoclassical façade, is one of the prettiest in the Balkans. Cafés around the edge serve coffee at street-side prices. In summer there is live music; in winter a Christmas market.