Andrea Popyordanova and Francesca Castanetti (ethnobotanist from Italy) organized in 2023 an exploratory walk in Vertopo, during which participants were invited to get to know the urban landscape through plants and their stories.

“Vartopo” is a vast meadow overlooking Vitosha, located between the Sofia districts of Darvenitsa, Mladost and Studentski grad. According to the General Development Plan of Sofia, Vartopo is zoned for urban parks and gardens, which means that private properties cannot be built on its territory. However, a large part of its area consists of private land, which cannot be redeemed for the time being, and as a consequence Vartopo cannot be turned into a public park either. Construction sites are growing along its edges, to the point that it is increasingly difficult to find an entrance to it. Where the buildings stop, a meadow begins, which is the habitat of many fruit trees, weeds, but also stray dogs, illegal buildings, two rivers, a monastery and much more.

Unlike a city park with selected and classically beautiful plant species and distinct paths, Vertopo is what it chooses to be in different seasons. This meadow on the edge of Sofia is in its own way a fragment of what the Sofia Plain was before it became densely populated and heavily built up.

The walk lasted about two hours, during which we shared knowledge and practices that helped us to immerse ourselves in this place with all our senses. We learned about some of the weeds and grasses at Vertopo, and explored what plants can teach us – about ourselves, about the soil, about the particular place. During the walk we discussed ideas and concepts from contemporary ecology and ethnobotany.