Embassy of Italy in Sofia

Italy's mission to Bulgaria sits at 2 Shipka Street in Sofia and coordinates a small network — an Italian Cultural Institute, an Italian Trade Agency office and two honorary consulates. The Institute opened in 1950 as an internal office of the embassy, was regularised by an intergovernmental agreement in 2000 and has had premises of its own since 2002; language courses, exhibitions and concerts run through it. Cultural and scientific exchange is part of the mission's remit under the 1961 Vienna Convention, and the embassy lends its name to Italian-repertoire evenings in the city's halls, from Rossini programmes to season openings.