Type Specimen: Serdika Serif - by Kosara Keskinova

serdika

Serdika

designed by Kosara Keskinova

ball shaped terminal

flag-shaped top-serif

blunt terminal

moderate contrast

Texts with different sizes

28 pt

12/14,5 pt

7/8,5 pt

Serdika origins Serdika has 7000 years long and rich history. Everything begins during the first millennium BC when the Thracian Serdi tribe settled around the central hot springs. This community has given the name Serdika to the city which nowadays we know as Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. In 500 BC they were included in the kingdom of the powerful Odrysae tribe. Eventually, the internecine squabbling weakened the Thracians, enabling Philip of Macedonia to conquer Thrace and Serdika in the 4th century BC. The Romans had their turn in first centur and the Thracian lands were divided into the regional provinces of Moesia and Thrace. As the designated centre of an administrative district, Serdika was granted municipium, or autonomous status, by Emperor Trajan, which included the right to mint its personal coins and levy taxes. In his honour, the city was renamed Ulpia Serdika. Befitting well its newfound importance, a number of private and public buildings were erected, including baths, villas and temples Important municipal buildings ofthe time included a number of private and public buildings were erected, including baths, villas and temples. Given its strategic location astride major trade and

military routes linking Asia and Europe, the city was fortified from the 2nd century, when it became the seat of the province of Inner Dacia. It reached its grandeur under Emperor Constantine the Great, who often referred to Serdika as My Rome. As a centre of early Christianity, a number of churches were built, including the extant Saint George Rotunda and the Saint Sofia Basilica. Ammianus Marcellinus wrote in the fourth century that Serdika was one brilliant and specially noble town. The latter, under the name of Attila, laid waste to much of the city in the mid fifth century, after which it was restored and the fortress wall bravely strengthened.

Font features

blunt apex

convex shoulder

rounded straight slightly longer descender terminal stem

Analysis ahead bracketed serifs

straight base moderate tapered eye of the serifs finial

medium bowl

Distance

Almost the same distance

Different sizes

8 pt