diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/soprano/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/soprano/default.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index 46520714c510..000000000000
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/soprano/default.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,27 +0,0 @@
-{ lib, stdenv, fetchurl, cmake, qt4, clucene_core, librdf_redland, libiodbc
-, pkg-config }:
-
-stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
-  pname = "soprano";
-  version = "2.9.4";
-
-  src = fetchurl {
-    url = "mirror://sourceforge/soprano/${pname}-${version}.tar.bz2";
-    sha256 = "1rg0x7yg0a1cbnxz7kqk52580wla8jbnj4d4r3j7l7g7ajyny1k4";
-  };
-
-  patches = [ ./find-virtuoso.patch ];
-
-  # We disable the Java backend, since we do not need them and they make the closure size much bigger
-  buildInputs = [ qt4 clucene_core librdf_redland libiodbc ];
-
-  nativeBuildInputs = [ cmake pkg-config ];
-
-  meta = {
-    homepage = "http://soprano.sourceforge.net/";
-    description = "An object-oriented C++/Qt4 framework for RDF data";
-    license = "LGPL";
-    maintainers = with lib.maintainers; [ sander ];
-    inherit (qt4.meta) platforms;
-  };
-}
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/soprano/find-virtuoso.patch b/pkgs/development/libraries/soprano/find-virtuoso.patch
deleted file mode 100644
index 95a2c7e96565..000000000000
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/soprano/find-virtuoso.patch
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,86 +0,0 @@
-From: Yury G. Kudryashov <urkud.urkud@gmail.com>
-Subject: [PATCH] Find virtuoso if virtuoso-t is in PATH
-
----
- backends/virtuoso/virtuosobackend.cpp |   31 ++++++++++++++++++++++---------
- backends/virtuoso/virtuosobackend.h   |    2 +-
- 2 files changed, 23 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)
-
-diff --git a/backends/virtuoso/virtuosobackend.cpp b/backends/virtuoso/virtuosobackend.cpp
-index c245101..249958a 100644
---- a/backends/virtuoso/virtuosobackend.cpp
-+++ b/backends/virtuoso/virtuosobackend.cpp
-@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
- #include "odbcconnectionpool.h"
- 
- #include "sopranodirs.h"
-+#include "soprano-config.h"
- 
- #include <QtCore/QDebug>
- #include <QtCore/QtPlugin>
-@@ -210,19 +211,19 @@ Soprano::BackendFeatures Soprano::Virtuoso::BackendPlugin::supportedFeatures() c
- 
- bool Soprano::Virtuoso::BackendPlugin::isAvailable() const
- {
--#ifndef Q_OS_WIN
--    if ( findVirtuosoDriver().isEmpty() ) {
--        qDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << "could not find Virtuoso ODBC driver";
--        return false;
--    }
--#endif
--
-     QString virtuosoBin = locateVirtuosoBinary();
-     if ( virtuosoBin.isEmpty() ) {
-         qDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << "could not find virtuoso-t binary";
-         return false;
-     }
- 
-+#ifndef Q_OS_WIN
-+    if ( findVirtuosoDriver( virtuosoBin ).isEmpty() ) {
-+        qDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << "could not find Virtuoso ODBC driver";
-+        return false;
-+    }
-+#endif
-+
-     QString vs = determineVirtuosoVersion( virtuosoBin );
-     if ( vs.isEmpty() ) {
-         qDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << "Failed to determine version of the Virtuoso server at" << virtuosoBin;
-@@ -267,9 +268,21 @@ QString Soprano::Virtuoso::BackendPlugin::locateVirtuosoBinary()
- 
- #ifndef Q_OS_WIN
- // static
--QString Soprano::Virtuoso::BackendPlugin::findVirtuosoDriver()
-+QString Soprano::Virtuoso::BackendPlugin::findVirtuosoDriver( const QString &virtuosoBinHint )
- {
--    return Soprano::findLibraryPath( "virtodbc_r", QStringList(), QStringList() << QLatin1String( "virtuoso/plugins/" ) << QLatin1String( "odbc/" ) );
-+    QString virtuosoBin;
-+    if (virtuosoBinHint.isEmpty())
-+        virtuosoBin = locateVirtuosoBinary();
-+    else
-+        virtuosoBin = virtuosoBinHint;
-+
-+    QDir virtuosoBinDir = QFileInfo(virtuosoBin).absoluteDir();
-+    return Soprano::findLibraryPath( "virtodbc_r",
-+            QStringList()
-+			<< virtuosoBinDir.absoluteFilePath("../lib"SOPRANO_LIB_SUFFIX)
-+			<< virtuosoBinDir.absoluteFilePath("../lib"),
-+            QStringList() << QLatin1String( "virtuoso/plugins/" ) <<
-+            QLatin1String( "odbc/" ) );
- }
- #endif
- 
-diff --git a/backends/virtuoso/virtuosobackend.h b/backends/virtuoso/virtuosobackend.h
-index 646b9f8..535fbb9 100644
---- a/backends/virtuoso/virtuosobackend.h
-+++ b/backends/virtuoso/virtuosobackend.h
-@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ namespace Soprano {
- 
- #ifndef Q_OS_WIN
-         private:
--            static QString findVirtuosoDriver();
-+            static QString findVirtuosoDriver(const QString &virtuosoBinHint = QString());
- #endif
-         };
-     }
--- 
-tg: (2321148..) t/find-virtuoso (depends on: master)
diff --git a/pkgs/servers/sql/virtuoso/6.x.nix b/pkgs/servers/sql/virtuoso/6.x.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index c811a1624128..000000000000
--- a/pkgs/servers/sql/virtuoso/6.x.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,46 +0,0 @@
-{ lib, stdenv, fetchurl, libxml2, openssl, readline, gawk }:
-
-stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
-  pname = "virtuoso-opensource";
-  version = "6.1.6";
-
-  src = fetchurl {
-    url = "mirror://sourceforge/virtuoso/${pname}-${version}.tar.gz";
-    sha256 = "0dx0lp7cngdchi0772hp93zzn6sdap7z8s3vay3mzb9xgf0sdgy6";
-  };
-
-  outputs = [ "out" "dev" "doc" ];
-
-  buildInputs = [ libxml2 openssl readline gawk ];
-
-  CPP = "${stdenv.cc}/bin/gcc -E";
-
-  configureFlags = [
-    "--enable-shared" "--disable-all-vads" "--with-readline=${readline.dev}"
-    "--disable-hslookup" "--disable-wbxml2" "--without-iodbc"
-    "--enable-openssl=${openssl.dev}"
-  ];
-
-  postInstall = ''
-    echo Moving documentation
-    mkdir -pv $out/share/doc
-    mv -v $out/share/virtuoso/doc $out/share/doc/${pname}-${version}
-
-    echo Removing jars and empty directories
-    find $out -name "*.a" -delete -o -name "*.jar" -delete -o -type d -empty -delete
-
-    for f in $out/lib/*.la; do
-      echo "Fixing $f"
-      substituteInPlace $f \
-        --replace "${readline.dev}" "${readline.out}/lib" \
-        --replace "${openssl.dev}/lib" "${openssl.out}/lib"
-    done
-  '';
-
-  meta = with lib; {
-    description = "SQL/RDF database used by, e.g., KDE-nepomuk";
-    homepage = "http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/dataspace/dav/wiki/Main/";
-    platforms = platforms.linux;
-    license = licenses.gpl2;
-  };
-}
diff --git a/pkgs/servers/sql/virtuoso/7.x.nix b/pkgs/servers/sql/virtuoso/7.x.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index 173124596a09..000000000000
--- a/pkgs/servers/sql/virtuoso/7.x.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,37 +0,0 @@
-{ lib, stdenv, fetchurl, libxml2, openssl, readline, gawk }:
-
-stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
-  pname = "virtuoso-opensource";
-  version = "7.2.4.2";
-
-  src = fetchurl {
-    url = "mirror://sourceforge/virtuoso/${pname}-${version}.tar.gz";
-    sha256 = "12dqam1gc1v93l0bj0vlpvjqppki6y1hqrlznywxnw0rrz9pb002";
-  };
-
-  buildInputs = [ libxml2 openssl readline gawk ];
-
-  CPP = "${stdenv.cc}/bin/gcc -E";
-
-  configureFlags = [
-    "--enable-shared" "--disable-all-vads" "--with-readline=${readline.dev}"
-    "--disable-hslookup" "--disable-wbxml2" "--without-iodbc"
-    "--enable-openssl=${openssl.dev}"
-  ];
-
-  postInstall=''
-    echo Moving documentation
-    mkdir -pv $out/share/doc
-    mv -v $out/share/virtuoso/doc $out/share/doc/${pname}-${version}
-    echo Removing jars and empty directories
-    find $out -name "*.a" -delete -o -name "*.jar" -delete -o -type d -empty -delete
-    '';
-
-  meta = with lib; {
-    description = "SQL/RDF database used by, e.g., KDE-nepomuk";
-    homepage = "http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/dataspace/dav/wiki/Main/";
-    #configure: The current version [...] can only be built on 64bit platforms
-    platforms = [ "x86_64-linux" ];
-    license = licenses.gpl2;
-  };
-}
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/aliases.nix b/pkgs/top-level/aliases.nix
index afce83f9c5e0..1a69d15829b3 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/aliases.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/aliases.nix
@@ -1240,6 +1240,7 @@ mapAliases ({
   vimprobable2 = throw "vimprobable2 has been removed from nixpkgs. It relied on webkitgtk24x that has been removed."; # Added 2019-12-05
   vimprobable2-unwrapped = vimprobable2; # Added 2019-12-05
   virtinst = throw "virtinst has been removed, as it's included in virt-manager"; # Added 2021-07-21
+  virtuoso = throw "virtuoso has been removed, because it was unmaintained in nixpkgs"; # added 2021-12-15
   virtmanager = virt-manager; # Added 2019-10-29
   virtmanager-qt = virt-manager-qt; # Added 2019-10-29
   virtviewer = virt-viewer; # Added 2015-12-24
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 6e6ff11c352a..f866ad804dcb 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -20007,8 +20007,6 @@ with pkgs;
 
   sope = callPackage ../development/libraries/sope { };
 
-  soprano = callPackage ../development/libraries/soprano { };
-
   sord = callPackage ../development/libraries/sord {};
 
   soundtouch = callPackage ../development/libraries/soundtouch {};
@@ -21997,16 +21995,6 @@ with pkgs;
 
   virtualenv-clone = with python3Packages; toPythonApplication virtualenv-clone;
 
-  virtuoso6 = callPackage ../servers/sql/virtuoso/6.x.nix {
-    openssl = openssl_1_0_2;
-  };
-
-  virtuoso7 = callPackage ../servers/sql/virtuoso/7.x.nix {
-    openssl = openssl_1_0_2;
-  };
-
-  virtuoso = virtuoso6;
-
   vsftpd = callPackage ../servers/ftp/vsftpd { };
 
   wallabag = callPackage ../servers/web-apps/wallabag { };