Famous Landmarks in Sofia
A fourth-century basilica, an Ottoman mosque and two Orthodox cathedrals share the centre.
Sofia's most prominent religious buildings sit close together in the historic centre, each dating from a different regime that once ruled the city. The Church of Saint Sophia, raised as a basilica in the fourth century, was converted into a mosque under later rule and restored as a church; the surrounding town was renamed after it in 1329. Banya Bashi Mosque, attributed to Mimar Sinan and completed in 1566, belongs to the two and a half centuries when the city governed Rumelia for the Ottoman Empire. After Bulgarian independence in 1878 and Sofia's selection as capital the following year, a wave of Orthodox construction followed: the Russian Church in 1914 and the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, begun in 1882 and largely finished by 1912.
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
1882–1912 · Alexander Pomerantsev
The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral occupies more than 3,100 square metres in central Sofia and holds up to 5,000 worshippers, making it one of the ten largest Eastern Orthodox church buildings anywhere and, until the year 2000, believed to be the largest completed Orthodox cathedral in the world. Part of the building also serves as a museum.
The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is a Bulgarian Orthodox cathedral in Sofia, built in the Neo-Byzantine style to a design by Alexander Pomerantsev, who died in 1918. Foundations were laid in 1882 and construction was largely complete by 1912; it serves as the cathedral church of the Patriarch of Bulgaria. Occupying more than 3,100 square metres and able to hold 5,000 worshippers, it ranks among the ten largest Eastern Orthodox church buildings in the world, and until 2000 was believed to be the largest completed Orthodox cathedral anywhere. Part of the complex also functions as a museum.
- Until the year 2000 it was believed to be the largest completed Orthodox cathedral in the world.
- Part of the building doubles as a museum alongside its role as a working cathedral.
Photo: Plamen Agov (user:MrPanyGoff) (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Church of Saint Sophia
4th century
This fourth-century basilica is the building that gave Sofia its name: the surrounding settlement, then called Serdica, was renamed after the church in 1329, making it one of the oldest structures still standing in the city.
The Saint Sofia Church, dedicated to Holy Wisdom, was built as a Christian church in the fourth century CE, during the city's Roman and early Byzantine period. The surrounding town of Serdica took the name Sofia from the church in 1329. In the sixteenth century the building was converted into a mosque, and it was restored as a Christian basilica during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It is counted among the oldest churches in the city and follows an Early Christian and Byzantine architectural style.
- The city of Sofia takes its name from this church, renamed after it in 1329.
Photo: Klearchos Kapoutsis from Paleo Faliro, Greece (CC BY 2.0)
Banya Bashi Mosque
1566 · Mimar Sinan
Attributed to the architect Mimar Sinan, the Banya Bashi Mosque was raised in 1566 in the Ottoman architectural style. It dates from the two and a half centuries when Sofia served as regional capital of Rumelia, the Ottoman Empire's largest province.
Banya Bashi Mosque is a Sunni Islamic mosque in Sofia, built in 1566 and attributed to the architect Mimar Sinan, who died in 1588. It follows the Ottoman architectural style and dates from the two and a half centuries when the city served as regional capital of Rumelia, the Ottoman Empire's largest and most important province. It was raised to serve the city's Muslim community under Ottoman administration, and stands today as one of central Sofia's clearest markers of that period.
Photo: xiquinhosilva from Cacau (CC BY 2.0)
Russian Church
1914 · Mikhail Preobrazhensky
Formally the Church of St Nicholas the Miracle-Maker, the Russian Church stands on Tsar Osvoboditel Boulevard in central Sofia. Its Russian Revival design, by the architect Mikhail Preobrazhensky, sets it apart from the Byzantine-influenced style used in the city's other Orthodox churches.
The Russian Church, formally the Church of St Nicholas the Miracle-Maker, is a Russian Orthodox church on Tsar Osvoboditel Boulevard in central Sofia. It was built in 1914 to a design by the architect Mikhail Preobrazhensky, who died in 1930, in the Russian Revival architectural style. The church belongs to the wave of construction that followed Sofia's establishment as capital of the Third Bulgarian State in 1879, and its style marks a departure from the Byzantine-influenced architecture found in the city's older Orthodox churches.
- Its official name honours St Nicholas the Miracle-Maker, though it is generally known simply as the Russian Church.
Photo: SiefkinDR (Public domain)
History
The area has been inhabited since at least 7000 BC and was taken from the Celtic Serdi by the Roman Republic in 29 BC, becoming Serdica. Its Church of Saint Sophia was raised as a basilica in the fourth century, in that Roman and early Byzantine period. Khan Krum brought the city into the First Bulgarian Empire in 809, and it changed hands between Byzantine and Bulgarian rule until the Ottoman conquest of 1382. From 1530 to 1836 it served as regional capital of Rumelia, the empire's largest province, a status that produced the 1566 Banya Bashi Mosque. Bulgarian rule returned in 1878, and Sofia became capital of the Third Bulgarian State in 1879, driving the growth that funded the Russian Church of 1914 and the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, under construction from 1882 and largely complete by 1912.