Bulgaria’s patriarchal cathedral, raised as a memorial to the liberation of 1877–1878 and the largest Orthodox church in the Balkans.
At a glance
The Patriarchal Cathedral of St Alexander Nevsky stands on Alexander Nevsky Square in central Sofia. It is the church of the Patriarch of Bulgaria and answers directly to the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The crypt holds a gallery of medieval Bulgarian icons, part of the National Art Gallery.
History
The idea came from the Constituent National Assembly, meeting in Veliko Tarnovo in 1879, on a proposal by Petko Karavelov. The church was to honour St Alexander Nevsky, patron saint of Emperor Alexander II, whose Russian army had fought the war of 1877–1878. In 1880, at the request of Prince Alexander Battenberg, the project moved to Sofia, the new capital.
The foundation stone was laid in 1882. A first design by Ivan Bogomolov was reworked from 1896 by Alexander Pomerantsev, a professor at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St Petersburg. The cathedral was completed in 1912 and consecrated in 1924.
What you see
Pomerantsev reinterpreted Byzantine models rather than copying them. The building is 72 metres long and 55 wide, with a mass of domes, half-domes and quarter-domes. Carved stone runs over the arches and friezes like lace, in braided and Old Bulgarian patterns. Marble and light fittings came from Munich, metalwork from Berlin, mosaics from Venice.
Twelve bells hang in the tower above the main entrance. The largest weighs 11,758 kilograms. A mosaic icon of the saint by the Bulgarian painter Anton Mitov faces west from the bell tower.
Key facts
- Decided: 1879, by the Constituent National Assembly; site moved to Sofia in 1880
- Built: foundation stone 1882; completed 1912; consecrated 1924
- Architect: Alexander Pomerantsev, from an earlier design by Ivan Bogomolov
- Size: 72 × 55 m, height 50.52 m, built area about 3,170 m²
- Crypt: gallery of medieval Bulgarian icons, a branch of the National Art Gallery, since 1966
- Address: Alexander Nevsky Square, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria
- GPS: 42.695812, 23.332793 · Open in Google Maps
- Website: cathedral.bg
Practical information
At the time of writing, the cathedral gives its opening hours as 7:00 to 19:00 every day. Services are held at 8:00 and 17:00, with the Sunday liturgy at 9:30. The crypt gallery belongs to the National Art Gallery and keeps its own hours. Check the official website before visiting.
Getting there
The nearest metro station is Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, about 450 metres south-east of the cathedral. Orlov Most station is roughly 650 metres away.
See the place
Sources
- Patriarchal Cathedral St. Alexander Nevsky, History, Architecture and Visit us
- University of Pennsylvania, Center for Russian and East European Studies, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia, Bulgaria
- Wikipedia, Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia
- OpenStreetMap, coordinates and metro stations
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