HISTORY according to the proposal made by the National Assembly, and upon the wish of the Bulgarian prince Alexander Battenberg, it was decided for the temple to be built in Sofia, the city that was about to become the new capital of the recently liberated Bulgaria.

A patron was chosen – Saint Alexander Nevsky, the sky guardian of the Russian Emperor, in honour of Russia’s help for Bulgaria’s liberation and in living memory of the deceased Bulgarian and Russian soldiers.

Temple’s location is the highest place in town at the time, so that it could be seen from all points.

In 1882 the foundation stone was laid in solemn manner – a huge piece of granite-moraine brought from Vitosha Mountain, rising next to Sofia. The construction was finalized in 1912.

EXTERIOR The Russian architect, Alexander Pomerantsev, was elected as chief architect of the cathedral. He designed it according to the canon of the Orthodox tradition, combined with Ancient Byzantine and typical Bulgarian elements.

While standing before the main entrance and lifting your head up, you will see that the face of the patron-saint Saint Alexander Nevsky is built into the façade, a work by the famous Bulgarian artist Anton Mitov.

For sure, even when you were at greater distance, you noticed the typical golden domes covered with 8 kilograms of pure gold. The wooden entrance doors covered with exquisite woodwork are very beautiful too. Above the main entrance, a bell-tower ascends made of 12 bells with total weight of 25 tonnes, decorated with relief icons and inscriptions. The largest of them weighs 12 tonnes and its diameter is almost 3 meters, and the lightest one weighs 10 kilos. If the weather is nice, their ring could be heard at more than 30 km.

INTERIOR When it comes to its beauty and scale, the church matches the most famous temples worldwide. Inside one gets the feeling of volume and the illusion that the space consists of four floors, while actually it is a whole. The interior is made of multi-coloured marbles – white-yellowish, green, pale pink, onyx and alabaster.

Furnishing is luxuriant. The lions onto the Royal throne are made of syenitis marble, and their eyes are made of agate. The marble iconostasis, ambone and Patriarch’s throne, as well as the mosaic board with the image of King Ferdinand and queen Eleonore in whole height, holding model of the temple. The chandeliers were especially produced in Munich, and all the icons and pictures were created by famous artists of their time. High around the central dome with church Slavonic letters the prayer “Holy father” is inscribed.

The CRYPT It is located in the underground floor. Its entrance is located left from the central one. Initially, it was designated as a tomb, yet at present it is a museum of Medieval and Antique church art. It hosts the most beautiful Bulgarian icons and wall-paintings created from ХII until the XIX century.

The Church was seriously impacted by the bombings in the Second World War, yet consequently it was restored in order to regain its initial shine.

At present, it is a cathedral church of the Bulgarian patriarch and the most distinguishable symbol of Sofia.

At the rear of the cathedral you could find an improvised small market of manually crafted traditional Bulgarian woven items and articles, and down the garden, at the main entrance, there is a small flea market with antique items, paintings and icons by local authors.