The
SOF
10.
Church "Sveta Nedelya "
20, St. Nedelya Square
HISTORY and ARCHITECTURE The first church at this place was probably constructed as soon as in the X century and it existed until the middle of the VIХ century. Back then, it was named “Sveti Kral” because it used to preserve the relics of the Serbian king Stefan Uros II Milutin (1282-1321), which are still there today.
Because the old church was with stone foundations, but with wooden construction, in 1856 they started building a new one at its location. Temple’s new name was devoted to the Bulgarian female saint Nedelya.
In the Bulgarian Kingdom, this was the biggest church in town. In 1925 a large-scale assault was treacherously planned and performed inside it. The communist activists performed a
political homicide of a prominent general. Their objective was, during his funeral service in the church where the whole state elite was about to attend, to make an assault aimed at killing the king. Fortunately, at the last minute he changed his plans and didn’t arrive, which saved his life. The attackers got inside and arranged explosive in the bell-tower and exploded the roof that broke down over the heads of the people overfilling the church. The objective was to take the royal regime down, destabilize the state, kill the king and the government and do a coup d'etat. Around 200 people were killed and over 500 were injured.
NEAR BY you can see also
CHURCH of
"ST. PETKA SAMARDZHIYSKA"
A small medieval church dating back to the XI century, an operational orthodox temple. The roman tomb of the IV century is located in its foundations which witnesses it was most probably constructed onto the remnants of an older temple. It is located right in the heart of Sofia – the centre of the capital from Roman times to present days. It is located beneath the urban level in the largo underpass and close to the archaeological excavations of Antique Serdika and the church “Sveta Nedelya”. The address is 2, “Maria Louisa” Boul.
VITOSHA BLVD.
“Vitosha” Boulevard or the way the native Sofia inhabitants call it “Vitoshka”, is one of the oldest central boulevards in Sofia. With length of almost 3 km, crossing the very centre of the city, it is famous for its numerous boutiques, stores and entertainment places. The part between “Sveta Nedelya” Square and the National Palace of Culture is a pedestrian area that is very lively all year round.
ARCHAEOLO-
GICAL MUSEUM
The oldest museum and one of the three oldest buildings in Sofia, preserved up to its roof – former mosque, built in 1474. Its collection is one of the richest at the Balkan peninsula with around half a million exhibits. There is a huge collection with over 300 000 coins. The special treasury hall highlights the treasures and there you could see the Royal Thracian mask dating back to V century before Christ, made of 673 grams pure gold. It is quite compact to tour – do not miss it!
