Other sights in Sofia
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Sveti Nikolai Russian Church
This gorgeous church with its glittering mosaic exterior was built between 1912 and 1914 for Sofia’s Russian community, and named in honour of St Nikolai, the ‘miracle worker’. Like the Aleksander Nevski Church, the design is strongly influenced by Russian architecture, most notably in its five golden onion domes. The surprisingly cramped interior features colourful murals and icons painted between the 11th and 14th centuries. Bishop Serafim (1881–1950), one of Bulgaria’s most revered spiritual leaders, lies entombed in the crypt (accessed by a separate door to the left of the main entrance). Sitting in a flower-filled garden, the church is one of the most photographed si…
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B
Church of the Seven Saints
Set in a leafy garden just off the main road, the Church of the Seven Saints, as it’s known in its more tongue-friendly translation, is dedicated to Sts Cyril and Methodius and their five disciples. Originally built as a mosque in 1528, it had already fallen into disuse by the time the Russians came along in 1878 and turned it into an arms depot. After a brief spell as a prison, the structure was restored and remodelled in a style termed Bulgarian National Romanticism, and consecrated as a church in 1903. Inside, the walls are covered in traditional murals of saints, while an image of the Trinity decorates the huge central dome. The gilded iconostasis includes icons paint…
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C
Aleksander Nevski Memorial Church
One of the symbols not just of Sofia but of Bulgaria itself, this massive, awe-inspiring church was built between 1882 and 1912 in memory of the 200,000 Russian soldiers who died fighting for Bulgaria’s independence during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78). In the Aleksander Nevski Crypt is Bulgaria’s biggest and best collection of religious icons from the last millennium, brought from churches all over the country.
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D
Sofia Monument
Erected in 2001 on the site where a gigantic statue of Lenin once stood, this 24m-high monument was created as a new civic symbol for the city. The bronze female figure at the top of the column, holding the wreath of victory in her right hand and balancing an owl on her left arm, represents Sofia, personification of wisdom and fate.
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E
Sofia University Botanic Garden
Easily overlooked near the Vasil Levski Memorial, the Botanic Garden is a small, well-manicured plant collection, which includes a glasshouse filled with palms and cacti, a rose garden and various trees and flowers (labelled in Bulgarian and Latin).
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