Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

The Church of St Nicholas the Miracle-Maker, known as the Russian Church, is one of the most emblematic buildings in the city. Its construction began in the late 19th century and was originally designed as a chapel at the Russian Embassy in Bulgaria. The temple almost immediately lost its role after the Russian Revolution in 1917.

Saint Sofia Church is located in the center of Sofia. The first church was built on this site in the 4th century, with the support of Emperor Constantine I. The temple has been preserved, and the Orthodox worship there is held since 1700 years, although during the Turkish yoke (1396–1878) it was transformed into a mosque.

The former mosque is the oldest building of its kind in Sofia. The mosque with its squared plan has nine domes of equal diameter. They are supported by pointed arches and covered with leaden sheets. The middle ones are higher and ‘the entire space, through a special system of domes and arches, is an absolutely symmetrical construction, and it’s on this symmetry, harmony and equality among all its parts, that the major artistic effect is due. During the Russian-Turkish War (1877-1878) the mosque was turned into a hospital. Later it was a library, museum and printing house, and since 1892 it has housed the National Archaeological Institute With Museum .