Photo: Travel: Bulgaria: Sofia: Churches: St Nedelya

St Nedelya, Sofia, Bulgaria

This catehdral church is situated in what has got to be the most central point of the city: what used to be called Lenin Square when I was growing up. Although there has been a church at this site since the 10th century, the medieval foundation is gone, and the next-to-last builiding here was of mid-19th century vintage. The builiding has had an unhappy history: it suffered from an earthquake during construction and was nearly destroyed in 1925 when the communists blew it up during a funeral service in an attempt to assassinate members of the military and political elite (193 people died in the blast, which also wounded another 500). The modern appearance dates from the restoration after that attack, and there is a memorial plaque on the wall commemorating it.

The church is very popular, and there is usually some kind of service going on. The spacious interior is reminiscent of Byzantine domed churches, and there are many icons scattered around and adorning the gilded iconostasis. There is no guidebook, which might not be surprising given the basically modern construction and the lack of detailed knowledge about what predated it. Nobody seemed to mind me taking pictures although the darkness inside basically meant they would all be the crappy murky shots shown below.

Although the exterior was largerly cleaned, the interior is in abysmal shape, like most churches in Bulgaria. For starters, it is very dim. This is quite characteristic of Orthodox churches with their oriental architecture -- a mix of Byzantine Romanesque and Islamic -- whose heavy vaulting and thick walls emphasize monumental mysticism. The practice of burning incense and lighting candles also introduces a lot of smoke, which makes it nearly impossible to see, not to mention the deposits of soot it leaves on the walls, damaging the murals. Although the style of painting betrays their 1970s origins, their condition is such that one might mistake them for medieval work. The paint is peeling and it seems like there's not enough money for the upkeep of this historic landmark. The church was undergoing some sort of interior restoration when I visited it last. At least it looked like some work was being done but it might have been just their attempt to heat the interior: there were these awful-looking tubes running down the walls and scaffolding that obstructed parts of the interior.