Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia

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Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia

The St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (Hram-pametnik „Sveti Aleksandar Nevski“) is a Bulgarian Orthodox cathedral in Sofia

Sofia

Sofia , is the Capital and largest city of the Bulgaria, with 2,5 million people living in the Capital Municipality. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of the mountain massif Vitosha, and is the administrative, cultural, economic, and educational centre of the country....
, the capital of Bulgaria

Bulgaria

The state of Bulgaria , Scientific transliteration Balgarija, officially the Republic of Bulgaria has played a significant role in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe for over fourteen centuries....
. Built in Neo-Byzantine style, it serves as the cathedral church of the Patriarch of Bulgaria and is one of the largest Eastern Orthodox cathedrals in the world, as well as one of Sofia's symbols and primary tourist attractions.

The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is a cross-domed basilica

Basilica

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The St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (Hram-pametnik „Sveti Aleksandar Nevski“) is a Bulgarian Orthodox cathedral in Sofia

Sofia

Bulgaria

Basilica

The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a ancient Rome public building , usually located in the Forum of a Roman town. In Hellenistic cities, public basilicas appeared in the 2nd century BC....
featuring an emphasized central dome. The cathedral's gold-plated dome is 45 m high, with the bell tower reaching 50.52 m. The temple has 12 bells with total weight of 23 ton

Ton

Units of massThere are several similar units of mass or volume called the ton:Others*The long ton is used for petroleum products such as aviation fuel....
s, the heaviest weighing 12 tons and the lightest 10 kg

Kilogram

The kilogram or kilogrammeThe spelling kilogram is used by the International Committee for Weights and Measures and the U.S....
. The interior is decorated with Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
marble in various colours, Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
ian onyx

Onyx

Onyx is a cryptocrystalline form of quartz. The colors of its bands range from white to almost every color . Commonly, specimens of onyx available contain bands of colors of white, tan, and brown....
, alabaster

Alabaster

Alabaster is a name applied to varieties of two distinct minerals: gypsum and calcite . The former is the alabaster of the present day; the latter is generally the alabaster of the ancients....
, and other luxurious materials. The central dome has the Lord's Prayer

Lord's Prayer

The Lord's Prayer, also known as the Our Father or Pater noster, is probably the best-known prayer in Christianity. On Easter Sunday 2007 it was estimated that 2 billion Catholic, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox Christians read, recited, or sang the short prayer in hundreds of languages in houses of worship of all shapes and size...
inscribed around it with thin gold letters.

The construction of the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral started in 1882 (having been planned since 19 February, 1879), when the foundation stone was laid, but it was in fact built between 1904 and 1912 in honour to the Russia

Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
n soldiers who died during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, as a result of which Bulgaria was liberated from Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299?1923. It was Treaty of Lausanne by the Republic of Turkey, which was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923....
rule. The cathedral was designed by Alexander Pomerantsev

Alexander Pomerantsev

Alexander Nikanorovich Pomerantsev was a Russian architect responsible for some of the most ambitious architectural projects realized in Imperial Russia and the Balkans at the turn of the 20th century....
, aided by Alexander Smirnov and Alexander Yakovlev, as the initial 1884-1885 project of Ivan Bogomolov was radically changed by Pomerantsev. The final design was finished in 1898 and the construction and decoration were done by a team of Bulgarian, Russian, Austro-Hungarian and other European artists, architects and workers, including the aforementioned architects, as well as Petko Momchilov, Yordan Milanov, Haralampi Tachev, Ivan Mrkvicka

Ivan Mrkvicka

Ivan Mrkvicka was a Czech Republic-born painter and an active contributor to the artistic life of newly-liberated Bulgaria in the late 19th and early 20th century....
, Vasily D. Bolotnov, Nikolay A. Bruni, A.A. Kiselyov, Anton Mitov and many others. The marble parts and the lighting fixtures were created in Munich

Munich

Munich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. Munich is located on the River Isar north of the Northern Limestone Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg....
, the metal elements for the gates in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the Capital of Germany city and one of sixteen States of Germany of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city....
, while the gates themselves were manufactured in Karl Bamberg's factory in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the Capital of Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million...
, and the mosaics were shipped from Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy, the capital city of the Italian regions Veneto, a population of 271,251 . Together with Padua, Italy, the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area ....
.

The name of the cathedral was briefly changed to the Sts. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral between 1916 and 1920, but then the initial name was restored. The St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral was proclaimed a monument of culture on 12 September, 1924.

There is a museum of Bulgarian icons inside the cathedral crypt, part of the National Art Gallery

National Art Gallery (Bulgaria)

The National Art Gallery is Bulgaria's national gallery and houses over 50,000 pieces of Bulgarian art. It is located on Battenberg Square in the capital city of Sofia, occupying most of the historic and imposing edifice of the former royal palace of Bulgaria, having been established in 1934 and moved to the palace in 1946, after the aboli...
. The church claims that the museum contains the largest collection of Orthodox icons in Europe

Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
. Around the cathedral one can buy handmade textile and antiques on a small flea market

Flea market

A flea market or swap meet is a type of bazaar where inexpensive or secondhand goods are sold or bartered. It may be indoors, such as in a warehouse or school gymnasium; or it may be outdoors, such as in a field or under a tent....
. The St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia occupies an area of 3170 m² and can take 5,000 people inside.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia

Gallery

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