The Cathedral of Saint Vissarion of Smolyan is an Eastern Orthodox church in Smolyan

Smolyan

Smolyan is a town and ski resort in the very south of Bulgaria not far from the border with Greece. It is the administrative and industrial centre of the homonymous Smolyan Province...

, Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

, inaugurated on 2 July 2006. It is the second largest church in the country (after the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia

The St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is a Bulgarian Orthodox cathedral in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. 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...

 in Sofia

Sofia

Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...

) and the largest church in southern Bulgaria. It is the first new Orthodox church in the city in the Rhodopes for 130 years.

The church's main premise has an area of 382 m² (enough to accommodate 500 laymen), the dome being 17 m in diameter and the belfry reaching 32 m. The cathedral's construction began with the laying of the foundation stone on 7 April 2002. Resources for the construction were gathered by raising money. The main church donor is Todor Batkov

Todor Batkov

Todor Batkov is president of the Bulgarian football club Levski .Since June 1991, Batkov has been a managing partner of the “Batkov, Stoev, Botev and Co.” Lawyer’s House. He is a member of the College of Barristers, the International Lawyer’s League and the Supervising Council of MobilTel Ltd...

, a noted lawyer and PFC Levski Sofia

PFC Levski Sofia

"Levski Sofia" redirects here. For the sports club, see Levski Sofia .PFC Levski Sofia, otherwise simply known as Levski or Levski Sofia, is a professional football club based in Sofia, Bulgaria...

 president, who donated 2 million leva (circa €

Euro

The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

1 million).

The 11 bells, the largest of which being 152 cm high, 145 in diameter and weighing 2 tons, were cast in the Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n ZIL

Zavod Imeni Likhacheva

Zavod imeni Likhachova, more commonly called ZIL is a major Russian truck and heavy equipment manufacturer, which also produced armored cars for most Soviet leaders, as well as buses, armored fighting vehicles, and aerosani...

 factory. The smallest bell weighs 60 kg, the total weight of all being 5 tons and the price €92,000.

Part of the church complex are also a baptistery

Baptistery

In Christian architecture the baptistry or baptistery is the separate centrally-planned structure surrounding the baptismal font. The baptistry may be incorporated within the body of a church or cathedral and be provided with an altar as a chapel...

 (dedicated to Saint Theodore

Theodore the Studite

Theodore the Studite was a Byzantine Greek monk and abbot of the Stoudios monastery in Constantinople. He played a major role in the revivals both of Byzantine monasticism and of classical literary genres in Byzantium...

), a synodical library, a museum collection premise and a Sunday school

Sunday school

Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...

.

Among the 5,000 guests who attended the cathedral's inauguration were Prime Minister of Bulgaria Sergey Stanishev

Sergey Stanishev

Sergei Dmitrievich Stanishev is a Bulgarian politician who was Prime Minister of Bulgaria from 2005 to 2009; currently he is Chairman of the Bulgarian Socialist Party and Interim President of the Party of European Socialists...

, Minister of Culture Stefan Danailov

Stefan Danailov

Stefan Lambov Danailov is a Bulgarian actor and former Minister of Culture of Bulgaria .The first film Danailov has taken part was "The Traces Remain" being a child. At that time he did not want to be an actor. However, later in 1966 he graduated VITIZ...

, politicians Anastasiya Mozer, Emel Etem, Petar Beron and Pavel Chernev.