Hagia Sophia Cathedral is located in the centre of the Bulgarian capital, near the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky. It is one of the oldest churches in Sofia and its history is directly linked to the history of the city.
The Cathedral of St Sophia was built in the VI century, during the reign of Emperor Justinian, on the site of the necropolis of Serdika (this is the ancient name of Sofia), old temples of the IV century and stone tombs. In the period from XI to XIV centuries the church was metropolitan. The importance of this temple in those times was so great that its name - "Sofia" (which translates into Russian as "wisdom") - people began to call the city itself, and since the XIV century this name became official. Under Ottoman rule, the building was used as a mosque and the wall paintings were destroyed. Major earthquakes in the 18th and 58th years of the 19th century damaged the building, which Muslims took as a bad omen, and the temple was abandoned. After Bulgaria's national independence, the church-mosque was turned into a warehouse.
The building has been restored several times and now its appearance is as close as possible to its late antique - early medieval appearance. Since the beginning of the 20th century, archaeological research has also been carried out here, during which fragments of mosaics of one of the ancient temples that used to be on this site were discovered.
Behind the church is the grave of Ivan Vazov (a famous Bulgarian writer). Also next to the building can be seen the Monument to the Unknown Soldier, which is a symbol of the memory of the soldiers who died fighting for their homeland.
