St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral ( bg, Храм-паметник "Свети Александър Невски", ''Hram-pametnik "Sveti Aleksandar Nevski"'') is a Bulgarian Orthodox cathedral in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

, the capital of

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. Built in

Neo-Byzantine style Neo-Byzantine architecture (also referred to as Byzantine Revival) was a revival movement, most frequently seen in religious, institutional and public buildings. It incorporates elements of the Byzantine style associated with Eastern and Ortho ...

, it serves as the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

church of the Patriarch of Bulgaria and it is one of the 50 largest Christian church buildings by volume in the world. It is one of Sofia's symbols and primary tourist attractions. "Sofia, Bulgaria", Mihail Dyuzev, Hitotoki.org, 2010, web:
Hito-4
. St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia occupies an area of and can hold 5,000 people inside. It is among the 10 largest Eastern Orthodox church buildings. It is the largest cathedral in the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

. It is believed that up until the year 2000 it was the largest finished Orthodox cathedral.

History, architecture and construction

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 most of it was built between 1904 and 1912. Saint

Alexander Nevsky Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (russian: Александр Ярославич Невский; ; 13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263) served as Prince of Novgorod (1236–40, 1241–56 and 1258–1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1236–52) and Grand P ...

was a Russian prince. The cathedral was created in honour to the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n soldiers who died during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, as a result of which Bulgaria was liberated from Ottoman rule. The cathedral was designed by

Alexander Pomerantsev Alexander Nikanorovich Pomerantsev (russian: Александр Никанорович Померанцев, November 11, 1849 — October 27, 1918) was a Russian architect and educator responsible for some of the most ambitious architectural proje ...

, 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 Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

and other European artists, architects and workers, including the aforementioned architects, as well as Petko Momchilov,

Yordan Milanov Yordan Milanov ( bg, Йордан Миланов; 1867–1932) was a Bulgarian architect. Milanov was one of the leading Bulgarian architects from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.Haralampi Tachev, Ivan Mrkvička, Vasily Bolotnov, Nikolay Bruni, Alexander Kiselyov, Anton Mitov and many others. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral 36

The marble parts and the lighting fixtures were created in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, the metal elements for the gates in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, while the gates themselves were manufactured in Karl Bamberg's factory in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, and the mosaics were shipped from

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

. The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is a cross-domed

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

featuring an emphasized central

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

. The cathedral's gold-plated dome is ( with the cross), with the bell tower reaching . The roof span of the central

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

is The temple has 12 bells with total weight of 23

ton Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean * the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds ...

s, the heaviest weighing 12 tons and the lightest . The interior is decorated with Italian marble in various colours,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian onyx, alabaster, and other luxurious materials. The central dome has the

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...

inscribed around it, with thin gold letters. There are many churches in Bulgaria which are smaller copies of St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral like the temples in the following towns:

Valchedram Valchedram ( bg, Вълчедръм ; also transliterated ''Vǎlčedrǎm'', ''Vulchedrum'', etc.) is a town in northwestern Bulgaria, part of Montana Province. It is the administrative centre of Valchedram Municipality, which lies in the northeas ...

, Sandanski, Dolna Mitropoliya, Kyustendil, Kaspichan,

Breznik Breznik ( bg, Брезник ) is a town in western Bulgaria, 50 km away from Sofia. It is located in Pernik Province and is close to the towns of Bankya and Pernik. Villages in the municipality include Begunovtsi, Dushintsi, and Velkovtsi ...

, Dorkovo village. File:Valchedram-Church-Iankov-IFB.JPG, Church of St Paraskeva in Valchedram File:Church of St Demetrius Dolna Mitropoliya Bulgaria.png, Church of St Demetrius in Dolna Mitropoliya File:Sv.VMCh.Mina.Kyustendil.1.JPG, The Church of Saint Menas in Kyustendil File:Saint George Church in Breznik.JPG, Saint George Church in Breznik

Name changes

The name of the cathedral was briefly changed to the Sts.

Cyril and Methodius Cyril (born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (815–885) were two brothers and Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs". They are credited wit ...

Cathedral between 1916 and 1920 (since Bulgaria and Russia belonged to opposing alliances in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

), but then the initial name was restored. The St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral was consecrated on 12 September 1924 and in 1955 was declared a cultural monument.

Relics

To the left of the altar is a case displaying

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

s of

, given by the Russian Orthodox Church. Although the accompanying Bulgarian-language plaque refers simply to "relics" (мощи), the item on display appears to be a piece of a rib.

Museum and market

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

National Art Gallery List of national galleries is a list of national art galleries. {{tocright Africa *Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa *National Art Gallery of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia The Americas *Galería Nacional, San Juan, Puerto ...

. The church claims that the museum contains the largest collection of Orthodox icons in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Nearby locations

The cathedral is adjacent to St. Sofia Church, the church for which the city of Sofia is named. Other notable landmarks in the immediate vicinity of the cathedral are the Monument to the Unknown Soldier, the

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (abbreviated BAS; bg, Българска академия на науките, ''Balgarska akademiya na naukite'', abbreviated ''БАН'') is the National Academy of Bulgaria, established in 1869. The Academy ...

, the National Gallery of Foreign Art, the National Art Academy, the Bulgarian Parliament, a park honoring Ivan Vazov with his monument and gravestone, the Sofia Opera and Ballet Theater, and a park where one can buy handmade textiles, icons, and antiques in a small

flea market A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously-owned (second-hand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal' ...

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia, lower front facade entrance

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral Ceiling Interior

Gallery

File:Cathedral, Alexander Nevsky.jpg, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral File:Bulgaria-Alexander Nevsky-02.JPG, Front facade File:AlexanderNevskyCathedral.jpg, Main facade File:AlexanderNevskyCathedral1.jpg, Side facade File:NevskiCathedral.jpg, The church by dawn Image:Bulgaria-Alexander Nevsky-08.JPG, The church by night File:AlexanderNevskyCathedral2.jpg, Inside the cathedral: the Royal thrones File:Alexander Nevsky Cathedral E1.jpg, The outside of the church is decorated with mosaics of various saints File:Nevsky Cathedral Drone.jpg File:Cathedral Saint Alexander Nevsky (23997180108).jpg

References

External links

Old photographs of the Nevsky Cathedral

Three dimensional rendering of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
(without plugin; in English, Spanish, German)
3D Laser scanning of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
{{Authority control 20th-century churches in Bulgaria Cathedrals in Sofia Bulgarian Orthodox cathedrals Tourist attractions in Sofia Churches completed in 1912 20th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings Church buildings with domes Byzantine Revival architecture in Bulgaria

1912 establishments in Bulgaria Religious museums in Bulgaria Bulgarian Orthodox churches in Sofia