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

Bulgarian Orthodox The Bulgarian Orthodox Church ( bg, Българска православна църква, translit=Balgarska pravoslavna tsarkva), legally the Patriarchate of Bulgaria ( bg, Българска патриаршия, links=no, translit=Balgarsk ...

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 h ...

, 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 Macedo ...

. 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 denominations ...

church of the

Patriarch of Bulgaria The Patriarch of All Bulgaria is the patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The patriarch is officially styled as ''Patriarch of All Bulgaria and Metropolitan of Sofia''. Patriarch Neophyte acceded to this position on 24 February 2013. Hist ...

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.

Architecture

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 nam ...

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-typ ...

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 Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

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 Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has parallel bands. The ...

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that include ...

, 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.

Architectural influence

There are many churches in Bulgaria which are smaller copies of St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral like the temples in the following towns: Valchedram,

Sandanski Sandanski ( bg, Сандански ; el, Σαντάνσκι, formerly known as Sveti Vrach, bg, Свети Врач, until 1947) is a town and a recreation centre in south-western Bulgaria, part of Blagoevgrad Province. Named after the Bulga ...

Dolna Mitropoliya Dolna Mitropoliya ( bg, Долна Митрополия , "Lower Bishopric"; also transliterated as Dolna Mitropolia, Dolna Mitropolija) is a town in Pleven Province of northern Bulgaria, the administrative center of Dolna Mitropoliya municipali ...

Kyustendil Kyustendil ( bg, Кюстендил ) is a town in the far west of Bulgaria, the capital of the Kyustendil Province, a former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see. The town is situated in the southern part of the Kyustendil Valley, ...

Kaspichan Kaspichan ( bg, Каспичан, ) is a town in central northeastern Bulgaria, part of Shumen Province. It is located in the eastern Danubian Plain, some from the major Black Sea port Varna and around from the key Danube ports of Ruse and Sil ...

, Breznik,

Dorkovo Dorkovo ( bg, Дорково; rup, Dorcova) is a village in the Rakitovo municipality, Pazardzhik Province, western Bulgaria. The population of the village is 2,955. Aromanians live in the village. Geography Dorkovo is situated in the western Rh ...

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

Design and construction

The construction of the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral started in 1882 (having been planned since 19 February 1879), when the

foundation stone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over tim ...

was laid, but most of it was built between 1904 and 1912. Saint Alexander Nevsky was a Russian prince. The cathedral was created in honour to the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

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, 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 Petko is a South Slavic (Петко) masculine given name and East Slavic (Петько) surname. It may refer to: Given name *Petko Petkov (disambiguation) * Petko Slaveykov (1827–1895), 19th-century Bulgarian poet, publicist, public figure and ...

, Yordan Milanov, Haralampi Tachev,

Ivan Mrkvička Ivan Mrkvička (born Jan Václav Mrkvička; bg, Иван Мърквичка) (23 April 1856 – 16 May 1938) was a Czech-born painter and an active contributor to the artistic life of newly liberated Bulgaria in the late 19th and early 20t ...

, Vasily Bolotnov, Nikolay Bruni, Alexander Kiselyov,

Anton Mitov Anton Stefanov Mitov (Bulgarian: Антон Стефанов Митов; 1 April 1862, in Stara Zagora – 20 August 1930, in Sofia) was a Bulgarian painter, art critic, art historian, social activist and corresponding member of the Bulgarian Aca ...

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 German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, the metal elements for the gates in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, 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 region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

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 relics of Alexander Nevsky, 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. 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 subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

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 National Gallery of Foreign Art, the National Art Academy, the Bulgarian Parliament, a park honoring

Ivan Vazov Ivan Minchov Vazov ( bg, Иван Минчов Вазов; – 22 September 1921) was a Bulgarian poet, novelist and playwright, often referred to as "the Patriarch of Bulgarian literature". He was born in Sopot, a town in the Rose Valley ...

with his monument and gravestone, the Sofia Opera and Ballet, and a park where one can buy handmade textiles, icons, and antiques in a small flea market. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia, lower front facade entrance

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