The Sofia Seminary of St

John of Rila Saint John of Rila, a.k.a. Ivan of Rila ( Bulgarian: Свети преподобни Йоан Рилски Чудотворец, Svеti prеpodobni Yoan Rilski Chudotvorеts; English: Saint (monk) John of Rila the Wondermaker) (876 – c. 946) wa ...

( bg, Софийска духовна семинария „Св. Йоан Рилски“, ''Sofiyska duhovna seminariya „Sv. Yoan Rilski“''), located 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 ...

, is the main

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and an ecclesiastical institution of high education. Founded in 1876 in

Samokov Samokov ( bg, Самоков ) is a town in Sofia Province in the southwest of Bulgaria. It is situated in a basin between the mountains Rila and Vitosha, 55 kilometres from the capital Sofia. Due to the suitable winter sports conditions, Sam ...

, the theological seminary continues and further develops what was started by the theological school at the Lyaskovets Monastery "St. Peter and Paul”. The Samokov Theological Seminary later moved to the capital of Bulgaria as the city council of Sofia donated a lot for the construction of a separate new seminary building. The Sofia Seminary's construction began in 1902, when Knyaz

Ferdinand of Bulgaria , image = Zar Ferdinand Bulgarien.jpg , caption = Ferdinand in 1912 , reign = 5 October 1908 – , coronation = , succession = Tsar of Bulgaria , predecessor = Himself as Prince , successor = Boris III , rei ...

laid the foundation stone together with the chairman of the

Holy Synod In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod. For instance, the Holy Synod is a ruling body of the Georgian Orthodox C ...

, Metropolitan Simeon of Varna and Veliki Preslav, in the presence of ministers and other influential figures. The complex, designed by Austro-Hungarian architect

Friedrich Grünanger Friedrich Grünanger (25 January 1856 – 14 December 1929) was a Transylvanian Austrian architect who worked primarily in Bulgaria. Born in Schäßburg in Austria-Hungary (today Sighişoara in Romania), Grünanger studied at the Academy of Fi ...

, who united

Eclecticism Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories i ...

with elements of traditional Byzantine architecture, was completed towards the end of 1902 and inaugurated on 20 January 1903. The Seminary Church of St John of Rila, a one-naved cross-domed basilica, was opened on 26 October 1904, St Demetrius' Day. During the Balkan Wars (1912-1913) and the

First World War 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 ...

(1914-1918) the seminary complex was used as a wartime hospital, and the Agrarianist rule of 1920-1923 opened an agricultural faculty inside. The events after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

saw the forcible moving of the seminary to Cherepish and the use of the seminary complex in Sofia in turn as a

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

headquarters (1944-1946), by the Union of the Soviet-Bulgarian Friendship (1946-1950) and a Palace of Pioneers (1951-1990). In the spring of 1990 the buildings of the Sofia Seminary were given back to the Holy Synod and education was restored.

External links

Official website
Schools in Sofia Buildings and structures of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church {{seminary-stub