Boyana Church, Sofia, Bulgaria

Boyana Church is a medieval Bulgarian Orthodox church situated on the outskirts of Sofia. In 1979, the building was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Boyana Church was built in three stages: in the late 10th to early 11th, the mid-13th, and the mid-19th centuries. The oldest section (the eastern church) is a small one-apse cross-vaulted church with inbuilt cruciform supports. It was built in the late 10th or the early 11th century.

The frescoes in this second church, painted in 1259, make it one of the most important collections of medieval paintings. The ensemble is completed by a third church, built at the beginning of the 19th century. This site is one of the most complete and perfectly preserved monuments of east European medieval art.

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User Reviews

Stavros Kitsos (2 years ago)
Boyana church , there is a minimum 10 minutes stay inside church. Strict rules have to be followed for external area ( smoking , food). Paintings inside church are worth for visiting and waiting. Ticket is 5 euro / 10 leva. There is a ticket kiosk with some souvenirs

Seah Shao Jun Nigel (2 years ago)
I spent about an hour in this church and was amazed by how well preserved it was. It is amazing how the 3 layers of buildings across built across centuries smoothly intertwined into a single one. The fresco paintings are from different periods, from the 11th to the 19th centuries. The garden around the church is also very lovely and peaceful. Due to its small size, the church only allows a small group of people in for a very limited amount of time. I was not allowed to take pictures of the beautiful and well preserved frescos due to its UNESCO heritage status. I would have preferred to take a longer time to appreciate them. However, I still enjoyed my visit and I recommend it to anyone who wants to see a place with an enormous significance for the Bulgarian heritage.

Kuba Markowski (2 years ago)
It’s alright… just alright. Quick reminder. It’s free to view the church from the outside and take pictures of it as well as view the garden. It costs 10BGN for an adult to enter a 2BGN for students to enter the church inside with a guide which I think is every 10-15 minutes. Overall a nice experience worth visiting

Sahar I. Khan (2 years ago)
UNESCO world heritage site, very small church and they give you only 10 minutes slot to stay inside. Tickets are very reasonable and there was no queue. The nearby area is residential, peaceful and hilly.

Joanna P (2 years ago)
In 1979, the church was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Orthodox temple with beautiful frescoes. It is small but perfectly groomed. By the way, you can go for a walk in the mountains.

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