Church of Saint George

The Church of Saint George is a Late Antique red brick rotunda in Sofia, Bulgaria. Built in the early 4th century as Roman baths, it became a church inside the walls of Serdica, capital of ancient Dacia Mediterranea during the Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire. The Early Christian church is considered the oldest building in modern Sofia and belongs to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

The building, a cylindrical domed structure built on a square base, is famous for the 12th-, 13th-, and 14th-century frescoes inside the central dome. Three layers of frescoes have been discovered, the earliest dating back to the 10th century. Frescoes of 22 prophets over 2 metres tall crown the dome. Painted over during the Ottoman period, when the building was used as a mosque, these frescoes were only uncovered and restored in the 20th century.

Outstanding among all the murals is the one from the 10th century, created most probably during the reign of the emperors Simeon I the Great, Peter I and Samuil. The soulful human face of an angel, painted under the dome, is unique and one of the most influential examples of the high mastery of Bulgarian artistic school of the golden age of the First Bulgarian Empire.

References:

• Wikipedia

Address

Knyaz Alexander Dondukov Boulevard 2, Sofia, Bulgaria

Details

Founded: 4th century AD
Category: Religious sites in Bulgaria