Sveti Sedmochislenitsi Church, Sofia, Bulgaria

The Sveti Sedmochislenitsi Church and formerly The Black Mosque is a Bulgarian Orthodox church in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. It was created in 1547 as an Ottoman mosque later converted into orthodox Church, and was inaugurated on 27 July 1903. The church is named after Cyril and Methodius and their five disciples, known in the Orthodox Church collectively as the Sedmochislenitsi.

The Black Mosque was commissioned by Sofu Mehmed Pasha, former governor-general of Rumelia, to Mimar Sinan. It was constructed at the place of a former nunnery of the Rila Monastery and an Early Christian temple from the 4th-5th century, the ruins of which were excavated in 1901. An even older construction, a pagan temple of Asclepius from Roman Serdica, was also discovered in the mosque's foundations.

The mosque received its more popular name, the Black Mosque, after the dark granite from which its minaret was made. The minaret collapsed during an earthquake in the 19th century and the mosque was abandoned by the Ottomans after the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878 to become used as a military warehouse and prison.

The architect who suggested the conversion of the once Ottoman mosque into a Christian church was the Russian Alexander Pomerantsev, responsible for the Upper Trade Rows on Red Square, among other buildings. The Bulgarian architects Yordan Milanov and Petko Momchilov designed the dome, the narthex and the bell tower in a traditional Bulgarian style, inspired by the movement of Romanticism. Only the central hall and the dome of the former mosque were preserved, with four oval bays, a narthex and an altar section being added.

The construction works took a year, between 27 May 1901 and 6 May 1902, but the complete inner decoration did not finish until 1996. Young artists painted the icons and among the first donors were Tsar Ferdinand and Ivan Evstratiev Geshov.

References:

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Religious sites in Bulgaria

User Reviews

Stefani Totokocopullo (2 months ago)
Nice church. There was no Sunday service.

Linh Phan (4 months ago)
The Orthodox Temple is a real gem! The ceiling is absolutely stunning and totally different from what I see in most European churches. The place has beautiful design and details. It’s definitely worth stopping and is free to enter. I am impressed with this place.

Rog Edwards (5 months ago)
Beautiful church inside and out and well worth the visit. Situated in a pretty park you can get good views of the building. Inside it has many wall paintings and a brightly painted nave. There was somebody singing very nicely some verses which gave the place extra atmosphere the sound quality of the giant dome gives an excellent resonance. There are also many special icons where you can make individual worship

jelior (6 months ago)
Nice to walk around or just sit at the surroundings benches. At Thursday evening we found the local people gathering and sitting to chat, play, eat, drink and laugh. It was really nice. Possible to take-away food from the restaurants around and eat there at the park.

Jamie Wojciechowski (8 months ago)
Impressive structure, initially built as an Ottoman Mosque then later converted to an Orthodox church. The inside is covered with ornate paintings and gold coverings. The chandelier that hangs in the center of the room is massive and lights up the area. Interesting to walk about the building and look at all the details that went into making this mosque/church look the way it does. Worth a stroll through, free to enter.

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The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.

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Sveti Sedmochislenitsi Church

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