Saint Sofia Church, Sofia (must see)

Saint Sofia Church dates to the 6th century, built during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, placing it in the same era as Constantinople’s Hagia Sophia. Like its famous counterpart, it was turned into a mosque under Ottoman rule—yet unlike Hagia Sophia, it eventually returned to Christian worship, reclaiming its original identity.

It is the second-oldest church in the Bulgarian capital. In the 14th century, its name—Sofia, meaning “Wisdom”—was adopted by the city itself. If you are admiring the church from the outside, you'll see its rectangular basilica form, with undecorated walls made from red brick and small, evenly spaced window openings. You can notice a simple construction, with a low and pitched roofline, without domes, towers, or a bell tower.

During its conversion into a mosque in the 16th century, the church gained two minarets. In the 19th century, two earthquakes struck the building—one minaret collapsed, and the mosque was abandoned soon after. Large-scale restoration only began in 1900, following the end of Ottoman rule.

When you step inside the church, you’ll see the same simple red-brick walls. During the Ottoman period, when the church was converted into a mosque, its medieval frescoes were lost. Head to the Underground Museum, where layers of buildings from across the centuries are exposed, reaching back as far as the 3rd century AD. Here, excavations have revealed an extensive necropolis beneath and around the basilica, with numerous tombs, crypts, and remnants of earlier sanctuaries now accessible to visitors. Pay attention to the floors decorated with early Christian mosaics featuring detailed animal and floral patterns.

For centuries, local tradition has held that Saint Sofia’s protective power guarded the church through invasions, epidemics, and natural disasters—perhaps part of the reason it remains so well preserved today. In Orthodox iconography, Sofia appears as a woman symbolizing Divine Wisdom, standing above the allegorical figures of Faith, Hope, and Love, linking the church’s name to one of Christianity’s most enduring spiritual ideals.