St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
Neo-Byzantine cathedral with gilded domes, its crypt holding a major Bulgarian icon collection.
The cathedral was conceived in 1880 as a memorial to the Russian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Finnish and Romanian soldiers who died in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, which led to the liberation of Bulgaria. The foundation stone was laid in 1882, but building was suspended for many years and the main construction ran from 1904 to 1912 to designs by the Russian architect Alexander Pomerantsev. The finished church was consecrated in 1924 and serves as the seat of the Patriarch of Bulgaria.
Built in a neo-Byzantine manner, the cathedral covers roughly 3,170 square metres and can hold several thousand worshippers. Its central dome carries gold leaf, and the 53-metre bell tower holds twelve bells cast in Moscow. Interiors combine Italian marble, Brazilian onyx and alabaster with murals and icons by Bulgarian and Russian artists. The crypt below houses the National Gallery's Museum of Christian Art, whose collection of icons and church works spans the medieval period to the nineteenth century.
Highlights
- Gold-leaf central dome above a neo-Byzantine cross-domed plan
- 53-metre bell tower with twelve bells cast in Moscow
- Marble, onyx and alabaster interiors with Russian and Bulgarian murals
- Crypt museum holding one of Europe's richest icon collections
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