Church of St. Andrew The First-Called

Website

https://svandrei-sofia.info

Address

112 Opalchenska Str.

Location

42.709628,23.313962

Historical Information

St. Andrew the First-Called Church is the only church in Sofia named after this apostle of Christ. The church St. Andrew the First-Called in Sofia is associated with the memory of the Bulgarian volunteers who took part at the Russo-Turkish War of 1876-1878, the Serbo-Bulgarian War in 1885 and the First Balkan War of 1912-1913 and died for the liberation of Bulgaria. In 1925 the Sofia municipality provided a large plot of public land locked between four streets for the construction of a new church with the blessing of the Sofia Metropolitan Stefan I. The local people had an idea to build a massive temple such as the Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Unfortunately, their idea did not materialize due to the lack of enough financing. As a result, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church built a small chapel instead. It was sanctified in 1926. It was completely destroyed by a bomb during the Second World War. The chapel was rebuilt in three years only. When the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953 the newly-appointed Bulgarian Patriarch Cyril tried to extend this temple. Two new rear wings and a tall belfry were built with his blessing. The temple was consecrated in 1972 after the construction works.