The building of St Sedmochislenitsi Church

Address

25 Graf Ignatiev Str.

Location

42.690353,23.327469

Description

St Sedmochislenitsi Church – called so in honour of St St Cyril and Methodius and their five disciples. On the foundations of the cathedral church at the once existing Monastery of St John of Rila in Sofia, in 1528, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent erected the monumental Imaret Mosque. Its popular name, the Black Mosque, was related to the black marble cladding of the minaret. The public also associated the church with the years following 1878, when it served as a political prison. On the initiative of Prime Minister Petko Karavelov, in 1901-1903 the mosque was reconstructed as a church after the design of architects Y. Milanov and P. Momchilov. The wall painting was completed in 1966.