Basilica Saint Sofia

The ‘Saint Sophia’ Basilica is associated with Serdika's (Serdika is the ancient name of today’s Sofia) last days of glory in the 6th century. It was built by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian (527-565). The church was erected amid the old Christian necropolis of Serdika replacing two smaller temples. Actually, this was the third time the church rose from the ashes, having been previously destroyed twice by Goths and Huns.

In the Second Bulgarian Empire (12th to 14th century), it acquired the status of a metropolitan church, giving the city its latest name: Sofia. Nobles used to be buried in the entrance hall in mediaeval times. Unfortunately, however, it was turned into a mosque in the 16th century and almost destroyed in two successive earthquakes thirty years later.
Restored after 1878, this church is now one of the most valuable pieces of early Christian architecture not only in Bulgaria, but also in the Balkans, according to scholars. It has been said that St Sophia's miraculous powers protected the lovely building over the centuries, preventing it from human invasions and natural disasters and therefore to keep the church as an instance of the elegant, austere and symmetrical architecture of the age.

Since 14th century the name of the church has been regarded as closely connected to the city which was eventually called Sofia.