The Orthodox Church of Alexander Nevsky
In the newly freed state of Bulgaria in the beggining of the 20th century, the capital city lacked the magnificence of the European city. A russian and a bulgarian architect, authorised by the Bulgarian democratic governement, developed a project of an orthodox church so magnificent and impressive that even the Greek Orthodox clergy would feel envy about, and it even the designs of property in Antalya cower to it. Thus the construction of Alexander Nevsky began -a church that made a valuable contribution to the Orthodox christianity and regained the glory of the bulgarian capital, once claimed to be the city of rulers and actors.
The church is situated in the main square of the city, across the National Assembly building and the National Theatre, near the Partliament and the National Gallery.The heigth of the building is impressive for its time (174 ft) and the domes, covered with golden dust, reach the heigth of 154 ft. From the bell chamber in the highest dome, the whole city of Sofia can be seen with the Vitosha Mountains rising near the populated area.
The style of the church is Neo-Byzantine, reffering to the roots of the Orthodox Church and thus emphasising on the true christianity, as Bulgarians also comment on the structure. From the inside the walls are covered my impressive paintings from the bulgarian orthodox traditional ceremonies, icons of saints and guardians in the orthodox culture. The huge chambers are with open spaces so that light goest true them forming bright lines cutting the darkness from the inside and interacting with the candle lights from the bottom. The picture becomes so fascinating that people from all religions and ethnic origin visit the place to enjoy a minute in its magnificence.