Sveti Sedmochislenitsi Church

A church that began as a mosque: the Black Mosque was built in 1528 to a design from the circle of the great Ottoman architect Sinan, and its minaret was the tallest in the city. After the liberation of Bulgaria the building stood empty and served as a prison and a warehouse, until in 1901 it was rebuilt as an Orthodox church - the minaret was dismantled, and an apse, a narthex and a bell tower were added to the cubic volume under the large dome. The masonry of alternating courses of stone and brick remained Ottoman, and that is obvious at once. The church was consecrated in honour of seven saints - Cyril, Methodius and their five disciples, the creators and disseminators of Slavonic writing, hence the name. Inside, murals from the early twentieth century and an iconostasis by Bulgarian craftsmen have survived. The church stands in a small park at the intersection of two boulevards, away from the main tourist route, and serves as an ordinary parish church.

On the map