Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God

The cathedral of Varna, founded in 1880, two years after the liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule, and consecrated in 1886. It is the second largest church in the country after the Alexander Nevsky cathedral in Sofia. The design is attributed to the Odessa architect Maas, and the model for it was the cathedral at Peterhof near St Petersburg — hence the recognisable silhouette with a central dome and a tall bell tower above the west entrance. Funds were raised by subscription across the whole city, the stone was brought from quarries nearby, and the iconostasis and some of the icons were ordered from Russia. The stained glass came later, in the 1960s, made by the Bulgarian artist Yordan Kisyov. Inside, the walls were painted in the twentieth century, and a large chandelier hangs beneath the vaults. The cathedral stands on a square in the centre, and its bell tower serves as Varna's main landmark: it is visible from the railway station, from the Sea Garden and from most of the streets in the centre.

On the map