The dome and wall paintings
An interior covered in painting and gilded icons.
Radi SADEK — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Michal Valach — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Michal Valach — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Michal Valach — CC BY-SA 4.0
Sveta Nedelya is Sofia's old Orthodox cathedral, standing on the square that carries its name at the exact zero point of the city — distances are measured from it, and everything passes around it. A church has stood on this site since the Middle Ages and been rebuilt repeatedly; the present building with its large dome dates from the nineteenth century, with a later rebuilding. The reason for that rebuilding is what makes this church remembered: on **16 April 1925** communist militants blew up its roof during a state funeral attended by the country's leadership, in an attempt to kill King Boris III. More than a hundred and fifty people were killed and hundreds injured; the king had not yet arrived. It is the deadliest attack in modern Bulgarian history, and a broad crackdown followed. The church was rebuilt and is fully working today, with complete wall paintings and gilded icons. **Entry is free.**
An interior covered in painting and gilded icons.
The square every walk through Sofia crosses.
Ploshtad Sveta Nedelya 20, Sofia
St. George RotundaSt. George Rotunda is Sofia's oldest continuously standing building: a Roman bri2 minutes walk4.7
Ancient Serdica ComplexSerdica is ancient Rome literally beneath modern Sofia's feet: a complete Roman 3 minutes walk4.7
The Serdica Archaeological ComplexThe remains of the Roman city of Serdica exposed below street level in the heart3 minutes walk4.5
National Archaeological MuseumBulgaria's national archaeological museum, occupying the Büyük Mosque, built in 3 minutes walk4.7
Banya Bashi MosqueBanya Bashi is the sole remaining working mosque in Sofia from nearly seventy Ot5 minutes walk4.3**Two days are enough for the city** and a third for a trip out of it. The first day covers the whole historic centre on foot: the square of tolerance, the Serdica ruins, the Rotunda, Sveta Nedelya, the theatre, the royal palace and Alexander Nevsky. The second is for the museums a little further out — the National History Museum and the World Heritage Boyana Church at the foot of Mount Vitosha, which combine. The third is out of the city: **Rila Monastery** two hours south, the most important thing in Bulgaria, or Vitosha itself if you want to walk. Sofia is about the cheapest capital in the European Union.