Source: www.pravoslavieto.com
The “St. Sofia” church is the successor of the old Orthodox Christian church and is the second oldest church in Sofia after the “St. George” church. It was built on the foundations of several older churches dating back to the times of the Roman city of Serdika, destroyed by the Goths and the Huns. In the 2nd century there was a Roman theatre at that place and later different temples were consecutively erected.
During the Second Bulgarian kingdom (12th – 14th century) it became a metropolitan church and the city was named after it – Sofia, meaning “wisdom”.
During the Ottoman rule the church was converted into a mosque, the frescoes were destroyed and minarets were added. After two earthquakes in the 19th century which destroyed one of the minarets, the mosque was abandoned. After the Liberation the temple was restored into a Christian church again.