Russian Church of St Nicholas the Miracle-Maker

 

Russian Church of St Nicholas the Miracle-Maker was constructed according to the design of the architect Mihail Preobrazhenski. It was built in the period 1907-1914 to meet the needs of the Russian diplomatic mission in Bulgaria. In the 1920s it became a center of the spiritual life of a great number of Russian emigrants who found shelter in our country after the October Revolution in 1917. The status of the church changed more than once. Since 1953 the church has been under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchy.

The church was built in the spirit of the Russian churches from the 17th century. The five gilt cupolas are onion-shaped. Russian eight-ended crosses decorate each of these. The height of the central cupola is 19 metres. The eight bells are a gift from the last Russian emperor Nikolay II. On the southern fronton above the outside entrance is the majolica icon of St. Alexander Nevsky. The internal painting of the church was entrusted to Vasiliy Perminov. The iconostasis is entirely ceramic and on it there are icons by Vasiliy Vasnetsov, which are copies of icons that are to be found in the Kiev cathedral St. Vladimir.

The archbishop Serfaim Sobolev, revered as a miracle-worker by a number of Orthodox Christians, is buried in the crypt.

19.01.2018