Description of the attraction
The Rotunda of St. George is an ancient architectural monument and at the same time a functioning church located in the capital of Bulgaria, the city of Sofia. It was erected at the beginning of the 4th century, during the reign of the Roman emperor Constantine I the Great and the heyday of ancient Sophia (then still called Serdik). The Rotunda of St. George is the oldest building in Sofia that has survived to this day. It is a cylindrical domed structure about 14 meters high and more than 9 meters in diameter. The altar room is in the form of a square, on the sides of which there are four symmetrically located niches.
Initially, the building had no religious purpose, but after the recognition of Christianity by Rome, it was first turned into a baptismal, and later, during the reign of Justinian the Great, into a prayer house. At the same time, the temple was given a name in honor of St. the great martyr George. During the Ottoman rule, in the first half of the 16th century, the frescoes were covered with white paint, and the church itself became a mosque with the name of Gul-Jamasy. After the liberation of Bulgaria (1893), the temple was for some time the mausoleum of Prince Alexander Battenberg.
In 1913, restoration work was carried out in the temple. Now the rotunda of St. George is a functioning church, where services are held daily in the Church Slavonic language.
