The following photographs were taken whilst I was on a walking holiday in August 2010. Click on any image to see a larger version.
Day 5 - Sofia
We had another day off walking in the mountains and visited Sofia, the Bulgarian Capital.
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| Alexander Nevski Cathedral The cathedral was created in honour of the Russian soldiers who died during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, as a result of which Bulgaria was liberated from Ottoman rule. |
Lion statue close to the Alexander Nevski Cathedral | The National Library Saints Cyril (Kiril) and Methodius are portrayed in the statue, the former being the originator of Cyrillic (Kirillic) script. |
The Monument to the King Liberator of Bulgaria, the Russian Tzar Alexander II, whose soldiers fought for Bulgarian independence during the Russian-Turkish war. | The Russian Church |
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| The Ivan Vazov National Theatre. Vazov was a Bulgarian poet, novelist and playwright. | Sentries on guard at the Presidential Palace | Statue of Saint Sofia. The city was not actually named after the saint but after the Hagia Sophia Church, an ancient church in the city named after the Christian concept of the Holy Wisdom. | The Banya Bashi Mosque in Sofia | Sveti Sedmochislenitsi Church was converted from an abandoned mosque. The church is named after Cyril and Methodius and their five disciples, known in the Orthodox Church collectively as the Sedmochislenitsi. |
We visited Stob's Pyramids, a short walk, then Rila Monastery, dedicated to the hermit Saint Ioan Rilsky. We subsequently walked to the cave in which he lived.
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| First group of pyramids | Second group of pyramids | Church at Rila Monastery |
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| The caption of this wall painting reads: "Magicians and healers are servants of the devil. That's why the devil rejoices greatly, jumps around, and dances in front of people who come to them. And what they [the healers] give them to drink and eat is devils' filth. Those who abandon God, the laws, and the church, and go to the healers, are servants not of God, but of the devil." |
Wall painting of 20 temptations | Domed ceiling in the cloistered aisle |
