Sofia, Bulgaria

Church of St Petka of the Saddlers

The Church of St Petka of the Saddlers (Sveta Petka Samardzhiyska) is a small medieval church that now sits below street level in the middle of central Sofia, surrounded by large 20th-century buildings and the Serdika underpass.

The small stone-and-brick Church of St Petka of the Saddlers in Sofia, sitting below street level among large government buildings
Photo: Bin im Garten · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

About Church of St Petka of the Saddlers

It is a simple single-nave building of stone and brick with a tiled roof, partly set into the ground, as churches often were under Ottoman rule. Its name comes from the saddlers' guild, whose members looked after the church.

Inside, the walls preserve layers of murals from different centuries, and the atmosphere of the small, dimly lit interior contrasts strongly with the traffic and offices above.

The church is in the pedestrian area around the Serdika metro station, between the Largo, the TZUM building and St Nedelya Square, so it is easy to look down on it, or step inside, while walking through the city centre.

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