National Church Museum of History and Archaeology of the Holy Synod – Sofia

The National Church Museum of History and Archaeology is situated in the building of the Theological Faculty of Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski on St. Nedelya square in the center of Sofia.

The remarkable building was designed by Bulgarian and foreign architects and artists and was built in 1923. The museum was opened in the same year.

During the bombing in the Second World War the building suffered great damage, but it was later restored.

The museum preserves more than 10,000 exhibits – icons, carvings, historical files, church plates, old books, etc. Visitors can see icons, made by masters of the Tryavna, Samokov, Debar and Bansko schools.

Unique in their kind autographs are also exhibited, such as manuscripts of Neophyte Bozveli, Illarion Makariopolsky, Exarch Antim the 1^st, Exarch Joseph the 1^st, etc. Due to its exceptional value, exhibitions of the museum often visit various museums all over the world – Paris, Geneva, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Prague, Bratislava, etc.

The building of the Theological Faculty was declared a monument of architecture and art of national importance by issue No 25 of the State Gazette in 1998.