Sofia Theological Seminary

42°40′31″N 23°20′11″E / 42.67528°N 23.33639°E / 42.67528; 23.33639

The Sofia Seminary of St John of Rila (Bulgarian: Софийска духовна семинария „Св. Йоан Рилски“, Sofiyska duhovna seminariya „Sv. Yoan Rilski“), located in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, is the main seminary of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and an ecclesiastical institution of high education.

Founded in 1876 in Samokov, the theological seminary continues and further develops what was started by the theological school at the Lyaskovets Monastery "St. Peter and Paul”. The Samokov Theological Seminary later moved to the capital of Bulgaria as the city council of Sofia donated a lot for the construction of a separate new seminary building.

The Sofia Seminary's construction began in 1902, when Knyaz

St Demetrius

' Day.

During the

Second World War saw the forcible moving of the seminary to Cherepish and the use of the seminary complex in Sofia in turn as a Soviet Army

headquarters (1944-1946), by the Union of the Soviet-Bulgarian Friendship (1946-1950) and a Palace of Pioneers (1951-1990).

In the spring of 1990 the buildings of the Sofia Seminary were given back to the Holy Synod and education was restored.

External links

Official website (in Bulgarian)

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