Boyana Church: UNESCO World Heritage Site in Sofia, Bulgaria
Boyana Church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the outskirts of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Visiting Boyana Church is one of many things to see in Sofia and is rather popular. I enjoyed a fantastic day out in the Boyana neighbourhood, including visiting the church. I also enjoyed refreshments and a visit to the National Museum of History.
Boyana Church UNESCO World Heritage Site
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Boyana Church in Sofia is also known as Boyanska Tsarkva in Bulgarian, and it is a medieval Bulgarian Orthodox church. It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979. The church owes its importance mainly to the frescoes inside that date from 1259.
They form a second layer over the paintings from earlier centuries. These are one of the most complete and well-preserved monuments of medieval art in the Balkans. Inside the church are 89 religious scenes to see, which is rather interesting.
Boyana Church was built in three phases. The east wing was originally constructed in the late 10th or early 11th century. Subsequently, the central wing was added in the 13th century during the Second Bulgarian Empire. Finally, the entire building was expanded to the west in the middle of the 19th century.
There are several layers of wall paintings in the interior of the Boyana Church. These are from the 11th, 13th, 15th-17th and 19th centuries. UNESCO considers the 13th-century paintings to have the most outstanding artistic value. They have a page on their World Heritage website all about the church. Their web page includes photos of the frescoes; regular visitors cannot take photos inside.
Travel By Public Transport
Sofia is a pretty simple city to navigate on public transport. To use it, you just need to tap onto a bus, tube or tram with a payment or credit card. To reach Boyana Church from the city centre, navigate to the 64 bus stop at Bulgaria Boulevard Metro Station. There are other options, but this seemed the quickest.
Tickets & Prices
On my visit to Boyana Church, I just turned up on the site and found the ticket office near the entrance. The lady there spoke great English and sold me my ticket. I paid cash; however, they had a card machine.
The price for an adult ticket was 10 lev, which is just under £5. They have concessions too, which are cheaper, including free entry for disabled people and uniformed soldiers. The attraction also offers lectures, mainly for groups.
They recommend booking in advance during busy times; however, their website has no facility for this. They are open from 9:30 until 18:00 between April and the end of October. For the rest of the year, they open at 9 am and close at 17:30.
You can also choose to visit the church as part of a tour, including other places of interest on the Viator website.
Rules & Are They Dog Friendly?
Sadly, unlike other churches I’ve visited in Bulgaria, you can’t take photographs inside, not even with an extra photography ticket. They also limit the time inside the church to 10 minutes. I guess they enforce this more during busy times, as the guy watching in the church was pretty chilled and friendly.
Unfortunately, they are not dog friendly; thus, I didn’t take Henry. Dogs are not allowed on the site at all. The neighbourhood also had a few strays about, too.
My Visit to Boyana Church in Sofia
From the bus stop, walking to the church was pretty straightforward and took under 5 minutes. The entrance gate had some interesting information about the site and a UNESCO plaque explaining the church’s World Heritage status. Walls surround the site with one gate for the entrance and exit. Near the gate is a war memorial, too.
Then there was a short walk through the gardens to the ticket office. In this section, there is a rather impressive giant redwood tree that King Ferdinand planted in 1907.
After I purchased a ticket, I enjoyed the gardens, which looked like they were coming back to life after the winter. If you enjoy gardens, the warmer months might be the best time to visit.
Once I reached the main church building, I walked around it to take some photographs and take it in. There were a few graves and other artefacts to see outside. This included the grave of Eleonora, Queen of Bulgaria, who died in 1917.
Next up was the interior of the church with its three sections. The interior was beautiful and covered in frescoes telling a variety of stories.
I had a good look around, and it was nice to have the place to myself except for the ticket collector. Sadly, no photographs are allowed inside the church.
After a mooch around the church for 10 minutes, it was back along the garden path to the exit and time for beer o’clock.
Refreshments
There were options for refreshments near the bus stop before the short walk to the church. I enjoyed a soft drink on some benches outside a cafe in the park, which was nice. There were also a few restaurants nearby. There, I enjoyed a beer at the All Seasons Hotel, which had outside seating right next to the bus stop for the 107 bus, which would take me to the National Museum of History.
Other Things to See & Do Nearby
On my visit, I had options for things to see, and I had hoped to hike into the mountains to see the Boyana Waterfalls on Vitosha. However, my feet were having none of it, and I made up my mind to stay on flat ground and visit the nearby National Museum of History.
Komoot has lots of options for hiking routes near Boyana Church. Hopefully, I will get to enjoy some when my feet are better.