Balgarianovinite.com The Museum of Christian Art, housed in the crypt of the St Alexander Nevsky Memorial Cathedral in Sofia, was established in 1965 as a branch of the National Art Gallery. Originally built as a final resting place for Bulgarian kings, the crypt now houses Bulgaria’s biggest and best collection of icons. The exhibition presents Christian figurative art on the Bulgarian lands and is among the richest collections of icons in the world, the National Art Gallery says on its website.
The collection covers the period from the official conversion to Christianity under the Roman Empire in the 4th century to the Bulgarian National Revival in the 18th and 19th centuries.
As everywhere else in the world, the ground floor, or crypt, of the St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (foundation stone laid in 1882; built between 1904 and 1912) was conceived and designed as a tomb but never used for its intended purpose.
In 1949, the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church gave it to the State with the prospect of exhibiting church valuables there. A long time passed before the director of the National Art Gallery, Nikolay Vladov – the Shmirgel, tried to revive the idea. In 1964, the decision was taken to turn the crypt into a museum of Orthodox art on Bulgarian lands.
In the early 1960s, at the initiative of the National Art Gallery, a large exhibition of Bulgarian masterpieces was organized in Paris, under the patronage of the then Minister of Culture of France, famous writer Andre Malraux. The exhibition was an exceptional success and was invited to tour other places. Thus, it was decided to make it into a permanent exhibit of the National Art Gallery. The Museum of Christian Art was opened in 1965 with works that had been transferred to the National Museum before 1944.
The Crypt Museum occupies the entire space under the St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, its height is 3.75 meters. The foundation stone of the temple, designated as a large rectangle covered with a pyramidal roof, is also located in the crypt. Around 300 exhibits have been arranged in chronological order, mainly icons, but also fresco fragments, prints and church plates.
The crypt hosts 14 unexhibited and unique medieval Bulgarian icons from the Black Sea region. They date back to 11th – 16th centuries. The oldest icon among them is Christ Pantocrator. It was dated back to late 11th century. The icon has attracted much interest on the part of historians and visitors alike. It is unique because it is two-sided. On one side it depicts Christ Pantocrator with an open gospel in hands reading “I am the Light of the World”. The other side depicts the crucifixion. May 22, 1965: Branch of National Art Gallery Inaugurated in Crypt of Sofia’s St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-05-22 14:40:25 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law