St. Joseph Cathedral (Sofia)
The Cathedral of St. Joseph ( Bulgar . Катедрален храм Свети Йосиф ) in the Bulgarian capital Sofia is co- cathedral of the Roman Catholic diocese of Sofia and Plovdiv . It was built between 2002 and 2006 and is located in the city center near Sveta Nedelya Square.
history
From 1875 a neo-baroque church was built on the site of today's cathedral for the numerous Catholic immigrants from western, central and southern Europe. The community grew and built various educational programs, a hospital and a school.
Joseph's Church was completely destroyed in the bombing of Sofia in 1944. Reconstruction was not possible in communist times. The Catholic community gathered for worship in a nearby hall.
In 2002, during his visit to Bulgaria , Pope John Paul II blessed the foundation stone for the new St. Joseph's Church with a meeting center, which after its consecration by Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano in 2006 became the co-cathedral of the Sofia-Plovdiv diocese, established in 1979.
architecture
Joseph's Cathedral is a wide and bright hall church on a rectangular floor plan, 23 m long, 15 m wide and 19 m high with a gable roof . The slender bell tower is 33 meters high. It is the largest Roman Catholic church in Bulgaria with 350 seats and a capacity of around 1,000 people. The church building ties in with the forms of Italian Renaissance churches. The central piece of equipment is a seven meter high wooden crucifix on the altar wall.
Web links
- Description and pictures (bulgariatravel.org)
Coordinates: 42 ° 41 ′ 55.1 ″ N , 23 ° 19 ′ 11.2 ″ E