Boyana Church

Your tour departs at 10:30 from the city center. The first stop will be at the UNESCO heritage site – the Boyana Church. It is renowned for its stunning medieval frescoes. Among these exceptional artworks are the captivating images from 1259, depicting the rulers of Sofia couple - Kaloyan and Desislava, along with members of the Bulgarian royal family of that era: Emperor Constantine Tikh Asen and Empress Consort Irene. The Boyana Church “Saint Nicholas and Saint Panteleimon” stands as one of the few fully preserved monuments from the Middle Ages in Bulgaria, enduring through the centuries. According to one of its early researchers, André Grabar, “Boyana is the most valuable contribution to world medieval art. Its purity and harmonic balance of forms is striking.” Nowadays, the inner part of the church nowadays operates as a museum, with an entrance ticket. Because of its smaller size, the inside visit is limited to 10 minutes, but it is still completely worth it!

Dragalevtsi Monastery

Next, we will continue to the nearby Dragalevsky monastery “Assumption of the Virgin Mary”, founded in the 14th century. It is an important spiritual center and part of the Sofia Holy Forest, associated with Bulgarian history and literature. It serves as a spiritual haven, connecting visitors with nature and the divine. This monastery exemplifies Bulgaria's cultural and religious heritage, harmonizing past and present. Historically, it was the most important monastery in the area, often donated by the last Bulgarian Emperors, and this is why it was referred as the “King`s monastery”. Nowadays, it serves as a nunnery, which means that only females are allowed to live there.