site.btaMay 22, 1965: Sofia's St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral Crypt Becomes National Gallery Branch

The Museum of Christian Art, housed in the crypt of the St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, 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 presenting 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.