We are renovating the oldest 19th-century church in Sofia
The restoration of the oldest 19th-century church in Sofia – St Mina Church in Slatina Residential District started officially on the Feast of the Annunciation with a solemn water-blessing service conducted by His Grace Polycarp, Bishop of Belogradchik, Vicar of the Sofia Metropolis.
St Mina Church is a prominent cultural and historical monument, sacred for many generations of Slatina residents. The descendants of numerous families, who had attended the church over the years, rendered their support to the design and reconstruction of the church. By doing so, they create continuity between the generations. ‘Thanks to the efforts of so many patriotic people who participated in the project design, today we have obtained a building permit,’ said the biggest donor Prof. DSc. Eng. Tzolo Voutov.
The restoration project of the 152-year-old church has been implemented with donations from the companies Geotechmin OOD, Geostroy AD and Geotrading AD through Bulgarian Virtues Charity Programme. Geostroy AD is the general contractor to carry out all construction and repair works.
The church was built during the Ottoman rule. It was declared a cultural monument in 1955 and an architectural-artistic monument in 1989. It has been closed and opened again for many years. In 2022, the church opened its doors to the public after being closed for 10 years. It was achieved thanks to the joint efforts of the priests from The Holy Trinity Church, the Mayor of Slatina District, and many Slatina citizens.
Among the official guests attending the ceremony were the Chairman of Sofia City Council Tsvetomir Petrov, the Deputy Mayor of Sofia Municipality Ivan Matov, and the Mayor of Slatina Residential District Georgi Iliev. On behalf of the donors from GEOTECHMIN GROUP, the event was attended by Mr Dominic Hamers, Executive Director of Geotechmin OOD, M.Eng. Yordan Yonov and M.Eng. Tsvetoslav Petkov, Executive Directors of Geostroy AD, Mrs Emilia Ilieva, Executive Director of Geotrading AD, etc.
