Rotunda of Saint George

The oldest building in Sofia — a small red-brick rotunda from the fourth century, hidden in a courtyard behind the Presidential Palace and the Sheraton hotel. It was built as a Roman bath, became a church under Constantine's successors, then a mosque under the Ottomans, and is now Orthodox again. Working services still happen here.

Inside, the dome holds three layers of medieval frescoes, the earliest from the tenth century. Around the rotunda are Roman ruins from ancient Serdica: an Imperial palace, hypocaust heating systems, and stretches of marble pavement. Access is free; the surrounding archaeological excavations are open without a ticket.

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A story
When the Ottomans took Serdica in 1382 they converted the rotunda into a mosque and whitewashed its frescoes. The plaster preserved the medieval painting underneath; restoration in the 20th century revealed three superimposed layers of fresco, from the 10th, 11th, and 14th centuries, each painted over its predecessor.

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