Church of Saint Sophia, Ohrid

The current church was built on the foundations of a metropolitan cathedral demolished in the first decade of the 6th century by the barbarian invasions that brought the early Slavs into the region. The next church was built during the First Bulgarian Empire, after the official conversion to Christianity. Some sources date the building of the church during the rule of Knyaz Boris I (852–889).^[1] It was basically rebuilt in the last decade of the 10th century as a patriarchal cathedral in the form of a dome basilica, after the replacement of the capital of Bulgaria in Ohrid, during the reign of Tsar Samuil, when the church was the seat of the Bulgarian Patriarchate,^[2] an autocephalous Patriarchate. Later it became a seat of the Archbishopric of Ohrid, under the Patriarchate of Constantinople until the 18th century.

It was converted into a mosque during the rule of the Ottoman Empire.^[3] The interior of the church has been preserved with frescoes from the 11th, 12th and 13th century, which represent some of the most significant achievements in Byzantine painting of the time. The main part of the church was built in the 11th century, while external additions were built by Archbishop Gregory II in the 14th century.

In November 2009, the Macedonian Orthodox Church adopted a new coat of arms with the church of St. Sophia as a charge on the shield.^[4]

A detail from the church is depicted on the reverse of the 1000 Macedonian denar banknote, issued in 1996 and 2003.^[5]

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  Aerial view of the church
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  West side of the church
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  Narthex of St Sophia
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  Ceiling frescoes in the Church of St. Sophia
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  Byzantine Greek inscription on the exterior, seen from the rear courtyard
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  St Sophia and its surroundings in 1863
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  Plan of the Church