Sofia Municipality Requests Release of Parking Area at 'St. Alexander Nevsky' Cathedral

Sofia Municipality has formally requested that the Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Raya Nazaryan, and the Chief of the Sofia Directorate of Interior, Commissioner Lyubomir Nikolov, release the area around St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, currently functioning as a secured “parliamentary security zone” and official parking lot of the Parliament.

The request follows calls from Delyan Peevski for Mayor Vasil Terziev to reopen the parking for public use. Terziev previously described Peevski’s idea as “excellent” and stated that the municipality is ready to act once the area is officially released.

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In the letter, Mayor Terziev emphasises that the special regime was introduced by a parliamentary decision and can only be revoked by the National Assembly. The municipality has expressed its readiness to immediately install appropriate signage and reintegrate the space into the city’s “Blue Zone” system, providing parking for citizens and visitors to the cathedral, the National Gallery “Square 500”, and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

“The area is located in a highly valuable and busy urban zone with significant public importance. It is therefore appropriate to return it to a civic function for the benefit of citizens and visitors to the city centre. Sofia Municipality is fully prepared to assist with the organisation of subsequent steps once the special regime is lifted,” Terziev wrote to Nazaryan.

Over the years, the space around the cathedral, one of Sofia’s most iconic locations, gradually ceased to serve as a public urban area. Instead of being accessible to citizens and cultural visitors, it has been used as a restricted “security zone,” effectively functioning as a closed parking lot without following the city’s paid-parking rules.

Early in his term, Mayor Terziev designated the area as a pedestrian zone, halting vehicle access and the long-standing informal use as a parking area. Later, the National Assembly established a portion as a security zone, further limiting pedestrian access.

The municipality now awaits action from parliamentary leadership to lift the restrictions as soon as possible.