Eglise et école grecques à Sofia (1880-1920)

Abstract

In 1879, the Greek, press reported the start of Greek-Bulgarian diplomatic
talks regarding the establishment of a Greek consulate in Sofia. The town had
a small but flourishing Greek community. These dynamic Greek aliens felt the
need for official diplomatic protection.
In the last two decades of the nineteenth century, many efforts were made
to develop Greek-Bulgarian relations in various sectors. It was at this time
that the Greeks of Sofia built themselves a church and a school. The paper
uses archive sources to trace the Greek community’s activities and the steps it
took to establish an official Greek educational and ecclesiastical presence in
the Bulgarian capital. This was associated with efforts to develop Greek-
Bulgarian relations.
A Greek church and a Greek school were eventually built and operated in
Sofia during a specific period, 1880-1920. The archive material allows us
confidently to assert that the church and the school operated for many years,
because a document dated 1919 refers to a grant from the Greek Foreign
Ministry to these two small Greek establishments in Sofia.