site.btaFragments of an Afternoon Exhibition Marks 100 Years Since Deadliest Terror Attack in Bulgaria

The documentary exhibition Fragments of an Afternoon will open at the Archives exhibition hall in downtown Sofia on April 15, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the largest terrorist act in Bulgaria's history—the attack on the St. Nedelya Cathedral on April 16, 1925, in Sofia, organizers from the State Agency Archives said here on Friday.

Organised by the State Agency Archives, the exhibition is held in partnership with the Foundation for the Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Attack on St. Nedelya Cathedral in Sofia, Bulgarian National Radio, Sofia Municipality, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the Communitas Foundation, and the Fulbright Commission.

The exhibition presents valuable archival documents and photographs from the collections of the Central State Archive, the State Military Historical Archive, and regional archives in Veliko Tarnovo, Montana, Sofia, Shumen and others. It traces a turbulent chapter in modern Bulgarian history, marked by deep societal divisions, the suppression of an externally incited armed uprising, and an act of terrorism that remains unjustifiable.

Key topics include the Communist International (the Third International) and the idea of world revolution, the September Uprising, the attempted assassination of Tsar Boris III at the Arabakonak Pass, the St. Nedelya Cathedral bombing and its victims, as well as the fate of the perpetrators. The exhibition also explores the domestic and international reaction to the events of April 1925.

Fragments of an Afternoon will be open to visitors on weekdays until mid-May 2025. Original documents and photographs from the period will be on display.

On April 16, 2025, at 1:00 p.m., an outdoor exhibition and art installation of the same title will be unveiled in front of St. Nedelya Church in Sofia.