ARCHAEOLOGY AND FAITH: INTERPRETATIONS AND USES OF SACRED SITES EXPOSED IN THE CONTEMPORARY URBAN ENVIRONMENT
Études balkaniques (Sofia) 2026, N 2, pp. 295-314
DOI: https://doi.org/10.62761/645.EB.LXII2.02
Kristiyan KOVACHEV 
Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria
E-mail: kristiyan_kovachev@abv.bg
Abstract: This article examines the case of a sixteenth-century church uncovered during archaeological excavations at the intersection of Maria Louisa Boulevard and Todor Aleksandrov Boulevard in Sofia, later relocated and exhibited in the domed underground space of the Ancient Cultural and Communication Complex “Serdica”. Although detached from its original archaeological and spatial context, the structure has acquired a “new life”, transforming into a specific “site of memory” and/or a “topos of faith” within a highly urbanized contemporary environment. The article analyses the processes through which this partially preserved church has been recognized and appropriated by different audiences, including tourists, admirers of religious art, and practicing believers. Particular attention is paid to the spontaneous practices of veneration and prayer performed by the latter group, who perceive and use the exhibited altar as an active sacred space. The study combines approaches from cultural anthropology, cultural studies, and sociology in order to trace the dynamics of recognition, reinterpretation, and reuse of sacred objects in modern urban contexts.
Keywords: sacred space, site of memory, religious practices