Catholic cathedral St. Louis

Cathedral St. Louis in Plovdiv is one of the main and biggest Catholic churches in Bulgaria. It was built after the design of the Roman architect Alfonso. Its construction started in 1858 by the then Bishop Andrea Canova. The cathedral was finally completed and sanctified in 1861. The cathedral was named after the King of France - Louis IX, proclaimed a saint because of his outstanding virtuous and religious life. In the same year the first in Bulgaria organ was installed in the church, later replaced by new one. In 1931 a fire severely damaged the temple and destroyed the organ. After the fire, which had burned the ceiling woodcarvings of the middle dome of the cathedral, the whole church St. Louis was reconstructed. On May 8, 1932 it was sanctified again. The belfry was built in 1898 and was equipped with five bells cast in the German city of Bochum, a gift from Pope Leo XIII. One of the valuable items that are stored in the cathedral is the sarcophagus of the princess Maria Louisa, wife of the Bulgarian Knyaz Ferdinand I. Under the sarcophagus her last words to Ferdinand were written: “I 'm dying, but from Heaven I will watch over you, our children and Bulgaria”.