Municipal councilors Vili Lilkov, Ivan Sotirov and Ivaylo Yonkov from "Blue Sofia" submitted a report on the renaming of the square "St. Alexander Nevsky" with the name square "St. Ivan Rilski". This was reported by the press center of the Metropolitan Municipal Council (SOS), quoted by BTA.
The report states that the square is the most representative public space of the capital of Bulgaria, which unites Orthodox churches, state and cultural institutions and memorials emblematic of our city. We suggest it be named after "St. Ivan Rilski", who is the most revered saint of the Bulgarian land and the heavenly patron of the Bulgarian people, indicate the authors of the report.
From "Blue Sofia" explained that this year marks the 555th anniversary of the transfer of the relics of the Rila saint from Tarnovo to the holy Riska monastery. Nearly two centuries after the ascension of St. Ivan Rilski, his relics are kept in Sofia, and pilgrimage processions in front of them leave from this square. At the moment, only one street in Sofia bears his name.
Another reason that the municipal councilors from "Blue Sofia" describe in the report is that, according to them, Alexander Nevsky's activities are not connected with Bulgaria and Sofia. He is the Grand Duke of the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality, at the will of the ruler of the Mongols, Batu Khan, because of his loyalty as a vassal of The Golden Horde, and maintained vassal relations to the Mongol dynasty until his death, as a guarantee of his own power in the country. Alexander Nevsky, as the winner of the battles of the Neva River and Lake Chudsko against the Catholic military units of the Swedes and Teutons, personified the Russian identity, as a struggle of Eastern Christianity against the influence of Western Christianity. He was canonized as a saint by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1547, the report also states.
The municipal councilors from "Blue Sofia" they also write that there are no addresses on the square and it will not be necessary to change address registrations. They also checked the SOFKAR system of the GIS (Geographic Information System) - Sofia (created to support the work of the Metropolitan Municipality with geospatial data in making management decisions in connection with planning and arrangement of the territories and in the management of municipal property) , having established that there is no square with that name.