In the very first years following the Liberation of the country the Orthodox
Bulgarian population in Varna increased rapidly. To confirm their close
ties with Russian Orthodox faith and to manifest their separation from
Greek Patriarchate, on his first visit to the town prince Dondukov-Korsakov
was invited by the local municipality members to attend the official religious
service at the Bulgarian St. Archangel
Mikhail church. He was, however, disappointed with the state of the
temple and declared that the town deserved an impressive church, the only
one of its kind in the country. And he was ready to help. Soon a committee
was elected and its task was to choose the place and raise the funds for
the construction. The financial aspect was settled through donations, lottery
and a governmental loan. The town's surrounding area offered building materials
- hewn stones in good shape from the already ruined fortress
were used in the construction process. Copper sheet plates from England,
supplied by Velichko Hristov, were used for the roof of the church. Two
lifting cranes for the heavy stone blocks were also shipped from England. 
The honour to lay the main stone of the future temple fell to prince Alexander
I Batenberg who arrived to Varna on 4th August. The official ceremony took
place on 22nd August 1880. The chosen name Uspenie Presvyatiya Bogoroditzi
(the Assumption) was to commemorate the recently deceased all-Russian empress
Maria Alexandrovna - a Bulgarian benefactress and aunt of the prince. The
initially chosen municipal construction site (in the park below the clock
tower) did not appeal to the prince. "His Majesty chose for that purpose
the area behind the attendance halls, facing the barracks on the one side
and the hospital on the other, between the new hamlet and the town of Varna".
At those days that was the end of the town. "The site chosen for the
above-mentioned temple is actually a very wide area which allows for a
garden around the temple. This area rises above the town and presents a
good view over the entire town, the railroad, several villages, the port
and the Black Sea to a vast and boundless expanse…"
It was in the summertime when the question about the choice of expert master-builders
was discussed. Negotiations with the most famous master Kolyu Fitcheto
from Tarnovo proved not efficient and the direction of the construction
works was temporarily assigned to the Varna master Vassil Ivanov. Finally,
after a long search for an appropriate architect, the choice fell on master
Yanko Kostandi whose works included also the building of St.
Nicholas Church. On 15th March 1884 the committee assigned the construction
to the prominent church-builder Gencho Kanev from Tryavna. The following
year the temple was already erected, in September the roofing was finished
and on 30th August 1886 the first solemn mass was celebrated there. However,
the design of its interior continued throughout the following years. The
bishop's stall was placed in 1897; later on the iconostasis was also ready.
Towards the end of 1890 the board decided that "there is no need for
a separate structure for which 30000 levs will be spent; instead, the dome
can be raised so that the bell will be heard throughout the town".
The bell was supposed to weigh 1638 kg, with an inscribed text that read:
In honour of the Liberator. In 1901 the Russian czar Nicolay II presented
42 smaller and 3 bigger icons, and in 1904 other 8 icons were brought to
the church to be placed at the middle and northern doorways. In 1911 the
church flooring was covered with multicoloured ceramic tiles. 4 years later
the balcony was ready. In 1941-43 the bell-tower (38 m high) and the cupolas
were reconstructed to their present form, the steam-heating room was built,
the roofing structure replaced. The temple was icon-painted in the years
following 1949; the chandeliers were also installed at that time. 
In
the 1960s stained glass windows were placed: the southern ones (those facing
the square) depicted the images of the authors of the Cyrillic alphabet
St. Cyril and St. Methodius, and the northern windows - their followers
St. Clement and St. Angelarii. The spring of 2000 revealed a new image
of the cathedral - the patina-covered copper domes were refreshed with
golden paint. Located in the very centre of Varna, the present-day Cathedral
is one of the most famous buildings in the city. A religious temple for
the citizens, a must-see for the tourists, the cathedral is one of the
symbols of Varna. Once you overcome the 133 narrow winding steps of the
bell-tower you will be rewarded by the magnificent view over the town. 
Special thanks to Esin Halid for the translation of this page.