The church was built on the foundations of several older churches from the time of the Roman city of Serdica, destroyed by the raids of Goths and Huns. In the 2nd century there was a Roman theater in this place, and in the following centuries several temples were erected.

The church is a cruciform basilica with a narthex, three ships and a three-aisled apse.

The history of Sofia is closely related to the church of Hagia Sophia, which, like St. Sophia in Constantinople, is dedicated to the "Wisdom of God" - one of the names of the young Christ Jesus.

This, and not the name of the martyr Sofia, was also the name of the city from the 14th century onwards. The temple is the oldest sanctuary of the city, built in its highest part at that time, and it is famous for it in the Roman Empire.