By an order of Ali Pasha Kyupryulyuoglu, some 350 Sofia citizens, priests, monks and people from the surrounding villages were killed, including bishop St. Simeon of Samokov.

Three large domes of the old cylindrical building, built by the master Tsvyatko Todorov from the village of Zhablyano, near the town of Radomir, are still intact today.

From another inscription below, we learn that in 1869 the Samokov painter Nikola Ivanov Obrazopisov with his assistants Hristaki Zahariev Zografsky and Dimitar Hristov Dupnichanin repainted the church and three domes.

Another interesting fact connected with mural paintings is that in no other temple in Sofia there were depicted so many Bulgarian saints and historical figures.

Along with biblical scenes, Nikola Obrazopisov painted images of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Michael Voin, Bishop Marko, John of Rila, Euthymius of Tarnovo, Onufari of Gabrovo, Constantine of Sofia and the revered by the Bulgarians St. Petka and St. Nedelya.

Also interesting are the realistic donor portraits of abbot Kiryak from 1868 and the icon of St. Jovan Vladimir, a Serbian prince married to Kosara, a relative of the Bulgarian emperor Samuel (r. 997–1014).

This, and the fact that it is accessible from Dolni Lozen (10 km from Sofia) for about an hour on foot and for 15 minutes by car, make it a preferred place for picnics.