Dating to the 9th century, St Sofia is a cathedral church of the Ohrid Archbishopric. The present church was built during the period from 1035 to 1056. The front façade with the towers and the open galleries was built in 1317 under Archbishop Gregory. The side porch was added when the church was turned into a mosque by the Turks. The interior contains a significant collection of preserved 11th century frescoes. The main altar has scenes from the Old Testament and an emotional procession of angels bowing to the Virgin Mary. The side altars have frescoes of the 40 martyrs and portraits of Patriarchs from Constantinople, Jerusalem and Antioch, archbishops from Ohrid and Roman Popes. The small square in front of it was the main forum in ancient times and is still used for various cultural performances today.