St. Sophia Cathedral: view from under the arch of the St. Sophia belfry

And in 1929 the Cathedral was closed altogether. During the war, Sofia received several hits from artillery shells, one to the main dome. Church utensils and interior details were taken by the occupiers to Germany (some were returned after the war). However, there was a silver lining - the newly made plaster had fallen off in many places, which facilitated the restoration work, which began in September 1944. After the war, the building belonged to the Novgorod museum, and in 1991 it was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church and is now, as it were, in joint ownership of the church and museum.