One of the medieval stories related to the Church of St. Sofia is about the Byzantine princess Mataisa Kantakuzina Palaiologos, born in 1330 under the name of Maria, the daughter of the Byzantine emperor Andronicus III Palaeologos and the Italian princess Anna of Savoy, buried after death you are in the temple. The story of Mataisa excites visitors to the city with its romance. In the Battle of Rusokastro in 1332 between the troops of the Second Bulgarian State, led by Tsar Ivan Alexander, and those of Byzantium, led by Emperor Andronicus III Palaeologus, who wanted to take advantage of a struggle for the royal throne in Bulgaria and conquer the lands south of the Balkan Mountain, Byzantium was defeated. In order to secure peace, Princess Mataisa was betrothed to the son of the Bulgarian ruler, Mikhail Asen, but the marriage was postponed for several years due to the tender age of the future Bulgarian king and queen