site.btaUPDATED Bulgarians Flock to Pay Tribute to National Hero Levski
Bulgarians have been flocking throughout the day on Monday to pay floral tribute to monuments across the country and abroad commemorating the 151st anniversary of the death of Bulgarian national hero Vassil Levski (1837-1873). Levski is arguably the most influential Bulgarian revolutionary leader in the struggle for liberation from Ottoman rule and one of the few truly undisputed national heroes, whom Bulgarians hold dear to their hearts. After a decade of revolutionary activity at home and abroad, he was captured by the Ottoman authorities in Northern Bulgaria and hanged in Sofia on February 19, 1873.
The observances started on February 18 in Levski's home town of Karlovo in south-central Bulgaria.
In the northern city of Pleven, students had a jumping competition in honour of Levski: legend has it that he got his alias, an old form of “like a lion”, because in his school days he was always the best jumper. Elsewhere in the country, school students made Levski posters, had Levski drawing competitions, participated in torch processions. Bulgarian schools abroad also organized various activities dedicated to the revolutionary.
Hundreds visited the Kakrina Inn near the north-central town of Lovech, where Levski was apprehended by the Ottoman troops. At the Inn, which is now a museum, they watched a reenactment of Levski’s final hours as a free person.
Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov wrote in a Facebook post that the worthiest way to pay tribute to Levski is to continue his legacy in order to fulfil his sacrifice. "Levski is the purest symbol of the freedom struggle, whose legacy, today more than ever, we must uphold not only in our messages, but also with decisive actions as statesmen and citizens in a democratic society," his post reads.
Also on Facebook, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mariya Gabriel wrote that every year on this date Bulgarians bow before the life and sacred work of the man who is a symbol of the people's struggle for freedom.
А commemorative ceremony at Vassil Levski’s monument in Sofia on Monday evening was attended by Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov, National Assembly Chairperson Rosen Zhelyazkov, President Rumen Radev, Vice President Iliana Iotova, Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev, Sofia University Rector Georgi Valchev, MPs, ministers, judicial representatives, military officers, clergy, diplomats and citizens. At the end of the commemorative ceremony, the attendees knelt and observed silence in memory of the Apostle of Bulgarian Freedom.
Addressing the commemorative ceremony, President Rumen Radev said: "Honest and determined, humble and selfless, always standing eye to eye with his people, Levski won his most important battle - he awakened the impulse for freedom, hardened the Bulgarian people's temper, laid the strong foundations of a future Bulgaria".
/RY/
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