site.btaBulgaria Marks 147th Anniversary of Battle of Shipka Pass

Thousands of Bulgarians Saturday paid tribute to those who died in the Battle of Shipka Pass 147 years ago. Wreaths and flowers were laid at the Monument to Freedom on Shipka Peak. A memorial service and a brief recital of poems took place.

The Battle of Shipka Pass is a series of battles between Bulgarians defending the Shipka Pass and the Ottoman army during the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878).

Vice President Iliana Iotova addressed those gathered from across Bulgaria: "Today, if we have grasped properly the heroism of Shipka, we will want unity, we will want to be together, because Bulgaria's long history tells us one thing - we are strong when we are together." She said: "Shipka is the energy of our memory and freedom, and freedom brings strength. We need a new strength and a new energy today."

President Rumen Radev wrote on his official Facebook page: "There are many places in Bulgaria that keep the memory of the struggles for national liberation, but the glory of the Battle of Shipka Pass is unsurpassed." He also said: "Shipka is a crossroads of our historical destiny. A symbol that the struggle for justice and a better life is never doomed and that every battle in the name of Bulgaria can and must be won. Today, we bow again to the fallen sons of the Russian and many other brotherly nations in the army of the Russian Emperor Alexander II, to Bulgaria's volunteers, without drawing distinctions between the blood shed for Bulgaria. Once it has soaked the Bulgarian land, it is forever blood shed for Bulgaria's freedom."

BTA is a media partner of the the Battle of Shipka Pass national commemoration.