Monument of Bulgarian volunteers

A memorial honoring the “opulchentsi,” or Bulgarian volunteer forces that fought with the Russian Army against Ottoman Turkey during the 1877-78 Liberation War, was unveiled in downtown Sofia 131 years after the bloodiest fighting at the Shipka Pass.

The monument is placed behind the Military Club and is a seven-meter-high replica of the figure of the standard-bearer from Jaroslav Vesin’s renowned painting “The Samara Flag” (1911).

The monument’s base is shaped like a military cross and includes four bas-reliefs, one on each side.

Three of the bas-reliefs depict the classic paintings “The Battle for Eagle’s Nest Peak,” “The Consecration of the Samara Flag,” and “The Climbing of the Balkan Mounts,” while the fourth is a map of the itinerary of the Bulgarian volunteer battalions during the conflict.

The memorial has twelve artillery cartridge boxes with the names of thousands of Bulgarian volunteer warriors. They include dirt from the most significant engagements of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78.