For which Bulgaria is grateful to Russia

You will say who only Russia was not liberated and not all the liberated are satisfied. Yes, perhaps - that was, that was. Nevertheless, March 3 - the day of victory of Russia over the Ottoman Empire, in Bulgaria is celebrated as a big national holiday and is called "Liberation". It is understood that on March 3, Bulgaria freed itself from the five hundred year Ottoman yoke and became an independent state. And today the Bulgarians celebrate 140 years since the Liberation.

The holiday of the Liberation of Bulgaria for the first time was honored in Veliko Tarnovo on February 19 (March 3), 1879. In the old capital of Bulgaria, Metropolitan Antim I, who presided over the Constituent National Assembly in those years, served a memorial service in the church of the Light Mother of God. Two years after the Liberation itself, on March 3, 1880, the holiday was already celebrated in Sofia as the day of accession to the throne of Emperor Alexander II. After 1888, it began to be celebrated as the Day of the Liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule. After the communists came to power, on September 9, 1944, the celebration was no longer celebrated, and resumed only in 1978 in honor of the centenary of this event. On this day, they lay flowers at the monument to the Unknown Soldier against the wall of the Basilica of the Light Sophia in the capital. In memory of all those who died in the struggle for the Liberation of the Fatherland.

And even presidents on helicopters fly to the Freedom Monument to the top of Shipka.

Shipka is the height in the struggle for which the largest number of Russian and Bulgarian soldiers perished. At the top of this mountain stands a mausoleum, to which wreaths are laid. Once I happened to go there, it is about 200 kilometers from Sofia.

Today, the descendants of the Russian General Stoletov flew to Bulgaria to visit Shipka, and Patriarch Kirill is participating in celebrations in Sofia.

The “Liberation of Bulgaria” is a whole series of events stretching for more than one decade, including the period of national revival, the recognition of the Bulgarian Exarchate, the organization of the April uprising, the cruel suppression of which gave Russia a reason to start the Russian-Turkish war (1877-1878).

Serbia, Montenegro and Russians, Bulgarians, Finns and Romanians participated in the War of Independence.

In fact, the end of the war can be considered the capture of Sofia on January 4, 1878, then there were Plovdiv and Odrin, and on March 3, 1878, Russia and the Ottoman Empire signed a peace treaty in the city of San Stefano. Therefore, it is called the San Stefano Treaty.

Despite the fact that the history of the formation of Bulgaria as an independent state did not end there (intrigue and politics!), This was the beginning of March 3.

It is interesting how differently they treat the Russian memory and the Soviet memory in Bulgaria. For example, the “Russian” monuments - those that were delivered by the Bulgarians to the Russian liberators, live happily for themselves, and even care for many very well, but the fact is that no one touches them or offends them. But monuments of the Soviet period, for example, the Soviet Army in Sofia or Alyosha in Plovdiv, are periodically “involved” in political scandals. They are painted, “insulted”, “promised” to be demolished and so on.

I must note that there is no national subtext here - this reflects only the attitude of the Bulgarians to that political system.

My familiar Bulgarians, in response to my congratulations on the Liberation Day, always thank me "for my release." It confuses me - it was not I who liberated Bulgaria. But you're a descendant, they say to me.

March 3 is always declared a day off, but since this year’s holiday fell on Saturday, Monday will be non-working.

Thank you for your time and attention.

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