Commemorative ceremony in Sofia marks 151 years since the death of national hero Vassil Levski

The commemorative ceremonies on the occasion of the 151 years since the death of national hero Vassil Levski continue across the country.

The culmination was this evening, February 19, in front of the monument dedicated to Levski in Sofia.

Bulgaria marks 151 years since the death of national hero Vassil Levski

President Rumen Radev, Mayor of Sofia Vassil Terziev and Rector of Sofia University Prof. Georgi Valchev delivered speeches.

"We stand again by the monument to the Apostle of Bulgarian Freedom to honour his immortal work and to recall his words and his testament to the generations. Honest and determined, humble and selfless, always standing eye to eye with his people - Levski won his most important battle. He awakened the impulse to freedom, strengthened the Bulgarian people's will. Our national history preserves a memory of where the steps of Levski echoed, how many revolutionary committees he created, the names of his closest comrades. Yet for us, the descendants, the truest, most vivid memory and image of the Apostle lies in the words in the letters of the legendary notebook. 151 years after Vassil Levski's death, his words continue to carry their enormous charge. In it we find our common spiritual home. We seek support in times of doubts and adversities, we fill our hearts with faith. The Apostle of Freedom did not say empty words, he did not make unnecessary promises, words did not please the self-loving, but everywhere they listened to him hushed," President Rumen Radev said.

The Head of State added:

"In our debased time of rotation of principles and values, among brokers of our non-freedom with their notebooks, Levski seems painfully impossible. But though unattainable, he never walks alone. Millions of Bulgarians continue to defend Levski's ideals -quietly and stubbornly, as the purest measure of their own worth."

"151 years ago, the Apostle of Freedom lost his life here to make the ideal of Bulgaria immortal, the ideal of a pure and holy republic - free, independent, proud. All of us in this city and in every corner of Bulgaria live on the testament of Levski. A century and a half ago Levski said that today is the century of freedom. Freedom often has detractors - sometimes external, sometimes internal. But freedom begins when we live the words of the Apostle - our work depends on our own efforts. We must never forget that. Everything depends on each one of us!" said Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev.

Images by BTA and by Tsanka Nikolova, BNT