The
Monument to Vasil Levski (,
Pametnik na Vasil Levski) in the centre of
Sofia, the capital of
Bulgaria, is one of the first monuments to be built in the then newly-liberated
Principality of Bulgaria. It commemorates the hanging of Bulgarian
national hero and major revolutionary figure
Vasil Levski in the city on 18 February 1873.
The monument is 13 m high, made of grey Balkan granite and designed by
Czech architect
Antonín Kolář. The bronze bas-relief of the head of Levski, part of the monument, was created by
Josef Strachovský (or, according to other sources,
Austrian sculptor
Rudolf Weyr), whereas
Italian Abramo Peruchelli did the stonecutting work. It was inaugurated on 22 October 1895, but was planned and worked on ever since the
Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878, the construction being hindered by a chronic lack of funds and negligence, and taking a whole 17 years. This ignited a wave of indignation among the Bulgarian intellectuals of the time, with the poet
Konstantin Velichkov even branding this carelessness in a 1881 poem ().
A draft for the monument featured a large
Christian cross over a
crescent, but it was rejected as
religiously intolerant and incompatible with Levski's proper beliefs in equality and tolerance. Other plans included a full-length bronze statue of Levski, which however was turned down as too expensive.
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