FMP - final - historical significance part 1

When I started my FMP, one of my main motivations was to actually provide good and interesting-looking images. The initial ides of "Sofia - grows but never ages" was to present the viewer with beautiful re-photographed places. Later on, however, it dawned on me that the places I usually select are much more than just beautiful buildings that have stood the test of time. 

Actually, most of the buildings that have been included in the project, have a controversial story to tell. Sometimes, the story is so controversial, that even Bulgarians have some trouble understanding it. 

This place - the monument of Vasil Levski - proved to be one of the most spectacular images in the whole project. Apart from the obvious change in landscape - in the 1910s it was at the very outskirts of town whereas it is in the ideal center - this place is one of the most significant ones in modern Bulgarian history and a special landmark within the city. No matter how much the urban landscape changed throughout the years, no one has ever thought of removing this monument. 

Here is why - the year was 1871 and a young man tried to defy the mighty Ottoman empire. At the time, the empire was declining BUT still holding its firm grip on the people on the Balkans. This one man, born in Karlovo town, in Stara planina mountain, decided to rally the peasants to a large-scale national rebellion. To do this, he started visiting village after village, talking to the people and explaining to them what needs to be done. Whenever he went, a revolutionary committee was founded. The purpose of the committee was to collect money, weapons and new enlists who would rise as one on the day of the great rebellion. It took the young man two years to visit almost every place where Bulgarians lived and to create a committee there. Almost each and every village in Bulgaria has a story of this man visiting and how he tricked the Ottoman posse. He was a real James Bond of his time and a master in disguise - once we has a cattle herder, the other in interpreter to some pasha. His name? Vasil Ivanov Kuntchev or as he remained in Bulgarian history - Vasil Levski (the nickname was supposedly given to him because of his long "lion-like" leap while he was in training for one of the first-ever organized attempts to liberate Bulgaria from the Ottomans, back in 1868). 

As the organization grew bigger, too many people were involved in it and not all for a good reason. O failed attempt to rob the local Ottoman garrison of their salaries led to the capturing of some important organization leaders who, in turn, shared the names of the organization leaders. Levski rushed to Teteven (a town in central Bulgaria) to retrieve the archives of the organization which basically contained the names, addresses and connections of everyone within it, as well as the ledger books. So he did, but was captured close to Teteven. Then he was sent to Sofia for interrogations. 

Throughout the interrogations and torture he said no names (his famous phrase being "There are no others, I am alone.") and was sentenced to death. He was hanged in 1873 in the outskirts of Sofia - the date being 19 of February. His body was supposedly then buried somewhere around Sofia by a gypsy man who passed nearby. The theories are many. 

What is certain is that Levski was a visionary well beyond his time. What he tried to do was something novel and revolutionary - Bulgarians love to speculate what would have happened should he had lived to accomplish his deed. He is a canonized saint and a Bulgarian national hero - the epitome of someone who would sacrifice everything for the homeland. 

This monument was erected shortly after Bulgaria was liberated (that was in 1878, only 5 years after Levski was hanged) at the place which was believed to be the one where he had been hanged, Each year, on the 19th of February, it is a place of mourning and a really important landmark. There is no Bulgarian who does not know what this is and why it stands there. 

The monument of the Tsar-liberator situated on the homonymous boulevard is one of the most controversial places in Sofia. Mainly because that 'tsar-liberator' on top of the horse that now stands just across the National Assembly building is not Bulgarian. He is Nickolas II of Russia, the Russian emperor that initiated (and somewhat managed to win) the war of 1877-1878 which remained in Bulgarian history as the "Russo-Turkish Liberation" war.

Immediately after the Liberation, the monument was built - in the new city center, flanked by new, Viennese and Parisian style buildings. At the time it seemed appropriate to honour the country that helped with the liberation. However, as years passed, moods swung and I have heard many claims such as - having the monument removed and placing a statue of a Bulgarian khan in its place. 

That monument remains one of the symbols of Sofia despite all that and one of the most easily-recognizable symbols of Bulgaria as a whole. 

Just like the monument in the previous image, this one is of exceptional significance and quite the controversial one. The Saint Alexander Nevski cathedral is one of the landmarks of Sofia and currently (until the Romanians finish their church in Bucharest) the biggest Christian Orthodox church on the Balkan peninsula. It's style is peculiar - a crossbreed of traditional Orthodox style and that of Saint Sophia in Istanbul and its golden domes can be seen from virtually any part of the city even today. At the time when it was built, it was a massive construction, funded and owned entirely by the Russian empire (it was supposed to be a gift for the new state). The construction took several years and after that the building was donated to the Bulgarian state. 

What caused the problem was the actual patron saint of the church as Saint Alexander Nevski is a purely Russian saint (not honoured at all in Bulgaria) and one of the first Russian rulers (he was a kiaz - warlord - of the Vladimir region in the 13th century). He is of particular significance to Russian history BUT has nothing to do with Bulgaria. Hence, there had been several attempts to re-name the church but public opinion prevailed and the church retained its Russian patron saint. 

A curious fact is that when renovation activities took place 15 years ago, all of the gold (several kilograms) were donated by Russia for the restoration of the signature golden domes. Those same domes brought trouble to the city center during WWII as the pilots were instructed to target them. Miraculously though, the church remained intact. 

These days, there is a new drive to rename the church but only the test of time will prove if this the attempt will succeed.