Monument to the Tsar Liberator - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Monument to the Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...

Liberator is an equestrian monument in the centre of Sofia

Sofia

Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...

, the capital of Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

. It was erected in honour of Russian Emperor Alexander II

Alexander II of Russia

Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...

who liberated Bulgaria

Liberation of Bulgaria

In Bulgarian historiography, the term Liberation of Bulgaria is used to denote the events of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 that led to the re-establishment of Bulgarian state with the Treaty of San Stefano of March 3, 1878, after the complete conquest of the Second Bulgarian Empire, which...

of Ottoman rule during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78.

The Neoclassical

Neoclassical architecture

Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...

memorial's author is Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

sculptor Arnoldo Zocchi

Arnoldo Zocchi

Arnoldo Zocchi was a noted Italian sculptor of the late 19th and early 20th century. He was born in Florence and died in Rome...

, who won the project in competition with 31 other artists from 12 countries (and with a total of 90 artists from 15 countries being interested) in the end of the 19th century. Bulgarian architect Nikola Lazarov participated in the monument's architectural design. The foundation stone was laid on 23 April 1901, St George's Day

St George's Day

St George's Day is celebrated by the several nations, kingdoms, countries, and cities of which Saint George is the patron saint. St George's Day is celebrated on 23 April, the traditionally accepted date of Saint George's death in AD 303...

, in the presence of Knyaz

Knyaz

Kniaz, knyaz or knez is a Slavic title found in most Slavic languages, denoting a royal nobility rank. It is usually translated into English as either Prince or less commonly as Duke....

Ferdinand I of Bulgaria

Ferdinand , born Ferdinand Maximilian Karl Leopold Maria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry, was the ruler of Bulgaria from 1887 to 1918, first as knyaz and later as tsar...

, and the monument was completed on 15 September 1903.

Ferdinand also attended the monument's inauguration on 30 August 1907 together with his sons Boris

Boris III of Bulgaria

Boris III the Unifier, Tsar of Bulgaria , originally Boris Klemens Robert Maria Pius Ludwig Stanislaus Xaver , son of Ferdinand I, came to the throne in 1918 upon the abdication of his father, following the defeat of the Kingdom of Bulgaria during World War I...

and Kiril

Prince Kyril of Bulgaria

Prince Kyril of Bulgaria, Prince of Preslav was the second son of Ferdinand I of Bulgaria and his first wife Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma. He was a younger brother of Boris III of Bulgaria...

, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia

Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia

Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia ) was a son of Emperor Alexander II of Russia...

, son of Alexander II, together with his wife and his son, as well as other notable figures.

Erected of black polished granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

from Vitosha

Vitosha

Vitosha is a mountain massif, on the outskirts of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Vitosha is one of the tourists symbols of Sofia and the closest site for hiking, alpinism and skiing. Convenient bus lines and rope ways render the mountain easily accessible. Vitosha has the outlines of an enormous...

, the Monument to the Tsar Liberator consists of a pedestal

Pedestal

Pedestal is a term generally applied to the support of a statue or a vase....

, a middle part with figures and a massive Neo-Renaissance

Neo-Renaissance

Renaissance Revival is an all-encompassing designation that covers many 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Grecian nor Gothic but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of classicizing Italian modes...

cornice

Cornice

Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...

finished with the sculpture of the Russian Tsar on a horse. The bronze

Bronze

Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...

wreath at the foot was donated by Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

in memory of the Romanian soldiers that died during the war.

The main bronze bas-relief in the middle part depicts a group of Russian and Bulgarian soldiers led by Nike

Nike (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Nike was a goddess who personified victory, also known as the Winged Goddess of Victory. The Roman equivalent was Victoria. Depending upon the time of various myths, she was described as the daughter of Pallas and Styx and the sister of Kratos , Bia , and Zelus...

, the Ancient Greek

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

goddess of victory, who rises her sword high above. Portraits of Grand Duke Nicholas Nicolaievich

Grand Duke Nicholas Nicolaievich of Russia

Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia was the third son and sixth child of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia and Alexandra Feodorovna. He may also be referred to as Nicholas Nicolaievich the Elder to tell him apart from his son...

, Count Ignatiev

Nicholas Pavlovich Ignatiev

Count Nikolay Pavlovich Ignatyev was a Russian statesman and diplomat...

and the generals Joseph Vladimirovich Gourko

Joseph Vladimirovich Gourko

Count Iosif Vladimirovich Romeyko-Gurko , also known as Joseph or Ossip Gourko, was a Russian Field Marshal prominent during the Russo-Turkish War ....

and Mikhail Skobelev

Mikhail Skobelev

Mikhail Dmitrievich Skobelev was a Russian general famous for his conquest of Central Asia and heroism during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. Dressed in white uniform and mounted on a white horse, and always in the thickest of the fray, he was known and adored by his soldiers as the "White...

surround the group. Other bas-reliefs feature scenes from the Battle of Stara Zagora, the signing of the Treaty of San Stefano

Treaty of San Stefano

The Preliminary Treaty of San Stefano was a treaty between Russia and the Ottoman Empire signed at the end of the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–78...

and the opening ceremony of the Constituent National Assembly

National Assembly of Bulgaria

The National Assembly of Bulgaria is the unicameral parliament and body of the legislative of the Republic of Bulgaria.The National Assembly of Bulgaria was established in 1879 with the Constitution of Bulgaria.-Ordinary National Assembly:...

in Veliko Tarnovo

Veliko Tarnovo

Veliko Tarnovo is a city in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. Often referred to as the "City of the Tsars", Veliko Tarnovo is located on the Yantra River and is famous as the historical capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire, attracting many tourists...

, as well as portraits of Petko Slaveykov

Petko Slaveykov

Petko Rachov Slaveykov was a noted nineteenth-century Bulgarian poet, publicist, public figure and folklorist.-Early years and educational activity:...

, Stoyan Zaimov

Stoyan Zaimov

Stoyan Zaimov was a Bulgarian revolutionary, apostle of the April Uprising, enlightener, public figure and writer. A native of Chirpan, he died in Pleven....

, Ivan Vazov

Ivan Vazov

Ivan Minchov Vazov was a Bulgarian poet, novelist and playwright, often referred to as "the Patriarch of Bulgarian literature". He was born in Sopot, a town in the Rose Valley of Bulgaria ....

, Stefan Stambolov

Stefan Stambolov

Stefan Nikolov Stambolov was a Bulgarian politician, who served as Prime Minister and regent. He is considered one of the most important and popular "Founders of Modern Bulgaria", and is sometimes referred to as "the Bulgarian Bismarck".- Early years :Stambolov was born in Veliko Tarnovo...

and other prominent figures from the period.

The Monument to the Tsar Liberator lies on Tsar Osvoboditel Boulevard

Tsar Osvoboditel Boulevard

Tsar Osvoboditel Boulevard is a boulevard in the centre of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. It lies between Orlov most to the east and Nezavisimost Square to the west, where it merges with Knyaz Aleksandar Dondukov Boulevard to form Todor Aleksandrov Boulevard west of the square...

, facing the National Assembly of Bulgaria

National Assembly of Bulgaria

and with the Radisson SAS hotel behind it.

See also