paulinette
Liberator of Bulgaria
The Statue of Alexander II stands in the square in front of the Bulgarian parliament. It commemorates the liberation of the country by the Russian Tsar, and is inscribed with the words "Tsar Osvoboditel" (Tsar Liberator). The 14-m statue is a work by the Italian Arnoldo Zocci, and was completed in 1905. The nearby Russian church was also constructed at this time, again thanking the Russians for their help in freeing the country from the Ottomans. The tsar carries a declaration of war against the Ottoman Empire in his hand, and on the pedestal you can see detailed images of the war. These include
The Battle of Stara Zagora, just before the peace of San Stefano in 1878, and the creation of the first National Assembly in Veliko Turnovo, the then capital of Bulgaria.
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