Monument to Alexander the Second in Sofia. Alexander II - Tsar Liberator of Bulgaria

In February 1911, all of Russia was preparing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the abolition of serfdom. The Kozlov Society did not remain aloof from this anniversary event. At a meeting of the Kozlov City Duma, it was decided to commemorate such a memorable date by building a monument to Tsar-Liberator Alexander II. Based on this decision, the Kozlov city government initiated a petition for permission to open a subscription for voluntary donations within the Tambov province for the construction of a monument to Emperor Alexander II in the city of Kozlov. The monument was supposed to be installed in the park opposite public places. (Nowadays, there is a memorial to the fallen fighters of the revolution. Author's note). This petition was granted on April 20, 1911 by the Supreme Authority.

Fundraising among individuals and institutions immediately began for the construction of the monument to Alexander II in Kozlov. On September 1, 1911, the Kozlov city government petitioned the district zemstvo assembly with a proposal to “allocate some amount for the construction of the above-mentioned monument in the city of Kozlov.” The zemstvo did not stand aside and allocated 100 rubles for the construction of the monument.

At the beginning of 1912, the sculptor Valukinsky, a native of the city of Kozlov, who was living in Kyiv at that time, offered his services to the local government. He undertook to sculpt a statue for the monument to the Tsar-Liberator and presented the corresponding drawings and sketches along with an explanatory note. These documents were considered by the Kozlov City Duma on April 27, 1912.

At the same meeting, to consider draft drawings of the monument and to collect voluntary donations, it was decided to create a commission consisting of the city government, as well as members of the Duma: N.A. Uglyansky, N.A. Vereshchagina, A.M. Kurochkina, A.I. Kozhevnikova, A.I. Kalabina, N.S. Reznikova, N.T. Bogatyreva, M.N. Kirillova, D.A. Polyansky and K.M. Ilyina.

On August 21, 1912, at a meeting of the Kozlov City Duma, the city government presented the protocol of the commission on the construction of a monument to Emperor Alexander II. At the same time, three options for the monument were considered: a bronze figure with a granite base and pedestal costing 10,500 rubles; made of zinc with copper oxidation and a reinforced concrete base, finished to look like granite or marble, costing about 5,000 rubles and cast from copper on a reinforced concrete base, finished to look like marble or granite, costing about 7,500 rubles. After a short debate, the commission members expressed a desire to purchase the monument to Emperor Alexander II according to the third option.

After a while, funds began to flow in from voluntary donors. So, in December 1912, famous townspeople V.P. donated one hundred rubles for the construction of the monument. Kalmykov, D.I. Umrikhin, Ya.N. Strelnikov, I.Ya. Kozhevnikov and S.N. Kuryanov, as well as the Kurochkin trading house and the Polyansky Sons joint-stock partnership. Kozlov merchants gave 50 rubles each to M.N. Kuryanov and K.M. Ilyin, 25 each - citizens N.A. Uglyansky and A.N. Dorokhov.

Of course, this is only a small part of the names of donors. There were undoubtedly many more. Apparently, revenues were going quite well, since soon representatives of the city government became concerned with bringing the monument project to life.

On May 20, 1913, at a meeting of the Kozlov City Duma, the city government presented for consideration of the meeting the protocol of the commission on the construction and erection of a monument to Emperor Alexander II in the city of Kozlov. It said: “At the opening of the meeting, Mr. Chairman reported on his trip to Moscow and negotiations with some companies manufacturing various monuments and monuments, and brought to the attention of the commission a project on file with the council for the proposed construction of the said monument. Having heard this message, the Duma, after an exchange of opinions, decided: “Instruct the deputy mayor D.I. Umrikhin, vowel N.T. Bogatyrev and city engineer M.V. Demin, simultaneously with his trip to Moscow on the issue of purchasing a Diesel engine (for the city power plant. Author’s note), should also enter into final negotiations with the relevant Moscow companies on the purchase of a monument to Emperor Alexander II within the amount of 7,000 rubles.”

On June 18, 1913, the city government sent a letter with the following content to E. Willer: “Dear Sir Erich Eduardovich. The city government asks you to hurry as soon as possible by sending in three copies of the project ordered to you by the Kozlov city commission, a monument to Emperor Alexander II, with an explanatory note attached to it. This project should represent an exact copy of the very figure of the Tsar-Liberator, the pedestal, foundation and fence, and the explanatory note would indicate exactly what metals this monument will be made of, including the foundation and fence. Tomorrow (June 19) the administration will make a transfer in your name in the amount of 2,000 rubles. Regardless of this, the government asks you to inform us whether you will begin casting the monument now or wait until the project is approved by the ministry. Attached is a transfer ticket from the Kozlovsky branch of the Russian Commercial and Industrial Bank for 2000 rubles.”

The answer was received from the Kozlovsk city government on July 8, 1913. “Dear sirs. On June 20, we received your registered letter with a transfer enclosed in the amount of 2,000 rubles. and received money from the Russian Commercial and Industrial Bank, which we hereby have the honor to confirm to you. We immediately upon receipt of your letter began executing the order and ask you to delay its delivery to us for 5 days, because We received your translation five days later than promised. As for the drawing you requested from us, we are producing one and will send it to you for guidance next week.”

I would like to note that on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the abolition of serfdom, monuments to Alexander II were installed everywhere both in large cities and in villages. At the E. Wheeler factory, for this occasion, large quantities of sculptures of the emperor began to be cast. The rights to manufacture it were acquired from the sculptor A.M. Opekushin and repeated the statue of Alexander II installed in the Moscow Kremlin. The Emperor was depicted in full growth, wearing a robe, holding a scepter in his left hand, and a manifesto scroll in his outstretched right hand. In general, Wheeler's company built more than 500 monuments to Emperor Alexander II throughout Russia.

Unfortunately, over time, fundraising became less active, and the construction of the monument, as well as its opening, originally scheduled for 1913, began to be postponed. The monument was not unveiled in 1914 either.

At the next meeting of the Kozlov City Duma on July 16, 1914, the protocol of the commission on the construction of the monument was considered, after which the city government was instructed to appeal to the Kozlov district and Tambov provincial zemstvos with a petition for additional funding for the construction of a monument to Emperor Alexander II in the city of Kozlov. In the same protocol, the city council also addressed local residents with a request to collect donations.

The outbreak of the First World War postponed the construction of the monument indefinitely. However, despite the wartime difficulties, donations continued to pour in.

The newspaper “Tambov leaflet” dated August 14, 1915 informed readers that “the construction of a monument built in the park opposite the police department is gradually moving forward, and its opening is expected by October.” But even that year the opening of the monument did not take place. The monument was not unveiled in 1916 either.
We find indirect confirmation that the monument to Emperor Alexander II was erected after all in a note published in the Kozlovskaya Gazeta dated June 22, 1916. It was about the next meeting of the City Duma, where the councilors, having become acquainted with the plan of the new building for the men's gymnasium, became concerned that the courtyard of the new educational institution would come close to the public garden where the monument was erected. (Emphasis added by the author of these lines). This remarkable fact caused alarm and lengthy debate among the Duma. But let’s not rush things, I hope that over time there will be an answer to this question. And today we will rely only on the available facts.

According to the memoirs of contemporaries, only by the end of 1917 the monument to the Tsar-Liberator was finally ready. The figure of the emperor was put in place and temporarily covered with a wooden tent. Its opening was scheduled for the following year, 1918. However, the events of October 1917 changed the attitude towards our past.

In the Kozlov newspaper “Voice of the People,” published on Sunday, May 12 (April 29), 1918, there was a note under the heading “Abolition of the monument.” Here is its content: “The Soviet government decided to abolish the monument to Alexander II, built on the boulevard opposite public places. The implementation of this resolution, as we were told, is scheduled for today.”

According to an eyewitness to the events, I. Nesterov, “The statue of Alexander II was toppled from its pedestal and thrown first into a fire shed, and then in railway workshops; the bronze was used to produce parts for steam locomotives.”

A pedestal was left from the monument to the Tsar-Liberator, on which a wooden trapezoidal tetrahedron covered with red material, topped with a five-pointed star, five meters high, was placed.

The new monument was opened on May 1, 1918 in a solemn atmosphere after a parade of red partisans and units of the Red Army, as well as a demonstration of workers and a rally. But that is another story…

...should be restored in Samara

In the very heart of Samara - on Alekseevskaya Square, on the pedestal of the monument to Sovereign Emperor Alexander II the Liberator, from 1927 to this day there has been a monument to Lenin.
Since in Russia there are still a kind of idols everywhere - statues of Ilyich, and while he himself lies in the mausoleum on the capital's Red Square, Russia will not rise up - this was repeated to me several times during our meeting at the beginning of this year by the famous Orthodox American, the co-secretary of Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose ) Abbot Herman (Podmoshensky - see Blagovest, No. 5, 2003). But isn’t this too simple a recipe: all you have to do is remove Bolshevik monuments from our streets and society will be freed from the Bolshevik past? I know firsthand with what dedication the Samara residents once sought to return the city to its original name (instead of Kuibyshev). It was a joyful throwing off the shackles of 70 years of Bolshevik captivity, it was an act of repentance. But apparently they didn’t finish something, they became fussy and cool. And Soviet idols still stand in our city, and the main one is the monument to Lenin on the square, which half-heartedly bears two names: the original Alekseevskaya, in honor of St. Alexis, the Heavenly patron of the city, and the Revolution. Worship of the idol of the revolution continues in Samara. They bring flowers to the monument, take children from kindergartens for walks to the park near the monument and tell them about “Grandfather Lenin,” and excursion groups from other cities come here. And Samara residents calmly walk by, thereby silently recognizing the legality of the unauthorized seizure of the Tsar’s pedestal by the self-proclaimed Ilyich. But the little bronze Lenin, and the townspeople know this, like a thief, brazenly took someone else’s place, throwing off the pedestal the majestic monument to the Tsar-Liberator Alexander II, which our ancestors erected for the Tsar using public donations. Immediately after the villainous murder of the Emperor on March 1, 1881, they decided to erect a monument to the Tsar-Liberator in Samara. The commission created by the City Duma settled on the project of academician V.O. Sherwood, where the Tsar was depicted on a pedestal in a uniform coat and cap, and at the foot there were four emblematic figures personifying the four greatest events of his reign: the liberation of peasants from serfdom, the conquest of the Caucasus , liberation from the Turkish yoke of the Slavic brothers, conquests in Central Asia. The acts of the great Tsar-reformer were written in gold on two shields: the annexation of the Amur region, the abolition of corporal punishment, the creation of zemstvo institutions, public legal proceedings, and all-class military service. All figures of the monument were made of chased bronze, the pedestal was made of Finnish granite. Alekseevskaya Square by that time had become the main square of the city. On July 8, 1888, on the day of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, after the Liturgy, the foundation stone for the monument was laid in the Ascension Cathedral on Alekseevskaya Square; it was opened on August 29, 1889. And on November 7, 1927, a bronze figure of Lenin by sculptor M.G. was erected on the pedestal of the monument to Alexander II. Manizer.
Bolshevism, like any totalitarian regime, loved monumental propaganda. Before the revolution, there were few monumental buildings; they were erected to glorify kings, outstanding statesmen and significant events in the history of Russia. The erection of sculpture has always been a political matter. The Bolsheviks began by tearing off the monarchical emblems from the obelisk in Moscow in honor of the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov and writing the names of Marx, Engels, and Plekhanov. They destroyed previous monuments and shamelessly erected their own in their place.
Is the Lenin monument purely historical, as some claim, or is it a political symbol? Is he legally standing in this place and what should be done with him next? We addressed these questions to famous people of the city.

Leader of the Samara nobility Alexander Yuryevich Chukhonkin:
- On October 21, 2002, the Samara Provincial Noble Assembly adopted an appeal to the Head of Samara G.S. Limansky and deputies of the Samara Provincial Duma with a request to remove the monument to Lenin from the former Alekseevskaya Square. So far we have not received an official response to our letter. But a symbol of godless Soviet power, legally recognized as illegal, cannot stand in the center of the city. I mean the law “On the rehabilitation of victims of political repression” adopted on October 18, 1991, which declares Soviet power to be a form of a totalitarian state, of which millions of people became victims. There cannot be any reference to the fact that Lenin is “an integral part of our history” - in Russia they did not erect monuments to Batu Khan and False Dmitry and did not worship their ashes. This is not just a monument, but a symbol of the destruction of Russia. For example, I constantly remember about him, I internally disagree with his presence in one of the main squares of the city: it interferes with both living and doing some good things. We are reviving Orthodoxy, but this is hampered by the symbol of godless power. Recently, for Lenin’s next birthday, communists, grandfathers, grandmothers, mostly Russian people, gathered at this monument. I feel so sorry for them, they themselves don’t understand that they come to worship the monument to the destroyer of their state, their faith. After all, it was not those in leather jackets who came who erected this monument. The October Revolution was, first of all, anti-Christian. The country was in ruins and starving, and at this time - April 12, 1918, Lenin signed the decree of the Council of People's Commissars "On monuments to the revolution" - on the removal of monuments in honor of the tsars and the establishment of revolutionary monuments. The first monument to Lenin was opened... by Lenin himself in 1918 in the Moscow region. Most of the monuments to Lenin in Russia were erected in 1919 - 1920, during his lifetime and on his initiative. By his order, four monuments to Judas the Traitor were erected, one not far from Samara - in Sviyazhsk. Can you imagine what the people on the ground experienced when the train arrived; they removed the boarded-up monument to Judas from the carriage with instructions to install it. All monuments were cast in Moscow centrally and transported to different places; no one asked the people’s opinion. And before the revolution, monuments in the provinces were usually erected on local initiative and with public donations. The monument to Lenin is a justification for the anti-Christian revolution, the extermination of Russian people, the destruction of churches, and the execution of the Royal Family. By removing this monument, we will thereby declare that Soviet power was illegal.

Hegumen Veniamin (Labutin), first vice-rector of the Samara Theological Seminary:
- I think that historical justice must be restored. We have five monuments to Lenin in Samara: in front of the Metallurg plant, in the Kuibyshevsky district and other places. The statue of Lenin occupies this place illegally, because the monument to Alexander II stood on this pedestal. The Tsar Liberator did a lot for Russia, under him the country became a great power. We must remember that the Russian state began not in October 17, as we were long told, but more than a thousand years ago. We need to remember our Kings - the outstanding rulers of the past. The change of monuments had a purely ideological significance. In the minds of the people, the memory of the great Orthodox Russia was uprooted; its history itself was viewed as a revolutionary movement. Now we see what the socialist experiment has led to in our country. We need to rethink our past, and removing the monument to Lenin will be a very right step. This will not hurt anyone's feelings. We are not talking about destroying this monument. I think it should be installed on an ordinary pedestal in some kind of square or park. Both buildings and monuments must be restored in their original form; this is the tradition in all countries of the world. And in Samara different eras will be represented: both the era of the Tsar-Liberator and the era of the Bolsheviks.

Ivan Ivanovich Melnikov, sculptor, author of monuments to St. Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow and St. Sergius of Radonezh in Samara, on Alekseevskaya embankment:
- The monument to Tsar-Liberator Alexander II was erected with public money. As far as I know, no one raised money for the monument to Lenin. The essence of the matter is that the monument to Lenin was placed in someone else’s place. The monument to the Tsar was removed because it was associated with Orthodox Russia. But history cannot be rewritten.
The monument to Alexander II is a good sculptural work, everything about it was laconic and harmonious, it fit perfectly into the building. And he was one of a kind, he was the face of Samara. The Lenin monument is the work of Manizer, a famous sculptor of the Soviet era, I know many of his students. It cannot be denied that Manizer is a good master, there are no complaints about the sculpture itself. But exactly the same monuments to Lenin as ours were erected all over the country. In addition, this monument does not correspond to the pedestal and does not fit into the square. The Lenin sculpture could be placed in a modest park on a low pedestal - it would look much better.
There are examples when monuments are restored. In St. Petersburg, for the 300th anniversary of the city, a bust of Peter I was restored based on old photographs. Photographs of the monument to the Tsar Liberator have also been preserved, so this is possible. This is an expensive job - casting in bronze, I think, about 10 million in rubles. But our city, if there is the political will of its leaders and the support of its citizens, will be able to handle this amount. If it is true that, as they say, the monument is located at the bottom of the Volga, it is worth looking for it - bronze is preserved in water. Judging by its size, it must have weighed about two tons, and it could not have been carried too far.

Alexander Nikiforovich Zavalny, chief bibliographer of the Samara Regional Scientific Library:
- Much is connected with Alexander II in Samara. In August 1871, he laid the foundation stone here for the Cathedral of the Resurrection under construction. In 1873, a vocational school was founded in Samara, named Alexandrovsky in his honor. Since 1882, the Samara Public Library began to be called Aleksandrovskaya; it had the Alexander II Hall, which later grew into the Museum of Local Lore. The largest bridge across the Volga near Syzran was named Alexandrovsky. The monument to the Tsar Liberator must be returned to its rightful place or restored to its original form. But there is no need to destroy the monument to Lenin. It would be possible to organize an exhibition of monumental Soviet sculpture in the Country Park, moving monuments to Lenin, Kuibyshev and others from the city streets there.

The Samara Provincial Gazette reported that in 2002 in Saratov, a group of residents took the initiative to restore the monument to Alexander II, which stood on the square. The monument to the Emperor will be restored. Saratov will become the second city after Moscow where the monument to the Tsar Liberator will be re-erected. The monument to the Tsar Liberator, thrown from its pedestal by the Bolsheviks and drowned in a pond, is being restored in Yuzhno-Kamsk. The monument to Alexander III is being restored in Irkutsk.
Is the monument to the Tsar Liberator still preserved in Samara? They say that the emblematic figures were in a building on the street. Kuibyshevskaya, 131, where there used to be a city museum. Old-timers told A.N. Zavalny that individual parts of the monument were kept in different institutions, in particular, the head of the monument to the Emperor was kept at the military medical faculty of the Kuibyshev Medical Institute. Local historian Galina Rassokhina adheres to the version that the monument was dragged along Zavodskaya Street (now Ventsek Street) to the Volga. There will be no answer to this and other questions until we have the courage to change our lives. Until we want to live in Holy Rus'.

While this publication was being prepared, our editors received several letters on this topic.

I want to tell you about a dream I had in 1970. I was neither a Komsomol member nor a party member, but I respected Lenin and even began to pray for his soul. I really wanted to visit the Mausoleum and see Lenin there. And now I see this dream. Lenin lies in the Mausoleum in a glass coffin, the top glass is missing, and he is all wrapped in bloody bandages, pale, tossing about, groaning, throwing his arms from side to side. I look at him and think how to help him. Suddenly he opens his eyes and says to me: “How tired I am, you can’t even imagine how tired I am.” He closed his eyes and again began to rush about in delirium. Now, having read Blagovest, all this has become clearer to me. Indeed, why is it not removed from the Mausoleum? He is an atheist, he renounced God, he took down the cross, he and his minions killed so many innocent people, and orphaned children. Before the revolution there were not so many orphans, beggars and hungry people. My grandfather had land and cattle, they took everything away, left him beggars, they didn’t take him to the collective farm - “you’re an average peasant,” he was sent to prison, he returned sick. So let’s all write together to the Government and the Duma to remove Lenin from the Mausoleum and his monuments from the central squares, maybe we’ll stop being under the curse. I'm ready to collect signatures.
L. Kurdina, Astrakhan

It was especially shocking that Abbot Herman began and ended the conversation with the fact that Russia will not rise as long as, in the words of Igor Talkov, “the main atheist lies on Red Square” while there are monuments to Lenin in the centers of Russian cities. On the eve of the celebration of the 1100th anniversary of the mention of the city of Pskov in the chronicles, the issue of installing monuments to Princess Olga was discussed (there are two of them - Klykova and Tsereteli, and both were gifts for the anniversary). All expert opinions and responses were presented in the Pskovskaya Pravda newspaper. In his letter “Olga - to the central square!” in this newspaper on February 23 this year. I wrote: “Equal to the Apostles Princess Olga is for centuries, she is for centuries. She saw a sign from Heaven over the present Pskov Kremlin. What did the historical figure, whose monument now occupies the center of the square, see, besides police surveillance and the Iskra newspaper? The history of the founding of the city is in Olga’s vision. Do we want our children and grandchildren to imitate the leader of the revolution? Olga is not only the Equal-to-the-Apostles enlightener of Rus' through Baptism through her grandson, Prince Vladimir. She has long been a symbol of the Pskov land, Russian Woman, Heavenly and Earthly Beauty for many generations of Russian people. And Beauty must be protected. And remember your kinship, and honor such great ancestors. Otherwise, our children and grandchildren will pay dearly for our laziness, for our cowardice!”
Our authorities have not yet decided to remove the monument to Lenin or at least move it to another place. Through the prayers of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga and all the saints, may the Lord allow us to see His light! I ask for the prayers of everyone who is not indifferent to the fate of Holy Rus'.
Larisa Ivanova, Pskov

The Ghost of Communism

We have already written more than once about the 94-year-old prayer book from Samara, Nikifor Abakumov. The editors are friends with this elderly man, who has lived all his life in the world, but has carried deep faith through all life’s hardships and trials. Now grandfather Nikifor, as Orthodox Christians colloquially call him, lives in a wooden house in the center of Samara, where believers of different generations often come to him for advice and requests to pray.
“About seven years ago,” Grandfather Nikifor tells our employee, artist Irina Evstigneeva, “Ilyich appeared to me in a dream.” With echoing footsteps he announced his presence to me. It seemed that all this was happening not in a dream, but in reality. His appearance was depressing. The face is black, all darker than night, not a single bright spot...
“Did you find out?...” Ilyich asked him. “I found out,” answered Nikifor Abakumov. - Volodya?!.” “Remember me,” Lenin asked. “Otherwise everyone rustles papers, but I don’t get anything for it.” After these words, the dream ended.
Irina suggested in a conversation that the words about “papers” could mean memorial notes in the church, which for obvious reasons do not include the name of Vladimir Ulyanov-Lenin, the destroyer of the Orthodox Empire. But grandfather Nikifor explained these words differently: everything written by Ilyich, all these multi-volume collections of his works are still read by people, but do not give their author any relief... Probably, both explanations are possible.
Since then, grandfather Nikifor began to remember his historical visitor in cell prayer. And at the same time I felt some kind of spiritual heaviness. But he soon stopped praying for Ilyich. It turned out that Ilyich was not the only one who appeared to him... An old church woman he knew, already lying on her deathbed, told him that in her vision, Ulyanov-Lenin asked for prayers. “At least give me some water!” - he told her frantically. According to Russian compassion, she wanted to give him a mug of water, but could not do this, since she was already bedridden with a fatal illness. With horror, she saw how Ilyich began to greedily drink from the garbage can... Then she, feeling pity for him, decided to pray for him in the short time that she had left to live. But, having prayed to God, she suddenly saw the terrible hellish tartar and heard the cries of suffering sinners, and realized that, having dared to pray for Lenin, she herself might end up there...
“Having learned about this, I also stopped praying for Ilyich,” grandfather Nikifor summed up the conversation. “It’s not within our power to beg for it... And as for the monument to Lenin in Samara, there’s nothing to think about: it needs to be removed,” and the ninety-year-old old man made a characteristic jerking movement with his foot... There, they say, it’s there, there, away from our eyes...

From the editor: By publishing these letters and memoirs, we do not want to cause pain to those Russian people who sincerely believed and continue to believe in the false ideas of Leninism. We would not reopen old wounds if the blood of hundreds of thousands of tortured Orthodox Christians did not stand behind these outdated ideas. That is why Lenin in our country is not just a historical figure, but a certain symbol that divides people of the same nation, the same language, the same culture - into people of different faiths.

The equestrian monument in the center, erected in honor of the Russian Emperor Alexander II, who in the 1870s. liberated from Ottoman oppression. This is one of the most famous and photographed monuments of the Bulgarian capital. It was erected at the beginning of the 20th century according to the design of the Italian sculptor A. Zocchi.

The grand opening of the monument took place in 1907 with the direct participation of one of the sons of Alexander II and the Bulgarian Tsar Ferdinand I. Also present were eminent generals of those times, the Minister of War of Bulgaria, the commandant of St. Petersburg and other important government officials. The structure is an equestrian sculpture on a base pedestal.

At the base of the pedestal in memory of those killed in the war of liberation lies a bronze wreath. Under the equestrian figure of the king, you can see a sculptural image of his valiant army, in which he fought for the Bulgarian lands during the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. The appearance of the monument clearly shows the features of the Renaissance. Overall, this is considered to be one of A. Zocchi's best works.

During the Second World War, the monument suffered considerable damage and was under restoration for a long time. Geographically, it is located on People's Assembly Square in the very center of Sofia. The nearest metro station is Sofia University named after St. Kliment Ohridski.

Photo attraction: Monument to the Tsar Liberator

In 1898, on the initiative of the Militia Organization in Sofia, the idea of ​​​​creating such a monument arose. An international competition was announced to create a design for the monument. 31 applicants from various countries took part in the competition. The winner was declared, at that time unknown to anyone, the talented Florentine sculptor Arnaldo Zocchi. He is the author of famous monuments in Bologna - Garibaldi, in Buenos Aires - Columbus, in Cairo - St. Francis of Assisi.

The monument was built from April 1901 to September 1907. Funds from the municipality of Sofia were raised for its construction, part of the funds was allocated by the Bulgarian Prince Ferdinand and the remaining funds were collected in the form of donations from the Bulgarian people.

When creating the monument to the Tsar-Liberator, Zocki hired a foundry worker who turned out not to be of high class. And after 35 years, the first cracks appeared on the monument. And during the bombing of World War II, the monument was badly damaged. Since then, the monument has not been repaired. Some minor maintenance work was carried out to maintain it, but there were no major repairs.

The Sofia City Hall wanted to repair the monument back in 2008, but things stood still. Now there is a restoration project for the monument of the Bulgarian architect Lyubomir Petrov. The cost of the work is 1.5 million leva. The work began with funding from the Russian charitable foundation “Generation,” which protects historical heritage. Bulgarian experts and Russian restorers are participating in the restoration of the Bulgarian landmark - the monument to Alexander II.

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Description of the Statue of the King Liberator

Address: Tsar Osvoboditel Street

In case you are wondering who the man is on the horse in front of the Bulgarian Parliament, it is the Monument to the Tsar Liberator, dedicated to the Russian Tsar Alexander II. In Bulgaria he is simply known as the Tsar Liberator. He is known in Bulgaria for starting the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-78. In order to save the fraternal Christian peoples of the Balkan Peninsula, Russian troops, Bulgarian volunteers and Romanian units completely defeated the Ottoman army. On March 3, 1878, in San Stefano, the Turks were forced to sign the Treaty of San Stefano, according to which a number of peoples of the Balkans gained independence. If you stand with your back to the monument, to the left of the Bulgarian parliament stands the former embassy building of the Russian Empire. A little further is the temple of the monument to Alexander Nevsky, dedicated to the fallen Russian soldiers.

Monument to Alexander II (Sofia)

That is, the historical center is essentially full of buildings connected in one way or another with Russia.

The monument to the Tsar Liberator is a 4.5-meter figurine of a horse of Alexander II, made of bronze, placed on a black polished granite pedestal. The total height is 12 meters. The middle part of the monument is decorated with figures and a massive Renaissance cornice, completed with a sculpture of the Russian Tsar. The ring-shaped, high bronze relief surrounding the middle of the pedestal depicts people led by the goddess of victory, Nike. The relief depicts the faces of more than 30 military leaders, statesmen and public figures, including General Mikhail Skobelev, General Joseph Gurko, Count Nikolai Ignatiev, Prince Nikolai Nikolaevich Sr. Three other smaller bronze reliefs depict key events such as the Battle of Stara Zagora, the signing of the peace treaty of San Stefano and the convening of the Constituent Assembly. The front part of the monument is crowned with a bronze laurel wreath, a gift from the Romanian King Carol I in memory of the fallen Romanian soldiers and the inscription “To the King Liberator / Bulgaria is grateful.”

The idea of ​​recreating the monument to the Tsar Liberator was first proposed in December 1892 at the Second Congress of the Corps. A unanimous decision was made to create an initiative committee to raise funds necessary to erect a monument to Alexander II and build a house for veterans of the April uprising and the Russian-Turkish war. Stoyan Zaimov was elected chairman of the Committee, and the honorary chairman was Prince Ferdinand, who made a first contribution of 50,000 leva. Donations amounting to 300,000 leva were received by deputies of the 10th National Assembly, while other funds were raised by various public organizations and mass purchases of a specially issued postage stamp depicting Alexander II.

At the committee meetings from February 15 to 18, 1900, a competition program for the creation of the monument was created, which fixes its mandatory elements, materials for its construction and determines the final sales amounts (300,000 francs) and the prize fund (5,000 francs for the first prize and 4,000 francs for the second to fifth awards). The terms of the competition have been sent to art academies around the world and are of great interest; 90 sculptors are registered, 32 of whom are from 13 countries: nine from Paris, three from Florence, three from Sofia, two from Zurich, Berlin and Prague, one from Rome, Vienna, Budapest, Copenhagen, Lisbon, The Hague, Hanover, Turin, Bucks , Tiflis and Smyrna.

From September 1 to September 15, 1900 models were presented in the royal arena for public viewing, and on September 20, Prince Ferdinand officially opened the meeting of the jury consisting of Prof. Antonin Mercier from France, prof. Ettore Ferrari from Italy, prof. Robert Bach from Russia, Bulgarian artists Ivan Murvichka, Anton Mitov, Petko Klisurov, architect. Nikola Lazarov, engineer Stoymen Sarafov, Stoyan Zaimov and diplomats.

The competition was won by Florentine sculptor Arnaldo Tsochi. Second to fifth place, classified respectively by Germany's Gerhard Eberlein, the Frenchman Antonin Laroux and Gaston Malet, the Czech Frantisek Rous and the Frenchman Eugen Boveri. Five other applicants received commendable reviews, including art school teachers Zheko Spiridonova and Boris Schatz. The first stone of the foundation was laid on April 23, 1901 (St. George the Victorious Day) in the presence of Prince Ferdinand I. Work on the construction of the monument ends on September 15, 1903. The monument to the Tsar Liberator was officially opened on August 30, 1907 in the presence of Ferdinand I with his sons Boris and Kirill, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, son of Alexander II, his wife Maria Pavlovna and their son Andrei, General Minister of Defense. General Kaulbars, General Stoletov, Commander of St. Petersburg, General Parensov, as well as Arnoldo Tsoki.

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123. The Tsar Liberator moved to the village

Mikhail Samuilovich Kachan

In the photo: The monument to Tsar-Liberator Alexander II (sculptor Arnold Zocchi) recently stood on a pedestal until modern herostrati dragged it to an abandoned village.

Tsar Liberator

During the Russian-Turkish War, the Emperor of Russia was Alexander II (pictured), whom the Bulgarians call the Tsar Liberator. But when we say liberator, we mean that he liberated the peasants from serfdom, and for the Bulgarians he was the liberator of their country from the Turkish yoke. In Sofia, Tsar Liberator Boulevard is one of the main streets. The boulevard runs from east to west past the frescoed Russian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas to the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.

On September 9 Square, opposite the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, I saw an equestrian statue and asked Maria who it was. Maria was a little embarrassed and quietly told me that this was a monument to Tsar-Liberator Alexander II.

Alexander II - Tsar Liberator of Bulgaria

I realized that tour guides are not recommended to talk to Soviet tourists about the Russian Tsar and, even more so, to approach his monument with tourists. But I noted to myself that the Bulgarians did not demolish the monument to the Tsar, unlike us. In Leningrad, for example, only monuments remained that were considered works of art - the monument to Peter the Bronze Horseman, Catherine II in the park on Nevsky. And other kings were demolished. They did not complain to the Soviet authorities.

The monument to the Tsar Liberator, erected in 1903, is considered one of the best works of the Florentine sculptor Arnoldo Zocchi. It is made of polished granite. On a pedestal with figures and a massive cornice stands a sculpture of Alexander II seated on a horse. The bronze wreath at the base of the pedestal is a gift from Romania, in memory of the Romanian soldiers and officers who died in the war for the liberation of Bulgaria.

Imagine my surprise when in September 2012 I learned that the monument to the Tsar Liberator had been dismantled. The official reason given was the desire to restore the monument. However, sculptor Velislav Minekov said that it could have been restored in two days, and it would not have cost much.

The monument was taken to an abandoned village, reports Sofia News Agency
There the monument was simply abandoned, and now, in the words of the same sculptor, it is surrounded by “a complete mess.” According to him, in this case, the reason for everything that is happening is corruption: the dismantling of the monument was caused by the intention of investors to build a parking lot on this site.

The democrats who came to power in Bulgaria had even shorter memories than the communists.

To be continued: http://www.proza.ru/2013/05/14/368

Copyright: Mikhail Samuilovich Kachan, 2013
Certificate of publication No. 213051400356

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