Today we mark 143 years since the death of Bulgarian national hero Vasil Levski, called by Bulgarians the Apostle of Freedom. Commemorative ceremonies are organized today and tomorrow across the country to honour the memory of Vasil Levski as there is still controversy among historians as to exact date on which Levski died - February 18 or February 19, 1873.

143 years ago near Sofia, the Turkish authorities executed the death sentence by hanging of the Apostle of Freedom who dedicated his life to the struggle for liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman yoke. Vasil Levski crossed his homeland numerous times to build revolutionary committees which would later become centres of the Bulgarian national liberation revolution. He preached the idea of ​​"a holy and pure republic", of a society and state in which all people would "be completely free."