The 181^st anniversary since the birth of the hero of the Bulgarian national liberation movement Vassil Levski is being marked nationwide today with various events.

Known in this country as the Apostile of Freedom, Levski is the ideologist and organizer of the Bulgarian national revolution, founder of the Internal Revolutionary Organization. He organized a revolutionary network for the liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman domination, setting up revolutionary committees to make the preparations for a national revolution. His dream was that after its liberation from Ottoman domination, Bulgaria would become a “pure and sacred republic” in which all would be equal, whatever their nationality or religion. He was caught by the Turkish authorities, tried and sentenced to death, and was hanged in February 1873 in what were then the environs of Sofia. There is a monument to Vassil Levski on the spot where he was hanged which is now in the centre of the capital city.

As is the tradition, the centre of the events celebrating the anniversary is the town where Vassil Levski was born – Karlovo. A procession will be organized to welcome the participants in the national tourist hike called “Following in the footsteps of the Apostle”. The Vassil Levski National Museum, which is expecting a great many visitors from all over the country, is organizing a special programme. In the evening the flag of the Karlovo revolutionary committee will be taken out with military honours and an official ceremony with a military tattoo will be organized. National Assembly President Tsveta Karayancheva will review the guard of honour of the 61^st  Stryamska Mechanized Infantry Brigade and will make an address. The ceremony will be broadcast live by the Bulgarian National Radio. 

At an official ceremony in the village of Rouen, Bourgas region, with predominantly ethnic Turkish population, a monument of Vassil Levski was unveiled. It has been built with charities raised by the locals.

„There are more than 150 monuments of the Apostle of Freedom with some of them far away from the motherland scattered from Argentina to Japan,” said Bulgarian President Rumen Radev in his speech at the event.