site.btaMemorial Service in Pleven Marks 145th Anniversary of Death of Russian Emperor Alexander II

A memorial service was held in the St. George the Victorious Chapel Mausoleum in Pleven, North Central Bulgaria, Friday on the occasion of the 145th anniversary of the death of Russian Emperor Alexander II, known historically as Alexander the Liberator.

Tsvetelina Shinovska, curator at the Pleven Regional Military History Museum, emphasized that Alexander II, who was killed in an assassination attempt in 1881, deserved his title for two reasons, the first being the freedom of over 30 million Russian peasants and the second being the freedom and sovereignty of Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, Montenegro and Herzegovina after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in 1878.

For many years after the Liberation, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church held memorial services in memory of Alexander II, but for economic and political reasons, this tradition was interrupted during the communist rule in Bulgaria, Shinovska recalled, adding that Pleven Municipality restored the tradition in 2000.

The memorial service was attended amongst others by Pleven Mayor Valentin Hristov and Deputy Mayor Paulina Kirova, Pleven Deputy Regional Governor Pavlin Filyovski and Pleven Regional Military History Museum Director Neli Staneva.

After the memorial service, flowers were laid before the eternal fire of the chapel mausoleum.