“Restoration Project Planned for Memorial to Fallen Soldiers of First and Sixth Infantry Regiments in Sofia”

Metropolitan Municipality – The “Architecture and Town Planning” Department organized a meeting to discuss a project to restore the Memorial to the fallen soldiers of the First Infantry Sofia and Sixth Infantry Regiments of Turnov, the municipality announced, quoted by BTA. The discussion will serve as a basis for the architectural competition being prepared under the Law on Public Procurement.

The technical assignment sets requirements for an aesthetic, emotionally impactful, but also safe and generally accessible environment in which to display the historical and cultural memory for the fallen soldiers of the First and Sixth Sofia Infantry Regiments. The assignment was prepared by a team of the “National Center for Territorial Development” EAD after a procedure in accordance with the Law on Public Procurement.

The discussion will be held on April 26, 2023 (Wednesday) at 5:30 p.m. at the Union of Architects in Bulgaria at 11 Krakra Street in Sofia.

The memorial of the First Infantry Sofia and Sixth Infantry Turnov Regiments of the First Infantry Sofia Division has preserved the names of about 3,000 soldiers, non-commissioned officers and officers who died in the Serbo-Bulgarian War (1885), the two Balkan Wars (1912 – 1913) and The First World War (1914 – 1915). On October 28, 1934, Tsar Boris III opened the soldiers’ memorial on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of their formation and as a sign of recognition for the heroism of the regiments called the Sofia “Iron” Division, according to a reference from the “Reference” department of BTA. The monument consists of three walls in the shape of the letter P with dimensions – 21 m high and 11 m wide. The highlight of the composition is a bronze statue of a lion holding a map of San Stefano Bulgaria.

The right memorial wall of the monument was destroyed during the bombing of Sofia on January 10, 1944. The surviving plaques were dismantled in the second half of the 1960s during the construction of the “Lada” fashion house, and during the construction of the National Palace of Culture (NDK) the monument was completely removed in 1980. The surviving plates (about 180) were handed over to the National Museum of Military History.

In 2014, the Metropolitan Municipal Council adopted a decision to restore the memorial to its historical place – in the garden of the National Palace of Culture, where the monument “1300 years of Bulgaria” was. On November 2, 2017, the lion figure was installed in the shaped pedestal, restored as it was when the soldier’s monument was unveiled.