Monument Arch of Freedom

Overview

Near the Troyan Pass is the monument Arch of Freedom on Mount Goraltepe (1595 m), located 15 minutes walk east of the highest point of the pass. It can be reached by a narrow and asphalt road, on the south side of the ridge, passing through the area Kostov Polugar.

The monument is on a site with a view to the north of the valleys of Beli Osam and Troyan, and to the south a view of Sredna Gora, Rhodopes and Rila, and to the east and west you can see the most famous peaks of Stara Planina, including the most the high peak Botev. The author's team includes arch. Georgi Stoilov and the sculptor Velichko Minekov.

The monument is dedicated to the Russian liberators and Soviet troops - to the passage of the Trojan detachment through the Balkan Mountains and the fighting in early January 1878 during the Russo-Turkish War of Liberation, as well as the Red Army, which entered Bulgaria in September 1944.

It is a massive concrete structure with a height of 35 meters. The arch through bas-reliefs depicts Bulgarian bandits and guerrillas, as well as Russian and Soviet soldiers. They were symbolically greeted with bread and salt by women in Bulgarian folk costumes, respectively in 1878 and 1944, who are clearly visible on the north side of the arch.