Monument to the Unknown Warrior, Sofia

Overview

The Monument to the Unknown Warrior, also known as the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior stands next to the St. Sofia Church.

This is a memorial complex, including a symbolic tomb of the Bulgarian warrior, eternal fire, soil from Stara Zagora and Shipka, where was the highest number of victims of the Russo-Turkish War of Liberation, and a stone lion.

A commission was selected in 1918 to create a project for a war memorial dedicated to all people who lost their lives in the struggles for the liberation, reunification, and defence of Bulgaria. In 1926 the sculptor Andrey Nikolov was assigned to create the monument design. In 1931, the commission did not approve Andrey Nikolov's design, claiming it was too crowded. After editing the project, it was finally given the go-ahead. In 1936 the monument was completed and installed, but it was not unveiled until 1941.

During the bombing attacks of Sofia in 1944, the monument was almost destroyed and the granite was used for the construction of Georgi Dimitrov mausoleum.

In the 70s of the last century, competitions for the construction of a new war memorial were carried out. The new memorial was unveiled in 1981. Although it was erected in the same place, it looks different.

The stone lion from the old monument, found in the yard of a villa near Vrana, joined the new memorial composition.