The Unknown Soldier Monument is located in Sofia next to the Church of the Holy Wisdom (Sveta Sofia Church) on the mall in front of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. The monument preserves the memory of all Bulgarian soldiers who have perished while fighting for their country. It was built in 1981 to coincide with the 1300th anniversary celebration of the founding of the Bulgarian state.
The monument consists of soil from the battles of Stara Zagora and Shipka during the 1877-78 Russo-Turkish War of Liberation, a statue of a lion, the Bulgarian national symbol, an eternal flame, and a plaque with verses from Ivan Vasov’s poem The New Cemetery near Slivnitsa.
The Monument was designed by architect Nikola Nikolov. The lion statue is the work of Andrey Nikolov.
