Sacred symbol, Shipka, Bulgaria, 16 photos travel story

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Shipka peak and the mountain pass with the same name are a sacred symbol for all Bulgarians. The biggest monument, officially opened in 1934 is an almost 100 foot tall stone tower in the shape of truncated pyramid with a huge bronze statue of a lion, guarding the gate of the building. Inside are kept several relics with big historical meaning. The Monument of Shipka symbolized the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire.

In 1877-1878 this region was the arena of huge bloody battles between Russians aided by Bulgarian volunteers, and the Ottoman Empire army. The fights have been really epic and are later described by several writers and poets. Every year on our National Holiday, thousands of people come to pay their respect to all the casualties. Heroes, whom we owe our liberty and independence.

That day it was late spring but the feeling at the high peak was like late winter or early spring. Heavy clouds and strong winds. We were going from Southern to Northern Bulgaria, and since our road was passing nearby, we stopped to pay our respect and take few photos, as the place, as you can imagine, has its own special energy and vibes.

See what we saw just few half an hour before getting up the Stara Planina mountain:

The beautiful small church of one of the small Thracian valley villages, surrounded by the bright and eye-warming yellow color of the blooming rapeseed field. Scenery sky...

From Shipka peak, close to the Monument, I took a photo of the amazing landscape towards the famous Buzludzha peak where the communists had build the flying-saucer-style center for their party meetings few decades ago. Now in ruins but surrounded by a forest of new wind-turbines.

This small hill below had once been covered by the bones of the soldiers fighting for our freedom. The cross now is a silent witness. A sarcophagus inside the monument still keeps some of the remains of those brave Russians and Bulgarians.

The cannons are left here to remind us of our history.

The views that day were telling stories too...

The Sun, beautifully spreading its light-fingers towards the earth.

That specific blending of Nature and History... Such a unique feeling!

We stayed much longer that we initially planned for. Despite the strong wind. Many minutes of silence...

It was a week day and there weren't many visitors. Most of the time we were alone and that even amplified our perceptions. My car, waiting for us down below at the parking. View to the Northern part of Stara Planina.

Several memorials had been built around, to honor the death of the brave soldiers.

...and Mother Nature does its best to present to you this place so you won't forget it.

History must be remembered.


Copyright: Damian Hadjiyvanov, Light Captured

Check out my photo site: https://hadjiyvanov.com/

For licensing my photos, please drop me a message on Discord: lightcaptured#2698


Thank you for all the support!

Have a great photo! :P


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26 comments
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Bang, I did it again... I just rehived your post!
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Wow. Excellent travel post! I enjoyed reading. and photo shoots are great!

!discovery 20

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Thanks so much for your kind words, I am happy you've enjoyed it! Have a lovely Sunday, friend :)

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A beautiful place. Hard to imagine that such destruction of human life happened there once. Nature eventually heals all.

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The old Europe... Fighting for... ages. Our country had been established in year 681 so imagine the depth of our history. So many unknowns, still.

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History is so fascinating to me, yet often saddens me at the same time. Even if it's not bad history, or it's beautiful artifacts left behind, the thought that the people who were there, or who created these things, are long gone gives me a touch of sadness.

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True. What some of those heroes had done, I don't believe modern people are able to, anymore. Such heroism and sacrifice. However, what saddens me more is that all politicians want people to be dumber so they do the same tricks they've done in the past on them. So the political "elite" of all modern societies works toward making people forget history or they (try to) change it to their own benefit.

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Congratulations @lightcaptured! Your post brought a smile to the TravelFeed team so we have sent you a smiley. Keep up the good job. 🙂

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Thank you very much, @travelfeed, this post is already shared on Twitter by using exactly the same button ;)

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Great collection of photos! That place looks very idyllic! It might have been a battlefield in the past but it's all so quiet now! 😄

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Thank you, you're absolutely right! Silence and beauty in nature most of the days and many, many people on our National Holiday, 3rd of March ;)

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Hiya, @lizanomadsoul here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Daily Travel Digest #922.

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:) Thanks a lot, I noticed already, even replied before you did :P
Keep up the great work, @pinmapple and @lizanomadsoul! Stay safe so we could soon unleash our nomad souls...

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