Commemorative ceremony on the occasion of the 134th anniversary from the hanging of Bulgaria's Apostle of Freedom Vassil Levski was held all at the national hero's memorial on Monday.

Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov delivered a ceremonial speech on the occasion, followed by the Parliamentary Chairman Georgi Pirinski.

Sofia Mayor Boyko Borisov, Head of the National History Museum Bozhidar Dimitrov, politicians, ministers and citizens attended the ceremony, marking the Apostle's hanging with a minute of silence.

Soldiers from all military detachments laid wreaths on Levski'a memorial, which was erected at the exact spot of the gallows where he was hanged on 19 February 1873.

Right after the ceremony, a meeting of the ultra-nationalist party Ataka took place on the same place. This was the end of a torchlight procession on the occasion, organized by the party.

Hundreds of Bulgarians attended the event, carrying flowers, candles and Bulgarian flags to put them around the monument.

An aged man attracted the attention of the gathered people when he started reciting lines from writer Ivan Vazov's "Epos of the Forgotten".

"Vassil Levski is Bulgaria's most successful politician, who despite being hanged, had managed to accomplish his main political goal," Bozhidar Dimotrv said at the ceremony.

A pilgrimage to Levski's monument took place in his hometown of Karlovo.
Dirges and commemorative rallies were held also in the towns of Plovdiv, Vidin, Veliko Tarnovo, Pleven and Lovech.

At the hard times, when Bulgaria was under Turkish slavery, Vassil Levski set up a revolutionary network all over Bulgaria.

He established numerous revolutionary committees and started preparing the people for a general uprising. Levski was betrayed and captured by the Turks in the end of 1872 and was executed after a trial.

The revolutionary Levski was named the greatest Bulgarian of all times in a show held by the Bulgarian National Television on Saturday.

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