Bulgaria is marking on Friday the 143^rd anniversary of the hanging of its national hero Vasil Levski.

Levski will be commemorated with numerous events in his hometown Karlovo, the capital Sofia and across the country.

The national museum of military history in Sofia will resurrect the words of Levski recorded in his letters and personal diary through a sound and light installation in the hall displaying his belongings.

In the afternoon, a memorial service will be held at the Saint Sophia church, which will be followed by the official commemorative ceremony in front of his monument in downtown Sofia.

The military rituals at the monument will be performed by the national guards unit and a military brass orchestra.

The Coat of Arms hall in the presidency will exhibit the diary and other personal belongings of Levski between 10 and 16 o'clock on Saturday. The first group of visitors will be greeted personally by President Rosen Plevneliev.

Born on 18 July 1837, Levski was one the greatest Bulgarian revolutionaries of the 19th century and became known as the Apostle of Freedom for his efforts on organizing and developing a strategy for the liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule.

He was the founder of the internal revolutionary organization which run a network of secret regional committees and sought the liberation of Bulgaria through a nationwide revolution.

Levski was also among the founders of the the Bulgarian revolutionary central committee run by Bulgarian emigrants in Bucharest.

The revolutionary was captured by the Ottoman authorities in the Kakrina inn near Lovech on 27 December 1872.

He was first taken for interrogation to Veliko Tarnovo and then sent to Sofia where he was tried and sentenced to death.

Levski was hanged on 18 February 1873 at the gallows in the then surroundings of Sofia, which is now the site of his monument in the centre of the capital.