Bulgaria's Parliament, Presidency Open Doors to Public on Saturday

The Parliament and Presidency building in Bulgaria's capital Sofia will be open to the public between 10:00 and 16:00 local time on Saturday.

Both buildings are hosting exhibitions on the occasion of two anniversaries - 143 years since the death of Bulgaria's national hero, Vasil Levski, dedicated his life to liberation from Ottoman rule, and 140 since the year when the so-called April Uprising began.

At the Presidency, the famous notebook of Vasil Levski can be seen, where he wrote some of this most important thoughts on freedom. Other personal belongings of Levski, including photographs and letters, dubbed the Apostle of Freedom, are also on display.

The National Assembly (Parliament) building will host an exhibition honoring the anniversary of the 1876 April Uprising and the life and death of both Levski and Hristo Botev, another legendary national hero and acclaimed poet.

Bulgaria marked on Friday the 143rd anniversary since Levski was hanged by Ottoman authorities.

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.