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Address Bunardjika, Бунарджика, 4000 Plovdiv, Bulgaria Hours Open today · Open 24 hoursMondayOpen 24 hoursTuesdayOpen 24 hoursWednesdayOpen 24 hoursThursdayOpen 24 hoursFriday(Bulgaria Liberation Day)Open 24 hoursHours might differSaturdayOpen 24 hoursSundayOpen 24 hours Similar Plovdiv Regional Ethnogra, Ancient Stadium of Philipopolis, Plovdiv Roman theatre, Asen's Fortress, Monument to the Soviet Ar | ||
Alyosha (an affectionate diminutive of Aleksey) is an 11-metre (36-foot) tall reinforced concrete statue of a Soviet soldier on Bunarjik Hill in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The statue tops a 6-metre (20-foot) pedestal lined with granite. The memorial commemorates Soviet casualties incurred during the Soviet occupation of Bulgaria (which had been an Axis ally) in World War II. It was installed in 1954-57.
"Alyosha" is also the name of Konstantin Vanshenkin and Eduard Kolmanovski's song that was adopted as Plovdiv's official anthem until 1989. A well-known poem about the Plovdiv Soldier was written by Robert Rozhdestvensky.
Plovdiv authorities sought to have the statue removed on at least two occasions, in 1989 and 1996. The 1989 decision led to a preservation campaign which included a guard by the statue day and night in order to prevent it from being demolished.
Alyosha Skurlatov, a soldier of the 3rd Ukrainian Front who served as the model for this statue, died in 2013 at the age of 91.