3rd March

3rd March is a very special day for Bulgaria, and is the national most important day. On this day Bulgaria celebrated the Liberty of the Ottoman yoke. The liberation of Bulgaria came as a result of the victory of Russia in the war declared on 12 April 1877. During the war, 12 battalions of more than 12000 Bulgarians joined the Russian army and fighted against the forces of Ottoman Empire. On March 3, 1878 a preliminary peace treaty was signed in San Stefano, near Constantinople. It included the restoration of an independent state of Bulgaria. And that is how Bulgaria regains its independence from Ottoman Empire.

On March 3, 1878 the Bulgarian people show their respect to the heroism of the Russian soldiers and the Bulgarian volunteers, who fought in the Russian-Turkish war 1877-1878, that put an end to the five centuries of foreign rule. Since 1990 the date March 3 is included in the list of Bulgaria's official holidays.