On the 3rd of March, Bulgaria celebrates a national holiday. It was on this day in 1878, in the Istanbul suburb of San Stefano, that a peace treaty was signed between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, which put an end to the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. Bulgarians call it the Liberation War. Since 1880, March 3 has been celebrated as the Day of Bulgaria’s Liberation from the Ottoman Empire. In 1990, this date was declared a national holiday.
The cooperation of the Museum-Reserve with the Bulgarian side began even before the opening of the museum. In 1969, the director of the Museum-Reserve, Alisa Ivanovna Aksyonova, met the first secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party, Todor Zhivkov, who visited Suzdal, and told him about the plans to establish a museum of the Stoletovs. She also asked for help in selecting exhibits. Bulgarian friends responded to the request, and the museum received a large number of priceless exhibits — both from museum organizations and from ordinary Bulgarian citizens.
The opening ceremony of the museum was attended by the military attaché of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of Bulgaria, Lieutenant General Karakachanov. Since the opening of the House-Museum, Bulgarian official delegations and tourists from this country have frequently visited the museum, and Bulgarian military personnel who studied at officer courses in Vladimir celebrated national holidays there.
The medal on the occasion of the centenary of the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman yoke was established on February 22, 1978. It was issued at the Bulgarian Mint in two versions: the table medal with a diameter of 60 millimeters for awarding settlements, and the chest medal with a diameter of 34 millimeters for citizens of the country and foreigners. The award was designed by the Bulgarian medalists Valentin Starchev and Marko Markov. On the front side there is a symbolic composition of a number of rifle bayonets pointing upwards, breaking the chain. At the top left, the date of the end of the war is stamped — 1878. On the reverse side in the center there is an inscription — “100 years of the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman yoke March 3, 1878 — March 3, 1978“.
By decree of the State Council of the People’s Republic of Bulgaria, the House-Museum of the Stoletovs was awarded the medal on display for great services in strengthening Bulgarian-Soviet friendship, comprehensive cooperation and rapprochement between the People’s Republic of Bulgaria and the Soviet Union. In April 1980, Bulgarian Ambassador Dimitar Zhulev presented this medal to the creator of the exhibition Liya Romanovna Gorelik and Director Alisa Ivanovna Aksyonova during his visit to Vladimir.
