The monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi, located in the square named after him in the center of Sofia, was officially inaugurated on June 13, 2010. This monument portrays the revolutionary figure on horseback, brandishing a saber, with the horse reared up on its hind legs. The bronze composition is set upon a stone pedestal. This striking monument was a generous gift to Sofia from the Italian Embassy in Bulgaria and was crafted by the Bulgarian sculptor Georgi Chapkanov.
Giuseppe Garibaldi, a key political figure in Italy, played a pivotal role in the country’s unification and the Italian revolution. Additionally, as a patriot and revolutionary, he openly expressed his support for the Bulgarian national liberation struggles before Bulgaria’s Liberation and championed the Bulgarian cause in Italy. Garibaldi, born on July 4, 1807, in Nice, joined Giuseppe Mazzini’s secret society “Young Italy” in 1833. That same year, he participated in planning an uprising in Piedmont, but after its failure, he fled and was sentenced to death in absentia. From 1836 to 1847, he actively engaged in the national liberation wars in Latin America.
Garibaldi emerged as a leader of the revolutionary-democratic faction within the national liberation movement, advocating for the unification of Italy. In 1860, he spearheaded the “Expedition of the Thousand,” which liberated the southern part of Italy and secured the triumph of the Italian Revolution of 1859-1860. In 1862 and 1867, he attempted to liberate Rome from Papal rule through armed resistance. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, he volunteered on the side of France. Garibaldi passed away in 1882 in Caprera, Italy.
