Unique photos of the Russian-Turkish War - at the Presidential Library’s multimedia exhibition

March 15, 2018 the Presidential Library hosted the grand opening of the multimedia exhibition "Forgotten photos of the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878", timed to the national holiday of Bulgaria - the Day of Liberation from Ottoman rule and the 140th anniversary of the Treaty of San Stefano.

According to Director General of the Presidential Library Alexander Vershinin, such multimedia exhibitions are one of the most common ways of showing documents from the Presidential Library's collections. He also recalled that at the end of the XIX century the very first photo exposition was opened in the Russian Empire in the historical building of Synod, where the Presidential Library is now housed.

Consul General of the Republic of Bulgaria in St. Petersburg Svetlozar Panov stressed that the photos presented at the exhibition were direct evidence of historical events, as a result of which Bulgaria gained its independence and restored statehood. These photographs, the diplomat noted, remind us of the representatives of two fraternal peoples who heroically fought for the freedom of Bulgaria shoulder to shoulder.

Visitors of the exhibition can see unique photos on the plasma panels of the first-floor gallery of the Presidential Library. These are 60 works from the Russian State Archive of Film and Photo Documents and the Archives of the City of Rijeka (Croatia). The most vivid events of 1877-1878 come to life on the ancient images, revealing the heroic pages of Russian and Bulgarian history before the audience.

The authors of the photographs are outstanding chroniclers of the Russo-Turkish War: a subject of the Russian Empire, photographer A. D. Ivanov and court photographer of the prince of Romania Carol I Franz Dushek. To a wide viewer the images became available thanks to the work of the Bulgarian artist and photographer Ivo Hadjimishev, who digitized and restored them.

The exhibition will run until April 12, 2018. To visit the exposition, you should first pre-register by phone (812) 334-25-14 or send an email to: excursion@prlib.ru.

View the multimedia exhibition