The Freedom Monument on Shipka Peak is a tall stone tower on a bare summit, with a bronze lion carved into the base and a wide, wild view in every direction. It stands at about 1,300 metres above the pass, and it was completed in the 1930s to honour the men who fought and died in the defence of Shipka in 1877 and 1878. Reaching the top means climbing a long staircase of some nine hundred steps, which is a serious effort in motorcycle gear, and most riders are content to look at it from the car park and take a few photographs.
The monument commemorates the Russian soldiers and the Bulgarian volunteers, the opalchentsi, who held the pass against Ottoman forces. The peak is named for the Russian general Nikolai Stoletov, who commanded the defence in the first battle, and the Bulgarian volunteers were among the first soldiers of the modern Bulgarian state. In the winter that followed the main fighting, hundreds of Russian soldiers froze to death in their trenches, and the contrast between the quiet green slopes now and the brutal winter of 1877 is difficult to hold in the mind. Inside the monument there is a small hall with names and memorials, and from the top, the view over the Valley of Roses, with its rows of fields and the town of Kazanlak, is magnificent.
The road up from the pass is short and steep, with tight hairpins in the forest, and a surface that has suffered from frost. There is a car park at the foot of the stairs, and a few stalls sell drinks and souvenirs. At weekends and holidays, school groups and veterans' parties gather at the foot of the steps, and on national days, the peak is full of flags and speeches. Weather on the summit is often cold and misty, and the wind can be strong enough to make you lean on the railings.
The forest around the memorial is beech and fir, with some rare plants and a few deer and wild boar that you are unlikely to see. The smell of damp earth and resin is strong after rain. The best time to visit is a clear morning in late spring or early autumn, when the haze has not yet formed and the light is good for photography.
Shipka, about four kilometres from the monument, is a small town with basic facilities, and Gabrovo, fourteen kilometres away, is the nearest large town with proper stations and supermarkets. Take water, wear a layer and give yourself time to take the steps slowly if you do decide to climb them.