The Portal-Monument to Varna’s 8th Coastal Infantry Regiment is unique in the Balkans, as it is dedicated to a single regiment. The names of all 2,850 fallen officers and soldiers are engraved in gold on 42 commemorative slabs. After World War II, two slabs bearing the names of 50 fallen citizens of Varna were included. A barracks was built nearby in 1898, and in 1934 Colonel Dimkov proposed the construction of a portal-shaped monument beside it.
The monument has a symmetrical design with a central part and two lateral sections. The central section is shaped like a triumphal arch with a pointed top; above the opening, a bronze inscription reads, “Eternal glory to those who fell in the name of the Motherland.” Two side inscriptions mark the years 1912–1913 and 1915–1918. The lateral sections are tall rectangular columns, at the base of which stand two stone soldiers by sculptor Cyril Shivarov, keeping eternal guard. On the opposite side, two stone maps show the regiment’s victorious marches during the Balkan and First World Wars.
The Portal-Monument was inaugurated on November 15, 1936, and now stands on one of Varna’s main streets, named after the 8th Coastal Infantry Regiment.
GPS: 43.213681, 27.925498
