WHERE MEMORY LIVES: KOPRIVSHTITSA’S TRIBUTE TO LYUBEN KARAVELOV
Études balkaniques (Sofia) 2026, N 2, pp. 409-430
DOI: https://doi.org/10.62761/645.EB.LXII2.07
Eleonora NAXIDOU 
Democritus University of Thrace, Greece
E-mail: enaxidou@hs.duth.gr
Abstract: Heroes occupy an important place in national historiography, especially those who contributed to the creation of national states either as intellectuals spreading national ideals or as revolutionaries – or both. Their presence is not only evident in the official national narrative but also in public history, public spaces, literature, cinema, etc. In this context, the places where national heroes were born, lived, and acted – especially when located within the national state – are elevated to sites of memory, where their remembrance is kept alive by the community in various ways: museums, statues, photographic exhibitions, street and public building names, the organization of commemorative events, conferences, and so on. This paper examines how Karavelov is remembered in his birthplace, Koprivshtitsa by drawing on two analytical frameworks. His case offers an illustrative example of both collective memory, as theorized by Maurice Halbwachs, and lieux de memoire, as conceptualized by Pierre Nora.
Keywords: Koprivshtitsa, Karavelov, national memory, collective memory, lieux de memoire