San Stefano Street - shortly to become home to The Sofia Echo's new office - was named in 1883 after the small Turkish town of San Stefano.

The town will forever stand out in Bulgarian history as a symbol of the country's independence.

On March 3, 1878 in San Stefano, known today as Yesilkoy, close to the Turkish capital, the Russian ambassador to the Ottoman Empire Count Nickolay Ignatiev, his colleague Alexander Nelidov and representatives of the Turkish Sultan, Safvet pasha and Sadullah bey, put their signatures to a preliminary peace treaty.

It marked the final stage of the war for the liberation of the Balkan peoples from the rule of the Ottoman Empire - the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878.

Under the terms of the treaty the independence of Serbia, Montenegro, Romania, and Bulgaria was recognised, and Russia received the right to occupy Bulgaria for two years. In addition, Turkey was to surrender the Ardahan, Kars, Batum, and Bayazid areas to Russia and pay a large indemnity.

In six articles the Peace Treaty of San Stefano settled the future of Bulgaria as an autonomous vassal kingdom with Christian government, its own administration and army. According to the treaty Bulgaria's borders encompassed a territory of 160,000 square km. It included South Dobrudza up to the line of Cherna Voda - Mangalia, Northern and Southern Bulgaria, Thrace (without the Odrin and Gyumyurdzina regions), Macedonia (without the Thessaloniki region and the Halkidiki Peninsula) and Pirot. Northern Dobrudza was given to Romania as a compensation for the participation of its troops in the liberation of Bulgaria, and because Besarabia was given to Russia. Part of the western Bulgarian territories became Serbian.

Bulgaria's territories included the predominant part of the lands in which, according to the decree of the Sultan of 1870 for an independent Bulgarian exarchate, the Bulgarians were officially recognised as an independent ethnic community within the Ottoman Empire.

The San Stefano Treaty lent reality to the Bulgarian dream of an independent state. March 3, the birthday of revived Bulgaria with its San Stefano borders, is celebrated as a national holiday.

The treaty terms, however, caused alarm to other European powers, especially Austria-Hungary and Great Britain, because of the growth of Russia's power and of the independence of the states created in the Balkans. They insisted the treaty be modified.

Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister Count Gyula Andrassy invited the European powers concerned to meet in Berlin. On July 3, 1878, the Congress of Berlin gathered representatives of Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, Great Britain, France, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire, who revised the terms of the treaty of San Stefano. Prince Otto von Bismarck, chancellor of the German Empire, was presiding.

At the congress the Treaty of San Stefano was virtually abrogated, and the Treaty of Berlin was drawn up, with conditions much less favourable for Russia. The new treaty reaffirmed the principle that the status of the Ottoman Empire was to be decided by the powers jointly and not unilaterally. It also reaffirmed the principle of nationalism for the Balkan peoples. Serbia and Montenegro were given independence from the Turks, although the territory granted them by the Treaty of San Stefano was considerably reduced. Romania gained its independence from the Turks, but Russia acquired the southern Bessarabian region of Romania, for which Romania was compensated with the Dobrudzha territory, a former Turkish region. Russia also received the territories of Batum (now Batumi), Kars, and Ardahan. The two Turkish provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina were mandated to Austria-Hungary.

Bulgaria was divided into three parts, and two of which were placed under Turkish control. A small autonomous principality was named Kingdom of Bulgaria and included the lands north of the Balkan Range (Stara Planina) and the Sofia region. Eastern Rumelia, which included today's southern Bulgaria, was made subject to the sultan. Macedonia remained a Turkish province.

As a result of the Treaty of Berlin, the Ottoman Empire lost most of its European territory, Russian influence was reduced in the Middle East, and the power of Austria-Hungary and Great Britain was increased. The Balkan countries and Russia were not satisfied with what they had obtained by the treaty. The tensions thus created in the Balkans and the Middle East were among the contributing causes of the First World War.