Petko Karavelov Boulevard in Sofia's Ivan Vazov district was named after one of the outstanding statesmen and democrats of Bulgaria.

Karavelov was born in 1843 in the town of Koprivshtitsa (central Bulgaria at the foot of Stara Planina). His brother was the prominent revolutionary and writer Lyuben Karavelov. The future prime minister finished his primary education in his hometown and completed secondary school in Moscow after which he was accepted as a student in the departments of history, philosophy and law at the Moscow University.

Karavelov came back to Bulgaria during the Russian-Turkish War in 1877-1878. Initially, he was appointed a vice-governor of the town of Vidin (northwestern Bulgaria, on the Danube) in 1878, and a district governor of the town of Turnovo (central Bulgaria).

His career as a statesman began in 1879 when he was elected a member of Parliament in the Constituent Assembly. Together with Dragan Tsankov and Petko Slaveikov, Karavelov headed the Liberal movement which fought for the democratic character of the first republican constitution of Bulgaria - the Turnovo Constitution. After the dissolving of the Constituent Assembly, Karavelov continued his social and political activities and became one of the leaders of the Liberal Party.

He was elected Minister of Finance in the government of Dragan Tsankov in 1880. In the span of one year, Karavelov was a prime minister, a Minister of Finance and head of the Ministry of Justice in the second liberal government of Bulgaria. He openly opposed the authoritarian manoeuvres of Prince Alexander Battenberg who suspended the Turnovo Constitution in 1881 because its democratic norms were in contrast with his concept of a strong royal power. As a result, the monarch obtained absolute power for himself for the next three years. Being one of the prince's most fervent opponents, Karavelov was persecuted and forced to emigrate to Eastern Rumelia in 1881. While in the province, Karavelov continued to work for promoting liberal ideas and consolidating the local structures of the Liberal Party.

In 1884, after Alexander Battenberg restored the Constitution under the high pressure of the liberals, Karavelov returned to the Principality of Bulgaria and was again appointed prime minister. In 1886, Karavelov chaired the provisional government after the dethroning of Prince Battenberg and was also appointed a member of the Regency. Due to a series of disagreements with the other two regents, and especially with Stefan Stambolov, Karavelov was forced to submit his resignation as a regent.

He again suffered cruel persecutions because he opposed the anti-Russian tendencies in the foreign policy of the Regency as well as the Stambolov cabinet.

In February 1887, Karavelov was arrested and accused of organizing a coup d'etat and later sent to prison for several months. He spent his sentence in the building of the Black Mosque in Sofia, which was turned into a prison, where he was severely tortured.

After the assassination of minister Hristo Belchev in March 1891, Karavelov was arrested again under charges of instigation and sentenced to jail for many years. After three years of imprisonment under severe conditions, he was granted amnesty in 1894. Under the new political situation in the country, he quickly reentered political life and was consecutively elected a member of Parliament in the Eighth, Ninth, 10th and 11th National Assemblies in the period between 1894 and 1901. In the meantime, he founded the Democratic Party in 1896 and chaired it until his death. Karavelov once again returned to the highest ranks of state governance in 1901 when he became prime minister, minister of finance, and minister of national enlightenment.

The long years in prison, however, and the difficult conditions of life there, seriously deteriorated Karavelov's health. At some point he had to leave the country and look for medical help abroad. Due to his health problems, he even conducted some party meetings from his home.

On January 24, 1903, Karavelov died unexpectedly in his home in Sofia. He was buried in the yard of the building of the Black Mosque where he spent his four-year prison sentence. Today the building is the Sveti Sedmochislenitsi Church (on the corner of Graf Ignatiev St. and Ivan Shishman St.).