Marking the anniversary of the excution Bulgarian poet and revolutionary Nikola Vaptsarov on July 23 1942, Deputy Culture Minister Ivan Tokadjiev and descendants of Vaptsarov's family unveiled a Shrine to Poetry on July 23 2008.

The mosaiqued open-triangular monument can be seen on 39 Blvd Bulgaria, at the site of the former garrison shooting range where Vaptsarov was shot dead, near the present-day Hilton Hotel in Sofia.

At the ceremony, speakers included the film director and writer Maya Borissova Vaptsarova, niece of the poet Vaptsarov, and Vaptsarova's grandson Nikola Nikolov Vaptsarov.

Vaptsarova, who is executive director of Foundation Vaptsarova Vyara (Faith), said that Bulgaria could be proud because of the many Bulgarian poets who had given their life for their country, and that we, the current generations, had nothing more powerful than to “take up the weapon of the poet – the plume”.

In the past, Vaptsarova has said that in shooting down poets, it is also values that are killed, values without which a culture dies. “We are obligated as a nation to nourrish our cultural memory,” she wrote on the Culture Ministry's website.

After a reading of Vaptsarov's poem Prolet (Пролет/Spring), Tokadjiev said that the location chosen for the monument represented a demonstration of a strong Bulgarian spirit who never ceased loving his country.

“Poets are like great mountains – they give a deep echo,” he said. “To live means to create something that survives you.”

Tokadjiev then thanked Todor Batkov, president of the board of directors of the daily paper Standart, for the idea for the Shrine to Poetry and for financing the project; and Plovdiv-based sculptor George Trak for giving life to the idea. In addition, the initative was supported by 36 writers unions from around the world.

Sharing his thoughts on the event, Batkov said that he hoped that such initiatives would encourage the young people of Bulgaria to think more optimistically about their future, and that they would have a love for their homeland.

A reading of Ivan Vazov's Moite pesni (Мойте песни/My Verses), the refrain from which has been inscribed on the floor of the shrine, was followed by the women's choral from Petar Baron Chitalishte (community centre) singing national songs.

Sofia's Shrine to Poetry is the first such monument dedicated to poetry in the world; its first stone was laid on July 23 2007. Plans foresee it as being the starting point for an eventual Allée of Poetry, itself a site for and of memory and recollection.

When, in 2009, Bulgaria will celebrate 100 years since the birth of the poet Vaptsarov, a bell tower with an eternal flame will be erected on the site. Its bells will toll on the anniversary of his death.