I am happy to submit my entry in the Multitopics contest. I also invite you to join and post in the Multitopics community. More about the contest you will find in the post [ESP-ENG] Concurso Multitopics - Semana 9 🗿 Estatuas o Monumentos - Statues or Monuments 🗿 Multitopics Contest - Week 9. The contest is run by 
Now it is time to show some monuments and or statues. I will lead you through different places and will share some of the photos I have made in my hometown as well as during my travels.
Varna, Bulgaria
I will start with the statue of Mahatma Gandhi.
The statue is placed in the center of my hometown Varna. The sculptor is Ram Vanji Sutar and the statue is a present from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and the Government of India to commemorate the Gandhi's 150th anniversary.
One more look from another angle.
The next one, unknown author and mermaid perhaps or forest fairy. I really don't know, but it looks interesting. It stands in the Sea Garden.
Sofia, Bulgaria
The symbol of our capital city is the statue of St. Sofia. It is 8 m high and put on top of 14 m pedestal and situated in the center of the city. The sculptor is Georgi Chapkanov. The wreath in the right hand symbolizes fame and the owl on the left arm - the wisdom, the crown is the power. Sofia in Greek means wisdom.
Interesting to point out that the figure is more like a pagan goddess with erotic elements, rather than a Christian saint and the Orthodox church was against the statue to be named saint. The argument of the author is that the statue belongs to all citizens, not to the church only.
A statue of a dancer I presume, amidst the fountain. The water spalshes and washes the statue and my aim was to freeze the drops.
And the last image from Sofia is the lion monument.
Let's move on and find out what kind of statues and monuments I have photographed from other countries.
Istanbul, Turkey
During short business trip some seven years ago I had few hours to kill before the flight. Together with my colleague we did a short sightseeing tour of our own. The image above is the Republic Monument in Taksim Square.
Bangkok, Thailand
Visiting my son and his girlfriend two years ago I asked them to show me a temple. The choice was the Temple of Dawn, Wat Arun -an impressive building and architecture. The statues of ancient Chinese warriors surrounded the temple like guards. The grey colour of these statues contrasted with the bright colours of the temple behind. Each one has its own characteristics and features.
Vienna, Austria
It was in 2005 when I had short visit in Vienna. The photos I took then were just a few, but among them I found two that suit well for the post.
The first one is The Emperor Franz Monument. Faith, peace, justice and power are represented by the four women on each corner.
I have to admit I did not know what this is back in time, so I googled it.
Next is the famous Plague column. It was then covered with net and I guess for some maintenance. Little did I know about this monument at that time. I start reading about it now and it has quite a story. Being elaborated by the royal family when the plague in 17th century was over, because the emperor promised to build such column if the epedemic would end, although the royals fled the city to save their lives and returned when all was over.
And that is the end of my world tour with statues and monuments. Thank you for your time viewing my post. Hope you enjoyed the different cultural elements shown in every statue and monument.
Wish you splendid weekend!
P.S. Since I post by mistake in the Feathered Friends Community, let me add something more about the statues, but with birds involved.
When I photographed the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, I did this one too of a seagull next to another one. The statue itself was not very much attractive, but the bird posed nicely.
And another one standing on the head of another statue.
Thank you for viewing.
If you like to share your thoughts you can leave a comment.
