G. S. Rakovski Bolhrad Gymnasium, Bolhrad
The oldest gymnasium of the Bulgarian National Revival, founded in 1858; now a lyceum on 28 Chervnia Square in Bolhrad.
According to an article by the Bulgarian researcher T. Karaivanova (2018), Prince Nikola Bogoridi issued a decree (chrysobull) on the opening of the school on 10 (22) June 1858. The ESU writes that in 1858 a central school (gymnasium) was opened in Bolhrad with a printing house that published books and textbooks in Bulgarian — 62 titles, 19 of them written by the gymnasium's founder Sava Radulov; the printing house also issued journals and newspapers. According to landmarks.in.ua, on 1 May 1859 the school was reorganised as the Cyril and Methodius Gymnasium, with Sava Radulov as its first director; it was the first Bulgarian secondary general education institution. The first building was consecrated on 5 December 1871. Among its graduates is the first rector of Sofia University. On 30 March 2026 in Kyiv the education ministers of Ukraine and Bulgaria signed a protocol guaranteeing the gymnasium's pupils education in Bulgarian.
1, 28 Chervnia Square, Bolhrad (landmarks.in.ua; ISUO). This is a working lyceum: on 1 September 2026, 42 first-graders started school here (bessarabiainform). The building can be viewed from outside; inside only by arrangement with the administration, tel. +380 4846 41 307 (mapcarta/OSM). There are no visiting hours or prices for tourists. The Cathedral of the Transfiguration (already in the catalogue) is about 200 m to the north-west.