the city, on its outskirts, in one of the "most wholesome" and "most hygienic” places. The building was finally completed after the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1880–1881, when its middle part was finished and a number of structural improvements were made. However, on August 26, 1873 the high school moved to a new place and thus became the first school to have its own, specially built building. The class of 1873 was the first complete class to graduate from the school. The inherited tradition, the good teachers and the material base enabled the school to keep its position as one of the most elite in the country even after the Liberation. On August 12, 1878, the high school was declared state-owned. A little later, on July 20, 1889, on the occasion of the solemn celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vasil Aprilov, it adopted the name "State Men's Aprilov High School". The school's staff consisted of prominent pedagogues, specialists and public figures such as Trayko Kitanchev, Tsvetan Radoslavov, Evtim Dabev, Ivan Urumov, Stanimir Stanimirov, Sava Sirmanov and others. At the school they expand their pedagogical experience and had the opportunity to implement new educational ideas. Some of them were authors and translators of text- and handbooks. The high school drew students from all over Bulgaria. According to data for the first four school years after the Liberation, it was the largest secondary school in the country. More than 183 of the students came from lands outside of Bulgaria's borders, from Macedonia and Western Thrace to Romania. Among its graduates are some of the leading Bulgarian intellectuals and public figures such as Aleko Konstantinov, Nikola Mihov, Stoyan Romanski, Anastas Ishirkov, Petko Staynov and others. As early as September, 1916, the high school became mixed. In the years after September 9, 1944, the school retained its leading place in the Bulgarian educational system. It changed its educational profile several times. After 1987 In 1988, the school acquired a new status, becoming a high school with a humanitarian profile, which studies subjects such as literature, history, philosophy and arts. Initially, the program contained elements of classical education such as the study of Old Bulgarian and Latin, the history of culture and the history of philosophy. A few years later, the study of ancient languages dropped out of the program with the aim that the foreign language profile is strengthened. In