A favourite meeting spot and the starting point for any tour of Varna, the cathedral is the city's main landmark. It was built at the end of the 19th Century, of cut stones from the ruined fortress walls. Because insufficient funds for its construction were gathered from donations, the municipality held a lottery, thus raising a further 300,000 leva from its citizens. The iconostasis was made by Ivan Filipov, a master craftsman from Debur, and most of the icons were presented as a gift from Russian Tzar Nicholas II, in 1901. The day of the Virgin Mary's assumption into heaven, 15 August, is still the official holiday of the city of Varna.