Bulgaria’s Panagyurishte Marks 133 Years since April Uprising against Ottoman Empire

Local people played out the events on April 20, 1876, when Bulgaria's April Uprising against the Ottoman Turkish Empire was declared. Photo by BGNES

The southern Bulgarian town of Panagyurishte started Friday the remembrance events marking the 133 Year since the start of the so called April Uprising against the Ottoman Empire.

Despite the rain thousands of Panagyurishte residents and guests, including representatives of the official Bulgarian institutions attended the first day of the events to honor the memory of the Bulgarian heroes, who on April 20 (May 3 according to the Gregorian Calendar), 1876, started Bulgaria's largest rebellion in its fight for freedom from the empire of Ottoman Turkey.

The celebrations of the first day of remembrance ended with spectacular fireworks Friday night. Before that, however, thousands of people watched the theatrical restoration of the historical events at the time of the declaration of the April Uprising in which locals in traditional costumes played out in the open the event that took place on April 20, 1876.

Panagyurishte was the main town of the Fourth Revolutionary District of the Bulgarian Secret Revolutionary Network in 1876.

As the organizers in the other three districts were unsuccessful at spurring large-scale actions, Panagyurishte became the de facto capital of the April Uprising in which several thousand badly armed rebels defended the Provisional Government for ten days before Ottoman Turkish forces crushed them suppressing the rebellion with extreme violence.

The violent suppression of the April Uprising ultimate led the Russian Empire to declare war on the Ottoman Empire, and to liberate Bulgaria. However, this was only possible after the American journalist writing for the British press, Januarius MacGahan, and the US consul in Constantinople, Eugene Schyuler, made the atrocities known all around Europe and the world.

 

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