Koprivshtitsa marks 148 years since the outbreak of the April Uprising

In 1876, the April Uprising broke out. The celebrations this year started last night in Klisura, and today Koprivshtitsa - the then centre of the uprising, in remembrance of the Bulgarian National Revival period will mark with a big the show called "First Rifle" the anniversary, reports the BGNES reporter, who will follow the events live on April 20 Square.

The April uprising is ours, the Bulgarian revolution, which turns out to have won, regardless of the suppression of the uprising. The feverish preparation made an impression on the local Muslims and the Ottoman authorities. However, they received reliable information about the "preparations" from a participant, whose name as a traitor was erased from the monument in the area.

Gendarmerie units were sent from Pazardzhik to Koprivshtitsa and Panagyurishte to arrest the instigators of the "peaceful protesters". During an attempt to capture Todor Kableshkov, the Koprivshten operatives attacked and chased away the sent Turkish military with weapons. The Mudurin (the local ruler - ed.note) was killed, and revolutionary power was established in the town. With the ringing of church bells and the thunder of rifles, Kableshkov sent the famous "Bloody Letter" to Panagyurishte. The letter was carried by 19-year-old Georgi Salchev, who traveled the 5-hour journey from Koprivshtitsa to Panagyurishte in just 2 hours.

Out of 95 villages and towns in revolt, only about 10,000 men armed with firearms participated in the uprising. There are many reasons for the bloody and tragic end of the April Uprising, but it is entirely Bulgarian work, its preparation and outbreak were not supported by any external force.

The apostles and those who died in the uprising remain in Bulgarian history not as martyrs, but as heroes, who with their youth, with their education, with the selflessness of their self-sacrifice and 148 years after these heroic events, as an unattainable dream for Bulgarians. This unattainable dream has been going on for centuries, together with the predecessors of Kableshkov, Benkovski, Bacho Kiro - Rakovski, Levski and a month later, Hristo Botev, who died heroically. /BGNES