On January 6, Bulgaria marks 172 years since the birth of the great Bulgarian poet and revolutionary Hristo Botev with ceremonies performed by the representative military units. Hristo Botev died in 1876 at the age of only 28 during the April Uprising against the Ottoman Rule. 

In the midst of the uprising the Bulgarian revolutionary formed a military detachment consisting of over 200 Bulgarian emigrants in Romania who moored on the bank of the Danube River onboard the historic steamship Radetzky to help the Bulgarians who had risen against the Ottomans. Three days later, Botev’s detachment was broken by Bashi-bazouks and Hristo Botev was killed in an epic battle near the Okolchitsa Peak close to the town of Vratsa. 

The whole of Europe learned about Botev’s deed, which caused a large wave of solidarity with the Bulgarian people who were fighting for their freedom.