Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

Bulgarians pay homage to revolutionary Captain Petko Voyvoda

Monument to Captain Petko Voyvoda in Haskovo
Photo: BTA

On February 7, Bulgaria pay homage to the deed of prominent Bulgarian revolutionary Petko Voivode who fought against the Ottomans in the Rhodopes and Aegean Thrace. The voivode participated at the Russo-Turkish War of 1878 as part of a detachment of rebels. After Bulgaria’s liberation, Petko Voivode received order for bravery from Russian Emperor Alexander ІІ. 

Born in the village of Doganhisar, in Aegean Thrace, Petko Kirkov became a haiduk in his early youth and organized a detachment of Bulgarians, Greeks and even Turks who were rebelling against the Ottoman oppressor. He participated actively in Bulgaria's War of Liberation.

He has remained in Bulgarian history as a brave guardian and protector of the poor and oppressed.

In the autumn of 1864, he was summoned by the Greeks to take part in their struggle against Turkey. Then he left for Macedonia where he participated in the organization of revolutionary activities and then left for Italy. In early 1866, he met with Guiseppe Garibaldi and stayed at his home. Both organized the famous "Garibaldi Battalion" which fought in the Cretan Revolution.

The big patriot and fighter for freedom of all Balkan nations died on February 1, 1900 in Varna

Today, descendants of Bulgarians from the Thrace region from two organizations - the independent Thracian association "Dogan Hisar" and the Georgi Sapunarov Thracian association paid homage to the revolutionary and put wreaths and flowers at his monument in the town of Haskovo.




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

An international forum on the Cyrillic alphabet to oppose the distortion of Bulgaria's past

"It was in the Bulgarian lands that the disciples of Cyril and Methodius created literary centres that made Bulgaria a second centre of Orthodox civilisation after Byzantium. Here was the foundation and the root from which the pan-Slavic culture drew..

published on 6/28/24 3:43 PM
Elmala Baba Teke

The dervishes in the Bulgarian lands – legends and mysteries from Bivolyane village

According to Ottoman documents around 500 dervishes once lived around what is today the village of Bivolyane in Momchilgrad municipality, trained at Elmala Baba Teke, a religious centre once famed as the biggest Dervish centre in this part of the..

published on 6/26/24 8:00 AM
Assoc. Prof. Spas Tashev

Eurointegration will not be among the top priorities of the newly elected government of North Macedonia

Holy Spirit Monday is also celebrated in Bulgaria as Macedonia Day. The tradition dates back to the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising (1903), originally it was the Day of the Struggle for the Liberation of Macedonia and Adrianople, and after the First World..

published on 6/24/24 12:31 PM