On May 26, 1876, on his way to Romania after the defeat of the April Uprising, the revolutionary Panayot Volov drowned while trying to cross the turbulent waters of the Yantra River. Panayot Volov was a prominent figure in the national revolutionary movement under the pseudonym Petar Vankov. He was among the initiators, founders and main figures of the Gjurgovski Revolutionary Committee and the April Uprising.
He was born in 1850 or 1851 in Shumen into a craftsman's family. He graduated from the Shumen Class School under Dobri Voynikov. With the financial support of his wealthy relative Marincho Benli, he continued his studies in Bucharest, Bolgrad, Odessa and Nikolaev (1869-1873).
Six months before graduating from the South Slavic boarding school in Nikolaev (Ukraine), he was forced to return to Shumen due to illness. He was appointed head teacher and director of the class school, organized an evening school, and actively participated in the activities of the local community center. He was chairman of the Shumen Private Revolutionary Committee and, as its representative in August 1874, participated in the general meeting of the Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee (BRCC) in Bucharest.
He was arrested and imprisoned in early 1875 for his participation in the sharp conflict between local youth and European engineers involved in the construction of the Caspian-Shumen-Yambol railway. Panayot Volov became the leader of the disgruntled Shumen residents who thwarted the wedding of a French engineer and a local girl. After several months in prison, he was released and left for Romania.
Volov participated in the preparation of the Stara Zagora Uprising in September 1875. He was appointed an apostle and acted in the Lovech and Troyan regions. After the failure of the uprising, he was one of the founders and main figures of the Gjurgovski Revolutionary Committee. He was appointed the chief apostle of the Fourth Plovdiv Revolutionary District with Georgi Benkovski as his assistant.
As a result of their organizational work, dozens of revolutionary committees were created. The organization included many local patriots who made a great contribution to the uprising. After the emergence of contradictions in the leadership, he showed will and tact and in the name of the common cause gave up the leadership to Georgi Benkovski.
Panayot Volov was one of the initiators of the convening of the general meeting of the committees of the Fourth District in the Oborishte area near Panagyurishte and took an active part in it.
When the uprising broke out, he was in Panagyurishte and together with the other apostles raised the population to revolt. He formed a detachment with which he toured the region of Koprivshtitsa, Karlovo, Klisura, etc. After the defeat of the uprising, he headed for Romania together with Georgi Ikonomov and Stoyan Angelov.
Georgi Ikonomov unofficially took over the leadership of the group, surviving revolutionaries. He divided it into several parts and each took the path of salvation or destruction. Having crossed the Balkans, having escaped numerous losses, Ikonomov, Panayot Volov and Stoyan Angelov saw a Turkish guard not far from the famous Belen Bridge at the mouth of the Kolyo Ficheto.
They tried to bypass it, but were betrayed by local Bulgarians. In a shootout with the Turks, Volov was wounded. He tried to swim across the Yantra River near the town of Byala, Ruse region, but drowned.
Ikonomov also met his death here. Near this place, near the roundabout by the Belen Bridge, a monument has now been erected in memory of the apostles.