Over 200 Thracian children murdered 113 years ago in the area of “Ilieva Niva“ in the Eastern Rhodopes should be canonized as saints. This proposal was submitted to the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church by the Union of Thracian Societies and the Thracian Scientific Institute, bTV reported.
This became clear during the National Youth Thracian Council “Ilieva Niva“ – 2026, dedicated to 30 years since the opening of the Memorial Complex and united by the message: “Memory – Spirituality – Continuity“.
At the pilgrimage to “Ilieva Niva“ Today, the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, Iliana Yotova, is present, calling the place soaked in blood “the Golgotha of the Thracian children“.
“And if we have learned our lesson, one of them is – to remember. And let us not close the great book of the glorious Bulgarian history, in which every page has tragedy, but there is also greatness“, with these words the President of the Republic of Bulgaria addressed the people who came to the National Youth Thracian Assembly.
“We know what memory is. For 113 years, we have been passing this memory on from generation to generation“, Yotova also said in her speech.
Before “Ilieva Niva“ the president visited the Antique Villa “Armira“, where she was welcomed by the Mayor of Ivaylovgrad Municipality Diana Ovcharova.
Yotova toured the villa and attended a concert by the choir “Canticus de Oris“, conducted by Doris Hoffman.