June 2, 1876, Hristo Botev was killed for the freedom of Bulgaria. The poet leads the best-armed and trained detachment of the April Uprising.
143 years ago, Hristo Botev was killed at the head of a detachment for the liberation of Bulgaria. The poet sets off for his Golgotha, writing to his wife from the ship "Radetzky":
My dear Veneto, Dimitre and Ivanke!
Forgive me that I did not tell you where I was going. The love I have for you makes me do this. I knew that you would cry, and your tears are very dear to me!
Veneto, you are my wife and you must listen to me and believe in everything. I pray to my friends not to leave you, and they must support you. God will preserve me, and if I live, then we will be the happiest in this world. If I die, then know that after my Fatherland I loved you the most, so look after Ivanka and remember the one who loved you.
H r i s t a
For a few days in May 1876, about 200 Bulgarians paid with blood for a free Bulgaria.
After the blow dealt to the Internal Revolutionary Organization by the hanging of Vasil Levski and the hesitations of Lyuben Karavelov, Hristo Botev took the helm of the BRCK.
After the outbreak of the uprising in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1875
The BRCK, under the leadership of Hristo Botev, began preparing for an uprising in Bulgaria as well. For this purpose, Botev was sent to Russia to collect funds and weapons for the uprising and to bring back the voivode Filip Totyu from there. The premature outbreak of the uprising and its failure led to serious disagreements in the BRCC. As a result, at the end of 1875 Botev resigned, which led to the dissolution of the organization, but he did not give up his revolutionary activities.
After the establishment of the Gjurgovski Revolutionary Committee, Botev also established contact with its members. In May 1876, he began editing his last newspaper, “Nova Bulgaria“, of which he managed to publish only one issue.
In May 1876, following the news of the April Uprising, Botev began organizing a detachment. From Giurgiu, he boarded the ship "Radetzky" with part of the detachment.
The detachment numbered 205 well-armed and trained Chetniks.
Hristo Botev was unanimously elected voivode, and Nikola Voinovski was elected military leader. Analyzing the development of the uprising in Bulgaria, the detachment's leadership decided to head to the Third Vratsa Revolutionary District, where there was a possibility of an uprising.
On June 29 at 11 a.m., Chetniks disguised in rebel clothing captured the "Radetzky". The voivode forced Captain Dagobert Englender to stop the steamer a few kilometers west of the village of Kozloduy. Hristo Botev and his detachment landed on the Bulgarian coast in battle formation with the flag waved by Nikola Simov-Kuroto, kissed their native land and set off towards immortality.
In their heroic march to the Balkans, which began on May 29, the detachment fought alone against the growing Turkish defeat. In the following days, it became clear that the expected uprising in the Vratsa district would not break out, which is why the command decided to withdraw the Chetniks to the Vratsa Balkans and take up positions on the peaks of Okolchitsa, Kupena and Kamarata.
On June 1, the enemy began frontal attacks,
which the Chetniks repelled with fire and counterattacks. The battle continued until the evening, when the Turks withdrew to their starting positions. Hristo Botev, together with his staff, took cover next to a small rock on the southeastern slope of Kamarata Peak.
During the conversation, Botev stood up to his full height to see where the detachment was. At that moment, a single shot rang out, fatally piercing the voivode. His unexpected death caused confusion among the Chetniks. The detachment was commanded by Nikola Voinovski. On June 2, the detachment fought its last battle as an organized combat unit in the Lyutibrod region. It then dispersed into small groups, which were destroyed by the pursuing Turkish detachment.
A group of 40 people led by Nikola Voinovski managed to cross the Iskar River and headed towards Razhana Mountain. Between the villages of Litakovo and Osenov Lak, they engaged in a fierce battle with a Turkish detachment and the group was dispersed. Nikola Voinovski with 15 Chetniks managed to reach the Troyan Balkan. On June 13 and 14, they were ambushed in the land of the village of Chiflik. In the unequal battle, the remaining Chetniks died along with their military leader.
After nearly a month of heavy fighting, the battle path of the Botev detachment,
which began on the Kozloduy coast, ended with the death of 130 Chetniks.
The defeat of the detachment marked the end of the April Uprising, but their feat and the tragic death of the voivode Hristo Botev left a deep mark on the people's memory. It is no coincidence that immediately after the Liberation, the beginning of the national veneration of heroes was laid, and monuments and memorial signs were built related to the battle path of the Botev detachment.
The first celebration of the feat of Botev and his platoon was organized by the residents of the village of Kozloduy in May 1878. It was called "obrotsi" and was associated with a sacrifice of 200 lambs for the fallen platoon members. In 1885, the Botev Organizing Committee, under the chairmanship of the mayor of Vratsa, Ivancho Tsvetkov, organized celebrations at Milin Kamak, which marked the beginning of the annual Botev celebrations. By decision of a group of revolutionary figures led by Zahari Stoyanov, the date of celebration was June 2.
To express their gratitude to the heroes, the population of Kozloduy supported the initiative of the local teacher Mladen Pavlov to place a memorial sign at the place where Botev's detachment landed.
On May 30, 1878, a 4-meter volunteer cross made of acacia wood was placed on the bank of the Danube River.
In 1882, it was replaced by a votive stone cross with a grateful inscription. However, among the local population, there remained a strong desire to build a worthy monument to Botev's detachment on the Danube bank. For this purpose, the society “Hr.Botev – Kozloduyski bryag”, which in 1905 launched a wide campaign to raise funds and donations, even laid the foundation stone of the future monument. After the state refused to participate in this endeavor, the construction stopped. But hope remained. Work on the construction of the monument began again in 1937. The company “Hr. Botev – Kozloduyski bryag” through the Directorate of Water Communications in Ruse provided funds for conducting competitions, design and construction. The author of the project was Stefan Peychev, and the stone cladding was made by Asen Iliev. In 1939, the monument was built.
The first monument to Hristo Botev was erected in the center of Vratsa after the Liberation.
Its author was Gustav Eberlein. It was solemnly opened on May 27, 1890 in the presence of Prince Ferdinand I, Prime Minister Stefan Stambolov, Botev's mother, his wife Veneta and daughter Ivanka. In 1955, this monument was dismantled by the communist authorities. In its place, on June 2, 1964, a new monument was opened. It is the work of Vladimir Ginovski. Hristo Botev is in full growth with a height of 12 m. and is made of bronze and gray granite. A fire is already burning next to the monument, and on the architectural structures there are reliefs with plots from Botev's creativity and heroic death. Every year, grateful descendants pay their respects in front of the monument.
Another cult place for national worship is the monument on Okolchitsa peak.
In 1901, on the 25th anniversary of the feat of Hristo Botev and his detachment at Okolchitsa, the foundation stone of the future monument was laid. In 1926, the initiative Botev Committee at the “Razvitie” community center in Vratsa placed a 4-meter Orthodox Russian cross as a temporary marker, which the Bulgarian volunteers carried during the War of Liberation. Ten years later, construction of the monument began according to a design by arch. Petar Dogramdzhiev and engineer Nikola Novoselski. It has the shape of an eight-pointed cross with a height of 28 m. The monument was completed in 1939. During the years of the communist regime in 1947, the monument was changed. The Orthodox cross was replaced with a five-pointed star. In 1991, the authentic appearance of the monument with the cross was restored.
Over the past decades, the idea of outlining the path of the detachment from the Kozloduy shore to the Okolchitsa peak has occupied a special place in the Botev celebrations.
In 1901, a special commission made the first official protocol for the combat path of the Botev detachment.
In 1936, it was proposed to delineate it with perennial tree plantations. These initiatives gained particular momentum during the years of socialist Bulgaria, when the communist government ideologized the Botev celebrations and made them part of the state cultural policy. In 1946, a commission was formed, with the participation of three famous researchers of the Botev case - Dimitar Osinin, Pavel Deliradev and Ivan Velkov. They specified the exact route of the Botev detachment from Kozloduy through the villages of Butan, Borovan, Milin Kamak Veslets to Okolchitsa Peak. In 1949, the first marking was placed with 53 stone signposts and 6 commemorative plaques. When the place of Hristo Botev's battle on Kamarata Peak was specified, the marking signs increased to 68. Work on the layout of the Botev's detachment's path continued in 1954 with the planting of two rows of trees, which outlined the path with a wide avenue. On May 27, 1958, a special decree of the Council of Ministers was adopted for the memorial complex "Botev Path", which included the construction of an avenue - a monument from Kozloduy to Botev's battle site in the Vratsa Balkans. In 1971, by decision of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party and the Council of Ministers, a complete layout of the Botev Path began as the only monument of its kind in our country with a 120-kilometer avenue from Kozloduy to Okolchitsa Peak, Kamarata and Rashov Dol. Within the framework of the national tourist hike "On the path of the Botev's detachment" Every year from May 27 to June 2, thousands of Bulgarians follow in the footsteps of Botev and his detachment. This most patriotic tourist event dates back to 1947, when 17 tourists walked the path of Botev's detachment.