Built in 1976 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the great events of the April Epic, the Apriltsi Memorial Park in the town of Bratsigovo is a cultural monument of national importance.
Today you will find a monument to the Bratsigovo revolutionary, as well as a separate park space with a memorial alley with busts of the leaders of the uprising in Bratsigovo area, a wall of fame and a monument to the sacrificial fire.
"I am alone, there are no others!"
On May 3 (April 21 - old style) 1876 Vasil Angelov Petleshkov, standing on the small Sindzhirli Bunar square, announced the beginning of the April Uprising in Bratsigovo.
The battle of Bratsigovo was one of the bloodiest, but the uprising is suppressed and Petleshkov was captured alive and tortured to death.
Vasil Angelov Petleshkov was born on January 1, 1845 in Bratsigovo.
His family is from Kostur region. His father Naiden Velchev was born in the village of Oreshets.
Vasil was still a minor when his father died. His mother Ekaterina remarried to the longtime mayor of Bratsigovo Angel Petleshkov.
Vasil married Elena Boyanina, daughter of the famous master builder Ivan Boyanin, also the heir of Kostur Bulgarians.
He grew up in Bratsigovo and worked as a pharmacist. He is engaged in trade and at the same time is an active participant in the public life of the city.
Under his leadership in 1874 the community center "Trendafil" was established, of which he is chairman.
In early 1876 he was elected chairman of the local revolutionary committee founded by Georgi Benkovski.
This is a monument to Vasil Petleshkov, which you can see today while visiting the Apriltsi Memorial park in Bratsigovo.
He portrays Petleshkov reading the "bloody letter" announcing the uprising in Bratsigovo on April 21, 1876.
The beginning of the April Uprising found Petleshkov in Panagyurishte, but he immediately returned to Bratsigovo to organize on the spot.
This is the well on Sindzhirli Bunar Square in Bratsigovo, where Vasil Petleshkov reads the "bloody letter".
Local leaders has betrayed him to the Turks after the defeat of the uprising. Petleshkov was severely tortured and interrogated and burned between three fires.
He died on the outskirts of Bratsigovo, on his way to the city of Plovdiv, where he was taken for questioning.
Have a nice walk and see you soon!
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