Bulgaria marks 120 years since Ilinden-Preobrazhenie uprising

On August 2, 2023, Bulgaria marks 120 years since the outbreak of the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie uprising.

The uprising broke out on August 2, 1903, and its aim was to liberate the Bulgarian population in Macedonia and Adrianople Thrace, which remained within the Ottoman Empire after the Treaty of Berlin.

During its suppression, over 5,000 people died and about 30,000 Bulgarians were forced to leave their homelands, most of them finding shelter in Free Bulgaria.

There will be a ceremonial fireworks display in front of the Monument to the Unknown Warrior in Sofia tonight. Head of State Rumen Radev and Prime Minister Acad. Nikolai Denkov will participate in the ceremony.

A procession with 120 lit torches marked the 120th anniversary of the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie uprising on the evening of August 1st in Blagoevgrad. The procession started from the monument to the revolutionary Gotse Delchev in Macedonia Square and passed by the monuments dedicated to the Ilinden epic, with a vigil and flowers laid in front of each one.

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Ilinden-Preobrazhenie uprising of August 1903 was an organized revolt against the Ottoman Empire, which was prepared and carried out by the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organisation. The name of the uprising refers to Ilinden, a name for Elijah's day, and to Preobrazhenie which means Transfiguration. The revolt lasted from the beginning of August to the middle of October and covered a vast territory from the eastern Black Sea coast to the shores of Lake Ohrid.

The uprising is celebrated in both Bulgaria and North Macedonia as the peak of their nations’ struggle against the Ottoman rule.

During the uprising in Macedonia and Thrace, more than 26,000 rebels fought 289 battles against 350,000 Turkish troops. 994 revolutionaries were killed. 201 villages were set on fire. 4,694 civilians were killed. 25,000, residents of Macedonia and Edirne, fled to the Principality of Bulgaria.