Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

117 years since the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising

Photo: archive

On August 2, 1903, the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising broke out, which is considered to have been the culmination of the national liberation movement of the Bulgarians in Macedonia and the Edirne region. It is the result of the intransigence of the Bulgarian people towards the decisions of the Berlin Congress of 1878, when the Great Powers determined that these two areas would remain outside the borders of Bulgaria which was liberated from five centuries of Ottoman rule.

It erupted in the Bitola Revolutionary District in Macedonia on the church holiday of St. Elijah (Sveti Iliya) - August 2 in the old style calendar, hence its name. At the Day of the Transfiguration (Preobrazhenie) on August 19 (in old style calendar), the uprising broke out in Edirne region. The rebels managed to liberate many settlements in the area of ​​Strandzha Mountain and the coastal towns of Tsarevo and Ahtopol.

Read more about these historical events in a publication picked by Radio Bulgaria’s collection dedicated to the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising HERE.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Nikola Stanchev

95 years since the birth of the first Bulgarian Olympic champion Nikola Stanchev

On September 11, 1930, in the village of Tvarditsa, Burgas region, Nikola Stanchev Nikolov was born.  A freestyle and classical wrestler, in 1956 he won the first Olympic gold medal in freestyle wrestling in the 79 kg category  in Melbourne..

published on 9/11/25 9:33 AM

Celebrating the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in “The Seven Thrones” Monastery

On September 8, when the Bulgarian Orthodox Church celebrates the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Nativity of the Holy Theotokos), we take a look at the beautiful valley of Gabrovnitsa River and the Monastery of the Holy Theotokos, better..

published on 9/8/25 2:55 PM

Priceless exhibits chronicle the Unification proclaimed 140 years ago in Plovdiv

It was 1883 when construction began in Plovdiv on the building of the Regional Assembly of Eastern Rumelia, based on a design by architect Pietro Montani. Eastern Rumelia was an autonomous Bulgarian province within the Ottoman Empire and one of the..

published on 9/5/25 6:40 PM