“The Blood Flame of Bulgarian Easter of 1876” – an exhibition on the occasion of 150 years of the April Uprising
At 10:00 a.m. this Thursday, April 9, on the eve of Easter, at 92, Cherkovna Street – Sofia, the National Museum of Military History opens the exhibition “The Blood Flame of Bulgarian Easter 1876”, dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the April Uprising. In the days when Christianity reflects on the sacrifice and the resurrection, the story of the spring of 1876 acquires special power – for precisely through their self-sacrifice the Bulgarian people declared their right to be freed and paved the way for their restoration on the world map.
At the centre of the exhibition’s narrative stand the flags and weapons – not just witnesses of the era, but the most potent expression of the will for freedom: the flag as a symbol of identity, honour, and the ideal uniting Bulgarians, and the weapon as a symbol of the last, desperate but decisive, choice to defend this ideal. Together they embody the drive, the faith and the audacity of those “hot heads” who dared to stand up to an empire.
Among the artifacts presented are the original flags of the rebels – eyewitnesses of the events that happened 150 years ago. Visitors can view the Karlovo flag – commissioned by Vasil Levski himself, under the folds of which Panayot Volov declared the Uprising in Panagyurishte, since the flag of Raina Popgeorgieva was not yet ready. The exhibition also features three of the twelve flags, commissioned by Georgi Benkovski for Fourth Revolutionary District; the flag of the Gorna Oryahovitsa rebels, apprehended by the Ottoman authorities before the outbreak of the Uprising, but which had continued its path to freedom as participant in the grizzly battles for Shipka and Sheinovo during the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878). To the scale of the deed speak also the flag of Dimitar Berovski’s cheta in the Razlovtsi Uprising, that preserves the memory of the struggles in Eastern Macedonia, the flag of Sliven Revolutionary District, of the committee in Radilovo, others.
The exhibition also displays personal weapons – edged weapons and firearms, of participants in the preparation and implementation of the Uprising, belongings of names such as Ivan Drasov, Panayot Hitov, Panayot Volov, Stoil Voivode, Ilyo Voivode, Simo Sokolov, Hristo Karaminkov – Bunito, and many other well-known and lesser-known heroes of those days. The memory of the events of 1876 is also presented through decorations, established at various times – a reflection of the lasting impact of the Uprising on the nation’s memory.
The exhibition also incorporates testimonies to the strong international response; the words of foreign statesmen, scientists, writers, and public figures reveal the compassion for the Bulgarians and the wave of indignation that the April Uprising triggered in Europe and around the world. Visitors will also have an opportunity to hear personal testimonies of contemporaries – voices that still carry the memory of the ordeals.
