The memorial sign is located about a kilometer and a half north of the village, on a hill in the Petrina Chukara area.
Five concrete pillars form the approach to the memorial, a symbol of five centuries of slavery.
In the approach to the site from the east, there is another concrete pillar - a sign of the passing of a century since the April epic when the monument was built.
This place was one of the positions for observation and guarding the village of Petrich during the uprising against the appearance of attackers from the Muslim villages of Kelavo Kamartsi, today the village of Benkovski, and Kolanlare, today the village of Chavdar.
At the foot of the terrain is the Slivovka area, about 500 meters north of the village, where the other position was.
The monument in the Petrina Chukara area was erected and opened for the 100th anniversary of the uprising in 1976. It is also known as the monument "The First Only Victorious Battle of the Hvarkovata Cheta".
The monument is a four-sided truncated stone pyramid with a concrete pillar at its top.
But let's follow what exactly happened here during those years when the Bulgarian lion rebelled.
Just a day after the premature outbreak of the April Uprising in Koprivshtitsa and the writing of the bloody letter, on April 21, 1876, the people of Petric revolted. The next day, the Turks attacked the village and the rebels, assisted by villagers from Smolensk and Kamenitsa, heroically repelled the armed Turkish bashibozuk and army, but the forces were unequal and they sent a letter to the voivode Georgi Benkovski with a call for help.
At the head of his Hvarka detachment, Benkovski set off for Petrich. The Chetniks covered the distance of about 30 kilometers during the night and in the early morning of April 23, 1876, on St. George's Day, the voivode was greeted solemnly and with indescribable enthusiasm by the people of Petric.
The revolutionary headquarters is established in the home of Ivan and Filip Domuschiev. The village is bustling. The residents are preparing to welcome the Turks together with the Hvarkovata cheta. Trenches are dug, master ironworkers melt the church bells and cast bullets from the molten metal, carpenters make cherry balls.
In the areas of Petrina Chukara and Slivovka, north of the village, the first battle with the irregular Ottoman hordes of bashibazouks and Circassians takes place, in which the Hvarkovata cheta achieves its first and only victory.
Initially, the enemy attack succeeds and the Petric people retreat, but Benkovski orders a counterattack. The standard-bearer of the cheta, Kraycho Samohodov, by order of the voivode, leads about 25 cavalry and as many infantry.
– Strike, brothers! – they all shouted, as if they were all voivodes, and wanted to follow the brave Kraycha, who was getting lost on the right bank of the Topolnitsa River in the thick smoke.
"Notes on the Bulgarian Uprisings"
Zahari Stoyanov
The battle is contested, but the Ottomans retreat.
Bagpipes fill the area and the people howl. The rebels rejoice!
On the north side of the monument, a white marble slab is mounted with the inscription:
On April 23 and 24, 1876, on Petrina Chukara and Slivovka, the Hvarkovata detachment and the Petrichani won their first victory over the Bashibazouks and Circassians.
On the south wall there is also such a plaque with the following text on it:
1876
And the act between the slave and the master was solemnly signed.
The first gun fired.
Zahari Stoyanov
Unfortunately, the joy was short-lived. The guards on the peaks around the village reported that they had seen a military camp from the direction of the village of Mirkovo. Additionally, 105 rebels arrived from Panagyurishte, led by the Streltsy hero Ivan Vorcho.
On the morning of April 25, the village was attacked again, this time by regular Turkish troops. The battle lasted about two hours. Vorcho Voivode managed to kill the leader of the Ottomans. This skillful move discouraged the enslaver and the Turks temporarily retreated. A few hours later, however, a third attack followed, but the Chetniks managed to repel it as well.
In this battle, the first victim of the April Uprising fell. This was Petar Balov, who was laid to rest after the battle in the village church "St. George the Victorious".
After the battle, Georgi Benkovski and the Hvarkovata cheta urgently left for the direction of Mount Eledzhik, where he helped the local rebels repel the bashibazouk.
Meanwhile, a regular Turkish army launched a new attack and the remaining rebels failed to stop the advance and save the village. The uprising in Petrich was defeated. 172 Petrich residents died in the fighting, and dozens of others were sent into exile. Among the dead were 12 women and 25 children. The village was almost completely burned down, the school and the church were destroyed. Out of a total of 332 houses in the village and neighborhoods, 305 were burned down.
Legend has it that the people of Petriča, frightened by the atrocities, hid in a nearby cave. Some residents took some of their domestic animals with them. It so happened that a pig went down to the river to drink water, the Turks saw it and followed it to the entrance of the cave, then slaughtered everyone inside.
How to get to the village of Petrich, Zlatitsa municipality?
Petrich is a village in Western Bulgaria, Sofia Region, Zlatitsa Municipality.
It is located in a mountainous area on the border between Sashtina and Ihtiman Sredna Gora.
Part of the village is the Bodyat neighborhood, located a few kilometers from it. In the past, there were many more neighborhoods - Belega, Angelovi Koshari, Varlina, Chebara, Fartunite and others.
The Topolnitsa River flows through the village and four smaller rivers flow into it – Mirkovska, Smolska, Kamenishka and Gugov dol.
It is assumed that this proverb gives the name to the village.
Petrich is located:
66 kilometers (about 1 hour and 02 minutes by car) from the capital
106 kilometers (about 1 hour and 38 minutes by car) from the city of Plovdiv
435 kilometers (about 5 hours and 15 minutes by car) from the city of Varna
344 kilometers (about 3 hours and 34 minutes by car) from the city of Burgas
30 kilometers (about 30 minutes by car) from the city of Panagyurishte
How do you get to the monument in the Petrina Chukara area?
Finding yourself in the center of the village of Petrich, continue towards the temple "St. George the Victorious", located between the two banks of the Topolnitsa and Gugov Dol rivers.
At the fork opposite the Brothers' Mound, take the street in the direction of the Art Gallery, so that the temple remains on your left.
Continue along this street until you leave the village limits.
The Topolnitsa River flows all the time on your left side, right next to the dirt road.
Continue straight on the black but wide road. Use the silhouette of the monument, visible in the distance, as a guide.
About a kilometer and a half after the last houses of Petrich (after no more than ten minutes of walking), on a height on your right side, the monument is now clearly visible.
The last few meters to it you will have to walk up a slope in the middle of the field. The slope is small, so if you are not in a hurry, you will be slightly out of breath.
Use the indicated point marked on Google maps as a reference point.
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