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1876. We follow the thorny history of Perushtitsa, burned to the ground during the April Uprising. For a week the city resisted the attacks of the army and the bashibozuka. More than 600 people crowded into the church, which is still downtown today. Ottoman cannons destroy the dome. Men, women and children ended their lives but did not surrender to the Turkish hordes. In today’s church there is a sculpture of the feat of Kocho Chestimenski. Mario Jasim, historian and curator of the local history museum, said: “He killed his wife Theophanes and the child”, according to the program Awake! From NOVA.
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Among the aggressors of the Perushtina tragedy were the pomaks of the western Rhodopes. Whether out of reluctance to pay taxes to Eastern Rumelia after the liberation war or simply out of fear of revenge, 22 villages are closing in on the mountain. Order and law were in the hands of Darken Ahmed Aga. Mario Jasim added: “They do not want to admit that they are in Eastern Rumelia. And they are indirectly supported by the Ottoman government. They were liquidated in 1912.”
Source: nova.bg
We went into the mountains to the territories of the “rebel peoples”
Very close to the current town of Brestovitsa an ancient witness of those times is preserved. Several border towers are known along the borders with the Republic of Tamras. One of them is well preserved. “If we look out the windows, we can imagine how the poles used to transmit signals from one tower to another,” explains Krassimir Fotev of Brestovitsa, who is among the guardians of preserving this piece of history. If the tower is strengthened, it could become an interesting tourist attraction with a picturesque panoramic view.
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The few inhabitants of today’s Rhodope villages hold innumerable facts and legends about the darklings. Dushka Atanasova, 90, from the village of Skobelevo, helps us pick up some of them: “They were very rich people, but some of them were especially cruel. And they were very cold to the Bulgarians.”
“Tamrashlii” comes from the town of the same name, hidden in the mountains. Zahari Stoyanov describes how after the siege of Perushtitsa, he was burned in revenge. Dushka Atanasova adds: “Tamrash was a rich city. Not a village, but a whole city. And when it was burned by people from Perushtitsa, people came from Lilkovo, Sitovo and took who could find what.”
There are remains of this secret settlement in the Rhodopes. However, few have seen them, as they can be reached either on foot with a long transition or by off-road vehicle. Today, the site of the former administrative center of the republic is dotted with dozens, hundreds of preserved walls of buildings buried by vegetation.
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In the village of Churen, Nelko Marinov is among those who restore another testimony from the Ottoman era: the “Holy Prophet Elijah” temple. A church perched on a hill since time immemorial, burned down by the Ottomans. Nelko says: “All the people of the town. Everyone has given work, who can. We are two people in the town, but the church must have it.”
We traveled to the village of Lilkovo to meet another keeper of stories. Kostadin Valchev is a relative of Angel Valchev, who wrote the book “Tamrash” and is considered one of the best researchers in the republic of “rebellious peoples”. And the temple in the center of the village gives a new light to the image of Ahmed Aga Tamrashliyata.
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“Ahmed Aga Tamrashliyata, despite pressure from the Turks, who wanted the temple to be at the foot of the village in an inconspicuous place, put his staff in and said, ‘The temple will be here!’ And everyone, even the Muslims, carried stones and built. Only one Christian did not want to help. And Ahmed Aga said to him: “Why, Chojum ?! This is your temple.” – says Kostadin Valchev.
There are many historical facts about Ahmed Aga’s justice. According to Angel Valchev’s book, Ahmed Aga did not take part in the Batak and Perushtitsa massacres. “No one denies that there were 20-30 bashibozouks from Tamrashki, but Ahmed Aga ate the Bachkovo Monastery barbecue during that time,” added Kostadin.
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Komarov Kamak, 1600 meters high in the Rhodopes. As far as the eye can see, picturesque mountain ranges, green valleys and crystal clear rivers stretch. In this place, every time traveler will understand why this land has been the object of fighting and killing. The Republic of Tamrash was liquidated after the Union, but only later, after the Balkan War, did this region become Bulgarian. The last darklings left in 1912.
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