Oborishte Historical Site

The Oborishte historical site is situated in the mountain Sredna Gora, 10 kilometers northwest of Panagyurishte, 88 kilometers from Sofia, and 96 kilometers from Plovdiv and 59 kilometers from Pazardzhik.

Oborishte was declared a historical area by issued No 52 of the State Gazette in 1977. In 1876 in Oborishte the first Grand National Assembly in Bulgaria’s history was conducted, which made the decision for the announcement of the April Uprising. The aim of the uprising was to free Bulgaria from the five-century Ottoman Dominion.

The deputies arrived in Panagyurishte on the 9th-10th of April 1876, observing complete conspiracy. The meetings in the Oborishte region continued from the 14th to the 16th of April.

The main idea was that the uprising had to have its sole leader, and after violent conflicts the powers were given to the Bulgarian revolutionary Georgi Benkovski (1843 – 1876).

The delegates made a decision for a broad uprising and elected a committee to develop a plan for the revolution.

On the 20th of April, the first bullet of the rebellion was shot on the famous bridge “Parva pushka” in the town of Koprivshtitsa.

After the message that Koprivshtitsa rebelled arrived in Panagyirishte, the leaders, headed by Georgi Benkovski and Panayot Volov (1850 – 1876) announced the April Uprising.

There are disputes about the number of delegates from Bulgaria who participated at the meeting in Oborishte.

The writer Zahari Stoyanov (1850 – 1889), who participated in the uprising, mentioned 54 deputies, and the historian Dimitar Strashimirov wrote about 67 members from 58 villages in 1907. The modern historians claimed that there were 78 members at the meeting in Oborishte.

National festivals are celebrated every year on 2 May in the historical area. The first event in Oborishte was organized in April 1886 on the occasion of the 10^th anniversary of the April Uprising.

A large stone cross was placed on that day in the area. The present monument was erected in the area in 1928. In relation with the 100th anniversary of the April Uprising, a marble stone with a message was placed for the future generations in Bulgaria.