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118 years since the outbreak of the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie uprising

Photo: BGNES-archive

On 20 July the Bulgarian Orthodox Church honours the memory of the prophet Elijah. It is also a day celebrated by furriers, saddlers, bakers and firemen.

20 July also marks the outbreak of the 1903 Ilinden-Preobrazhenie uprising of the Bulgarians in Macedonia and Eastern Thrace. In North Macedonia it is marked only as the Ilinden uprising and on 2 August - according to the old calendar.

Polish historian Prof. Jaroslaw Rubacha, member of the Macedonian research institute stated, in an interview for the BNR, that the 1903 Ilinden-Preobrazhenie uprising is a tragic episode in Bulgarian history and the history of the Macedonian lands. According to Prof. Rubacha it will be difficult to reach a consensus on historical issues between Skopje and Sofia, among them the celebration of the heroes of the uprising together. 



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