“For more than 140 years the site of Oborishte has been a place of worship and reflection, a place to pay respects, because from here had started the resurrection of the new state of Bulgaria.” These words belong to the Chairperson of the National Assembly, Tsetska Tsacheva and were said at the solemn commemoration of the anniversary of the April Uprising held at the historic site of Oborishte.

“Oborishte was the place where gathered those Bulgarians, different in their trade, education and age, but united by their firm resolution to have a state of their own, a state for Bulgarians, a state with a place among the European ones,” Tsetska Tsacheva stated.

The Chairperson of the National Assembly noted that 140 years later, the today’s generation has to read the signs of the presence and live with self-confidence, with the awareness that the ideals of the Apostle of Freedom, of all the participants in the April epopee, and of those who gathered here at Oborishte, had materialized. “Because Bulgaria of today is a free, independent and democratic state – such as professed by the ideal of Vasil Levski – “for pure and sacred Republic, freedom, equality and brotherhood”,” she added.

Many citizens of the town of Panagyurishte and from all over Bulgaria were present at the celebration. Flowers were served at the monument in Oborishte. Following the tradition, the 2016 award “Oborishte”, established by the Association of the Revival Towns and Communities of Bulgaria “Renascence  for the XXI Century” was handed in to the historian Ivan Stoyanov, professor at the “New and Modern History” chair of the “St. Cyril and Methodius” University in Veliko Tarnovo. The award was bestowed for his contribution to the affirmation of the statehood and identity of Bulgaria. The award is handed out annually for contributions to the preservation and affirmation of Bulgarian national identity.