I reckon just about nobody you ever speak to will have heard of a town called Koprivshtitsa. That is unless you talk to a local Bulgarian – or one of the four of us who went there today with Yuri our driver.

However, it is a town that is celebrated by all Bulgarians, as it was here that the Bulgarian uprising against the Ottoman Turks started in April 1876. Bulgaria eventually achieved independence, but not in 1876. The Ottomans were particularly brutal in their suppression of the rebels, and the Bulgarians were particularly underprepared. Courageous yes, but their report card would definitely say ‘Not yet competent’.

The rebels only had one cannon, and it was made from cherry wood! The Turks had already been forewarned by members of the Bulgarian Revolutionary Committee, and none of the major towns in Bulgaria wanted to join in. Hardly the right time to take on the entire Ottoman Empire in a war for independence.

The widespread massacres that resulted from the suppression, however, led to a shift of opinion in the major powers of Europe. (More than 50,000 Bulgarians were slaughtered in the Ottoman reprisals – many being horribly tortured before being killed). It was probably British political pressure that had the greatest influence on the Turks, not the threat by the few surviving rebels to make another cannon out of wood. Just saying.

The small town of Koprivshtitsa itself is stunning. It is high up in Bulgaria’s central mountain range, and today had the bluest of blue skies and it was covered in snow. Many of the buildings are classical Bulgarian Revivalist Style – timber with an arched entrance. We dined at the one restaurant that seemed to be open, and I gladly partook in a gluttonous pork fest whilst my vegetarian companions nibbled at their baked cheeses and sipped their mushroom soups. The local wine and brandies complemented the meal perfectly.

The town has about 2000 permanent residents, and probably about 200,000 visitors in the warmer months, but today it felt like just us and the locals. The woman serving us seemed to know everyone at the other tables, and knew no English. How fortunate it is that I have already mastered three Bulgarian words of salutation.

So much about today certainly had the ingredients of the type of day that resonates with us when we travel – beautiful natural scenery, historically interesting sites, a good meal and excellent company. I do wonder, however, what Koprivshtitsa would be like today had the rebels ever carved out a second cherry-wood artillery piece, so as to really threaten the Ottoman Empire in 1876?

Conundrums like this mean that I am forced to keep exploring places like Koprivshtitsa for my readers, I suppose.

If I must….

F C-S