Boyadzhik massacre: the Bloody Horo

The Boyadzhik massacre of 1876, also known as the Bloody Horo, was one of the largest massacres of Bulgarians during Ottoman rule.

On 11 May 1876, villagers gathered in the churchyard to honour Saints Cyril and Methodius. Edem Agha, who controlled nearby villages, attacked with his Circassians, who began looting and abusing the population. The villagers posted an armed guard to protect themselves.

News of the impending revolt quickly reached Shevket Pasha. On 17 May 1876, he arrived with a battalion of bashi-bazouks and began the slaughter. Many inhabitants sheltered in the church, but shellfire forced them out. Mass killing of men, women and children followed.

The bashi-bazouks amused themselves by forcing about 50 young men to dance a horo before the pasha and then killing them. All the villagers' property was taken as booty.

The massacre killed 170 people, men, women and children, as well as two priests. Among the dead was John Atanasoff's grandfather; Atanasoff's father, still a baby, survived in the dead man's arms. A list naming 145 victims has since been reconstructed.