Voivode Dobrota

Dobrota Voivode was a well-known sixteenth-century Bulgarian hajduk whose birthplace was the village of Zheleznitsa in the Gorna Dzhumaya region. He became a symbol of resistance to the village's conversion to Islam. On the particularly significant day of Easter, which had been appointed for the conversion, Dobrota Voivode's detachment and the men of Zheleznitsa successfully attacked the Turkish unit and the local Turkish leaders, then set fire to the village. The legend of Dobrota Voivode is preserved in folk song and in the locality above Zheleznitsa that was named in his honour.