Voivode Stoyan Karastoilov

Stoyan Karastoilov, known as Stoyan Voyvoda, was a Bulgarian hajduk and revolutionary, born into a wealthy family in the village of Starchishta in 1848, when it was part of the Ottoman Empire. After losing his father at an early age, he began working in the region's traditional industry, iron production.

After the April Uprising, persecution of Bulgarians began in the Nevrokop district, so Stoyan Karastoilov and several other villagers from Starchishta went to the island of Thasos, where they planned measures to take revenge on the Turks. His hajduk activity began in late 1876 or in 1877 in the Nevrokop and Drama districts and the Cherna Gora Mountains.

During the War of Liberation, he led a detachment in the Kresna Gorge and the Melnik and Serres districts, operating jointly with Todor Palaskarya. His detachment succeeded in defeating the bandit groups of Haydut Sulyu and Sheyha.

In October 1878, under the leadership of Stoyan Karastoilov and his secretary Stefan Karchev, about 400 insurgents attacked the Turkish garrison and captured the Kresna inns. Several villages in the surrounding areas were liberated. He played an important part in forming the insurgent leadership as chief voivode and became one of the leading figures of the Kresna-Razlog Uprising.

However, after the Treaty of Berlin, when the authorities began restricting insurgent activity, disagreements arose within the insurgent leadership. This led to conflicts and intrigues, as a result of which Stoyan Karastoilov was sentenced to death and killed by his opponents in October 1878.