Petrova Niva is a historic area in the Strandzha

Strandzha

Strandzha is a mountain massif in southeastern Bulgaria and the European part of Turkey, in the southeastern part of the Balkans between the plains of Thrace to the west, the lowlands near Burgas to the north and the Black Sea to the east. Its highest peak is Mahya Dağı in Turkey, while the...

 mountains of southeastern Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

 where, between 11 and 13 July 1903, a group of Bulgarian

Bulgarians

The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...

 Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (IMARO) delegates announced the outbreak of an anti-Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 uprising aimed at liberating southern Thrace

Thrace

Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...

 from Ottoman rule and proclaimed the Strandzha Republic.

The area lies on the land of the village of Stoilovo

Stoilovo

Stoilovo is a village in the municipality of Malko Tarnovo, in Burgas Province, in southeastern Bulgaria.-References:...

 in Malko Tarnovo

Malko Tarnovo

Malko Tarnovo is a town in Burgas Province, Southeastern Bulgaria, located 5 km away from the Turkish border. It is the only town in the interior of the Bulgarian Strandzha Mountains. Malko Tarnovo is the administrative centre of the homonymous Malko Tarnovo Municipality...

 municipality, Burgas Province

Burgas Province

-Municipalities:The Burgas province contains 13 municipalities . The following table shows the names of each municipality in English and Cyrillic, the main town or village , and the population of each as of 2009.-Demography:The Burgas province had a population of 423,608 -Municipalities:The Burgas...

. It is among the 100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria

100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria

"100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria" is a Bulgarian national movement established in 1966 to promote tourism among Bulgaria's most significant cultural, historic, and natural landmarks....

; a monument to the event was built in the 1950s and a church dedicated to Saint Petka

Paraskevi

Paraskevi is a female name. Variations include Petka, Paraskeva, Praskovia, Praskovie, Pyatnitsa, Pyetka, Paraskevoula, Paraschiva and Voula.Notable people with the name include:*Voula Patoulidou, Greek hurdler and long jumper*Paraskevi...

 was constructed in 2003 for the congress' centennial anniversary.

The IMARO congress at Petrova Niva was attended by over 300 people, of whom 47 were official delegates. Most of the delegates came from the region of Malko Tarnovo, though the areas of Edirne

Edirne

Edirne is a city in Eastern Thrace, the northwestern part of Turkey, close to the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. Edirne served as the capital city of the Ottoman Empire from 1365 to 1453, before Constantinople became the empire's new capital. At present, Edirne is the capital of the Edirne...

 and Western Thrace

Western Thrace

Western Thrace or simply Thrace is a geographic and historical region of Greece, located between the Nestos and Evros rivers in the northeast of the country. Together with the regions of Macedonia and Epirus, it is often referred to informally as northern Greece...

 were also represented. The congress mostly discussed the very question of whether to organize an uprising, but discussions ceased as the IMARO leadership had already instigated a revolt in the region of Bitola

Bitola

Bitola is a city in the southwestern part of the Republic of Macedonia. The city is an administrative, cultural, industrial, commercial, and educational centre. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba and Nidže mountains, 14 km north of the...

. Despite the lack of enough armaments and the varying preparedness of the local committees, the delegates agreed to aid the insurgents in Macedonia

Macedonia (region)

Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...

. The rebellions in Macedonia and Thrace are collectively known as the Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising.

Delegates

The 47 delegates at the Petrova Niva IMARO congress were:

Name	Native place	Notes
Mihail Gerdzhikov Mihail Gerdzhikov Mihail Gerdzhikov was born in Plovdiv, then in the Ottoman Empire, in 1877. He studied at the French College, where he received the nickname Michelle. As a student in 1893 he started his revolutionary activities as the leader of a Macedonian Secret Revolutionary Committee...	Plovdiv Plovdiv Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe...	leader of the entire Odrin (Edirne) region east of the Maritsa Maritsa The Maritsa or Evros , ) is, with a length of 480 km, the longest river that runs solely in the interior of the Balkans. It has its origin in the Rila Mountains in Western Bulgaria, flowing southeast between the Balkan and Rhodope Mountains, past Plovdiv and Parvomay to Edirne, Turkey...
Lazar Madzharov	Negovan (Xylopoli, Thessaloniki Prefecture Thessaloniki Prefecture Thessaloniki is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Region of Central Macedonia. Its capital is the city of Thessaloniki. It is the second most populous regional unit in Greece, behind Central Athens.-Geography:... )	leader of the Lozengrad (Kırklareli Kirklareli Kırklareli is the capital of Kırklareli Province in Eastern Thrace, on the European part of Turkey. The province has a coastline on the Black Sea. There is a Jewish community.-Name:It is not clearly known when the city was founded, nor under what name... ) region
Stamat Ikonomov	Malko Tarnovo	Bulgarian Army captain, voivode
Georgi Kondolov	Velika Velika, Bulgaria Velika, Bulgaria is a village in the municipality of Tsarevo, in Burgas Province, in southeastern Bulgaria.-References:...  by Malko Tarnovo	voivode
Velko Dumev	Voden (Edessa Edessa, Greece Edessa , is a city in northern Greece and the capital of the Pella regional unit, in the Central Macedonia region of Greece. It was also the capital of the defunct province of the same name.-Name:... )	leader of the Odrin district committee
Vasil Paskov	Nevrokop (Gotse Delchev Gotse Delchev (town) Gotse Delchev , is a town in Blagoevgrad Province of Bulgaria with a population of 23,573.In 1951 the town was renamed after the Bulgarian revolutionary Georgi Nikolov Delchev. It had hitherto been called Nevrokop .... )	IMARO Central Committee representative for the Edirne region
Georgi Vasilev	Svilengrad Svilengrad Svilengrad is a town in Haskovo Province, South-central Bulgaria, situated at the border of Turkey and Greece. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Svilengrad Municipality. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 18,132 inhabitants....	Edirne district committee member
Hristo Silyanov Hristo Silyanov Hristo Silyanov - was a Bulgarian revolutionary, historian and memoirist. He was among the activists of the Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees and in his memoirs uniquely described the history of the organization in its early period.Silyanov was born in a rich family in...	Istanbul Istanbul Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
Mihail Daev	Balchik Balchik Balchik is a Black Sea coastal town and seaside resort in the Southern Dobruja area of northeastern Bulgaria. It is located in Dobrich Oblast and is 42 km northeast of Varna...
Nikola Stanchev	Kazanlak Kazanlak Kazanlak, formerly Kazanlık is a Bulgarian town in Stara Zagora Province, located in the middle of the plain of the same name, at the foot of the Balkan mountain range, at the eastern end of the Rose Valley...	Edirne district committee member
Krastyu Balgariyata	Vratsa Vratsa Vratsa is a city in northwestern Bulgaria, at the foothills of the Balkan Mountains. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Vratsa Province. As of February 2011, the town has a population of 60,482 inhabitants....	Bulgarian Army sergeant, voivode
Dimitar Katerinski	Svilengrad	Svilengrad district committee leader
Ivan Varnaliev	Veles Veles (city) Veles is a city in the center of the Republic of Macedonia on the Vardar river. The city of Veles is the seat of Veles Municipality.-Name:The city's name was Vylosa in Ancient Greek and before the Balkan Wars, it was a township with the name Köprülü in the Üsküp sandjak, Ottoman empire for 600...
Hristo Karamandzhukov	Chokmanovo Chokmanovo The village of Chokmanovo, Bulgaria is in Municipality of Smolyan, in the Arda valley of the Rhodopi Mountain range. It is 8km south of the town of Smolyan and 25km from the ski resort Pamporovo. The region is very sunny, and the village is near the top of a southern slope so it receives direct sun...  by Smolyan Smolyan Smolyan is a town and ski resort in the very south of Bulgaria not far from the border with Greece. It is the administrative and industrial centre of the homonymous Smolyan Province...	leader of the Smolyan region
Kosta Kalkandzhiev	Varna Varna Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011...
Diko Dzhelebov	Malko Tarnovo
Anastas Razboynikov	Svilengrad	Bunarhisar (Pınarhisar Pınarhisar Pınarhisar is a town and district of Kırklareli Province in the Marmara region of Turkey. The mayor is Mustafa Cingöz . The population is 10,463 as of 2010.... ) district committee leader
Spas Tsvetkov	Macedonia
Nikola Kardzhiev	Lozengrad
Petar Angelov Petar Angelov Petar Dimitrov Angelov was a Bulgarian military officer and a revolutionary, a member of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization ....	Haskovo Haskovo Haskovo , is a city, an administrative centre of the homonymous Haskovo Province in southern Bulgaria, not far from the borders with Greece and Turkey. As of February 2011, it has a population of 74,843 inhabitants....	Bulgarian Army sergeant, voivode
Penyu Shivarov	Chirpan Chirpan Chirpan is a town on the Tekirska River in Stara Zagora Province, South-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Chirpan Municipality. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 16,355 inhabitants....	Bulgarian Army sergeant, voivode
Kiro Dimitrov Uzunov	Malak Samokov (Demirköy Demirköy Demirköy is a town and district of Kırklareli Province in the Marmara region of Turkey. The inhabitants are mainly descendants of Muslims from the village of Tisovo and other villages from the Greek side of the Chech region who were settled in Demirköy in 1923/1924. The mayor is Muhlis Yavuz . The... )
Yordan Georgiev	Malko Tarnovo
Georgi Kostadnev	Malko Tarnovo
M. Argirov	Malko Tarnovo
Nestor Ivanov	Odrin
Ivan Kalchev	Lozengrad
Dimo Yankov	Malko Tarnovo
Stoyan Petrov	Malko Tarnovo
Lefter Mechev	Malko Tarnovo
Dimitar Halachev	Malko Tarnovo
Tseno Kurtev	Zlatitsa Zlatitsa Zlatitsa is a town in southern Bulgaria located in the Zlatitsa-Pirdop valley, between Stara Planina to the north and Sredna Gora to the south at 680 meters above the sea level. It is situated immediately south in the lap of the Zlatitsa -Teteven Mountain...	Bulgarian Army sergeant, voivode
Petko Zidarov	Tsiknihor by Malko Tarnovo
Dimitar Tashev	Kolibite by Bunarhisar
Georgi Kaloyanov	Malko Tarnovo
Stoyan Kamilski	Kamilite by Malko Tarnovo
Dimitar Hristakev	Raykovo (Smolyan)	surgeon's assistant at Burgas, doctor during the uprising
Georgi Tenev	Svilengrad	local leader at Lyubimets Lyubimets Lyubimets is a small town in Haskovo Province, southern-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Lyubimets Municipality. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 7,670 inhabitants....
Hristo Arnaudov Afuza	Svilengrad	local leader at Chepelare Chepelare Chepelare is a town and ski resort in Smolyan Province in Southern Bulgaria. It is situated in the central part of the Rhodopes, on the banks of Chepelare River. Chepelare is a popular winter resort with one of the longest ski runs in Southeastern Europe. It is located near Pamporovo, one of the...
Lazo Lazov	Lozengrad
Yani Popov	Karahadar (Karahıdır) by Lozengrad
Yanko Stoyanov	Malko Tarnovo
Georgi Todorov Doktora	Kratovo Kratovo, Republic of Macedonia Kratovo is a small picturesque town in Macedonia, one of the regions' living museums. It is the seat of Kratovo Municipality. It lies on the western slopes of Mount Osogovo at an altitude of above sea level. Having a mild and pleasant climate, it is located in the crater of an extinct volcano...	local leader at Velika
Yani Voynov	Svilengrad