On this place, Botev and his platoon confronted the Turkish army in the first battle of their journey, later on, on the mountain Okolchitsa Botev found his death and also most of the members from his detachment. Botev lost 30 of his soldiers, but the wounded ones provided a covering place and helped the other one from the detachment to find a shelter in Veslets.
Milin Kamak is among the memorable and holy places associated with the immortal history of the Bulgarian people in its fight for freedom against the Turkish oppressors. The mountain crest expands before the land to spread between the Danube expansion and the Danube border. It raises somewhere at approximately 360 meters, between the grasslands with scattered stones and forest shrubs. It is a unique and lonely place and a quiet location. It comes back to life each year, at the end of the month of May. Then the holy and legendary mountain gathers thousands of people not only from the neighboring villages, but also the pilgrims from all around the country – the participants at the traditional marching from Kozlodui to Okolchitsa. At this crest there took place the first bloody battle of Botev before the two hundred of exalted fighters to be defeated in the heroic battle with the Turkish army, on the 2nd of June (new style), 1876, in the Vratsa from the Balkans.
Come here, man and reflect upon what did slavery mean and the vicissitudes of the history in time. And, without requesting, also remind yourselves about the whispers of the lyrics of the imaginary poet Petofi Sandor, the judge brother of Botev:
“I only need two things on the land.
These are love and freedom
I have sacrificed life for love
I am ready to give you back your freedom.”
In the far away time before 136 years, this rocky and arid hill felt the fire kiss of two hundred of courageous heroes, who arrived on the home land with the Austrian nave “Radetzky”, and the heroes fought “Not for the fortune, not for the money”, but they went to fight for the liberation of their country. They knew the fact that the “road is terrible and glorious …”, but they weren’t intimated by the feared enemy.
Appalling was the fear of Milin Kamak. Savaged in rage and in illness, the Turkish oppressors shot all day. Botev commanded them and surrounded the rebels in fight. One of the most vulnerable flanks was the lieutenant Nikola Vojnovski – the military leader of the liberation. This, in the age of 27 years, spoke six languages, but turn his back on a profitable career as officer in the Russian army for taking over a life full of surprises and of risks, a life of a rebel and of a fighter against the violence and obscurity.
