Church of St. George in Lyubenova mahala village

Overview

The church "St. George" was built in 1837 in the village of Lyubenova mahala, 20 km south of Nova Zagora. She keeps a sad story. The bloody tragedy took place in Guneli Mahle (the Turkish name of the village of Lyubenova Mahala), which in its atrocities can only be compared to the Batak massacre. In 1877, the village was founded by the Arnautin Sadak. He went to the richest man in the village at the time - Grandpa Toncho, from whom he asked for 1,000 groschen, under the pretext that he would protect the village from disaster. As the old man refused, Sadak threatened that the village would pay dearly.

And so it happened. It was July 14, 1877. A regular Turkish army, bashibuzuks and Circassians attacked the village and its inhabitants who had gathered in the village church at that time. There was a general felling. The yard was filled with the corpses of men, women and children - ordinary peasants. The village was a sad picture after the tragedy. During the counting of the corpses it turned out that only in God's temple and its yard 1013 Bulgarians were killed from Guneli mahle and the neighboring villages. In memory of the bloody tragedy in 1885 in the yard of the church in the village of Lyubenova Mahala was placed a memorial plaque, which stands to this day. The bones of all 1,013 people are kept under a marble slab in the temple. The church itself has managed to be preserved in its authentic form, in which it was left by the unknown Trojan master.