Church-ossuary St. Nedelya

The Church St.Nedelya in Batak was built for 75 days by the local population in 1813. The church is known for the brutal massacre organized by the Turks over Bulgarian families (including children, women and elders), seeking protection there in days of suppressing of the April uprising in 1876.

In May 1876 the Turkish hordes enter in Batak to crush with blood the uprising. After several days of Turkish atrocities and marauding, the church St.Nedelya and the school became the last strongholds for the citizens of Batak. After tree days in the church survived Bulgarians decided to go out. When they open the doors of the church its began mercilessly slaughter by the waiting for them Turks.

After the action, the church was burnt. All of the icons, the wooden benches and iconostasis are burned, but the stone structure survived. To remove the traces of their atrocities, several months later the Turks painted the walls of the church, but the blood spots appears again and are clearly visible in the temple today.

These few days remain in the Bulgaria history as The Batak massacre.

After Liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman rule the church is no longer used for liturgies. In 1955 it is transformed into  museum where the bones of the perished are kept, and in 1977 it was declared a national historical monument.