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Petar's
refuge: the Monastery of Zografou, on Mount Athos.
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The man who
became Father Paisij (the monk who wrote the famous History of Bulgarians),
Petar, had two brothers and a sister. The elder brother, Lazar, was a monk
on the Mount Athos under the name of Lavrenti (...). The younger, Hadzi
Volkho, was a great trademan (cofounder of the Church of the Trinity in
Bansko). The sister was Sandra. Hadzi Volkho was in business with the West
(Vienna). His brother Petar worked with him. They were aware of ideas of
the free West (Bulgaria was under Ottoman domination). Once, on returning
from one of their journeys, the brothers learned that their sister had been
attacked by the Turks and raped. She could not overcome her shame and commited
suicide by throwing herself from the Tcherdak, the open gallery of the family
house. Petar, and his brother wanted to avenge their sister. With a troup
of companions, they attacked the Turks at Razlog (a neighbouring county
town where were garrisoned the Ottoman Turks.who had raped Sandra and killed
them on the spot. Petar took refuge on the Mount Athos by his brother Lavrenti
and became a monk under the name of Paisij. As he knew the free West, he
wanted to contribute to the liberation of Bulgaria and collected materials
and documents to write his famous "History" (related by Ivan Ikonomov).
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