Bulgaria for the long weekend (for not a lot) - much easier than it sounds. Sofia is always going to be your base, but there is enough time to explore more of this beautiful country, so we decided to make a day trip, which begged a pretty serious logistical question. Should we take one of the modestly priced and much-hyped local bus routes to Plovdiv - Bulgaria’s second city and 2019’s European city of culture - or head off the beaten track and straight into Bulgaria's communist past? We opted for the latter, but fear not, a visit to Plovdiv is certainly on the cards later this year.
With the help of some coffee and the slightly horrible Bulgarian petrol station hotdogs reminiscent of those sold at the Polish institution - Żabka - a nearly hour's drive into the stunning Bulgarian countryside is no problem. Our guide, a local from the Lyulin district of Sofia, is brimming with knowledge, enthusiasm and patience - given the constant stream of questions coming from the well-meaning elderly American couple on a whistle-stop tour of the region, who were accompanying us on the tour.
“What is the GDP per capita in Bulgaria?”
“Why were there no statues of Mau in the Socialist Art Museum?”
“Can you drive faster? We are going to Montenegro tomorrow”.
A couple of grillings later, our guide stops the car on a mountain road just before the summit, heroically recommending we get out to grab a photo of both the national liberation movement torch monument and the enigmatic Buzludzha monument, perched atop the remote peak, in the background. Far in the distance, you can see the star-shaped cutout area where the communist red star used to sit, on top of the grey concrete tower.
Now abandoned, and in a state of disrepair, the Buzludzha monument remains as imposing and otherworldly as I imagine it did when it was inaugurated in 1981. Built as the seat of the Bulgarian Communist Party, the monument stands on the site of a heroic battle where Bulgarian forces fought off a much larger Turkish contingent in 1868. During the communist era, large Marx and Lenin depictions and ornate mosaics were featured in the colossal arena, used for state celebrations. In the adjacent forested areas, an ecosystem of hunting retreats, hotels, spas and other leisure facilities was constructed to allow revellers to make a weekend out of it. Most of these facilities now stand abandoned apart from one hotel which is open for the tourist season.
Since the fall of communism, the monument has been abandoned, and despite the fairly strong body of UrbEx literature outlining ways to get in over the years, it now appears totally inaccessible, with all entrances sealed up firmly. An armed guard also protects the site from a small guardpost. Most of the artwork inside has been removed (or destroyed over the years), but a trip to see just the brutal exterior and take in the mountain views is well worth it.
Restoration attempts appear to be underway, but the future of Buzludzha is uncertain, we hear. It is unlikely the government will seek to prioritise the restoration of a communist-era monument. Walking under the structure, rainwater pours down onto you from the broken concrete, and you get the impression that this monstrous architectural throwback will not be with us for much longer. Make the trip while you still can.
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