Buzludzha, the flying-saucer-monument in the Balkan mountains, sad part of our history

 I was not sure if I would like to blog about this very special place in Bulgaria. Before I went to Buzludzha I felt it is a very sad part of the recent Bulgarian political history. The UFO-like looking communist monument Buzludzha(or Buzludja, "Бузлуджа" in Bulgarian) was opened officially in 1981, costed around 7 million euro (biggest part was donations from all Bulgarian citizens) and was a shining start of the communist memorials in Bulgaria, its is still the biggest ideological monument in Bulgaria. It took 7 years to finish the project and a lot of artists were involved in the interior decoration. The huge "spaceship" (called also "flying saucer" because of its unusual shape) is located at peak Buzludha in the Balkan mountains at 1444m height. It was used for less than 10 years for different meetings and gatherings, one big one every summer with over 40.000 people. Unfortunately I have never seen it myself in its glory and original state. Below you will also only see it in its current state: abandoned, vandalised, and devastated...

After 1989 when the power change took place the monument was closed for public, which however did not stop vandals to steal the expensive marble, colourful glass and other building materials from it....After no maintenance for over 20 years (the building is 35 years old) the state is tragic. The ceiling is falling apart, the inside of the big meeting hall is shattered into pieces, few mosaics have survived and ONLY the very spooky+huge red circle ceiling (with hammer&sicle and the communistic motto "Proletariat from all countries: get united!") still supervises everything and everyone from above. The only possitive thing about the current state is that this monument made it in the TOP 10 list of abandoned places in Europe... End of 2011 the goverment gave the monument back to the Bulgarian Socialistic Party, so lets hope that this monument will be restored and receive the respect it deserves.

Autumn in the Balkan mountains/ Esen w Stara planina, 2013

 

I have written about the Balkan mountains last autumn after a mind-blowing display of autumn- colours-tour in early November. This year autumn is a bit earlier there and last weekend my friends& myself have enjoyed great  views again. We drove on the famous and spectacular "Podbalkanski" road, which is a 400km stretch between the Balkan mountains chain and the shorter Middle Forest mountain... Below is the communistic monument at peak Buzludha. From there one can see the monument Shipka (on picture number 4)!

The magical Balkan mountains in Bulgaria/ Вълшебната Стара планина

 

The charme of the Balkan mountain range called by us "Stara planina" (the "Old mountain" in Bulgarian) is extremely dangerous...Once you see it and/or drive next to it, you are simply bound to be impressed. And if you happend to drive along some of its 560 km length (from the Serbian-Bulgarian border through Central Bulgaria down to the Black sea) on a sunny day...then you will for sure fall in love with its beauty.

 

Last weekend I enjoyed for few hours its majestic and magical charisma. Thats why today I would like to share with you some of my pics and some of the panoramas I have created to help you imagine its breathtaking size and length.

 
The highest peak is Botev (2376m) and is located in the Central Balkan National Park (established 1991). The mountain gives the name of the Balkan Peninsula. Another interesting fact is that (according to wiki) "Balkan" comes from a Turkish word meaning "a chain of wooded mountains".