Just before the collapse of the Soviet Union, from 1981 to 1989, the Buzludzah monument in central Bulgaria was the destination for official parties and events, an honor to be invited and admire the extensive mosaic murals depicting the glory of the Bulgarian Socialist party. These days, one can only admire it from the outside. After 1989, the monument had no more specific purpose and was left open to the elements, as Bulgaria was adapting to a new political reality. But for almost 30 years, the building received other kinds of visitor: vandals, looters and urban explorers.
Ce monument est déjà imposant par lui-même mais du sommet de sa montagne (1,441 mètres ou 4,728 pieds), ce pourrait être une forteresse des temps modernes. Mais avec son look, on a l’impression que des extra-terrestres ont abandonné leur vaisseau spatial. Complètement isolé de la civilisation avec seulement comme autre structures autour, un monument de torches à ses pieds et des éoliennes sur les autres montagnes, une seule route peut permettre de s’y rendre.
Only as we approach that we can see how much time has not been kind to this giant: the roof looks beyond salvation, front text letters are missing, graffiti abound all around. The walk around the perimeter is safe enough to see all damages.
The day we were on location, we thought it would be relatively quiet being in the middle of the week in late September. But there was some unusual activity at the “guarded” front entrance of the monument. People with combination and mask were escorting persons with cameras inside the monument. Minding our own business, we did our surrounding tour and when we came back in the front and taking our last pictures, one of those “aliens” walked towards us. He asked us if we were journalists. We replied a very honest no (thinking after that we could have gotten VIP backstage access) and here’s where we got the unexpected pleasure of being told about the Buzludzha Project. A preservation project lead by architect Dora Ivanova to stop the decay of this monument and maybe one day resume visits of its interior by securing the structural elements. On that particular day, members of the press had been invited to learn about the project through a team of international experts who came to work specifically on the stabilization of mural mosaics. At the end of this memorable encounter, he graciously posed for a most iconic picture.
