Vacations On Buzludzha: The Soviet Flying Saucer in the Middle of Bulgaria 🇧🇬
A trip to the abandoned monument house of the Bulgarian Communist Party.
Buzludzha used to be the monument house of the Bulgarian Communist Party built at the eponymous peak in central Bulgaria. The peak holds a special place in Bulgarian history. In 1868 a small group of Bulgarian rebels fought for the freedom of Bulgaria against the Ottoman Empire. In 1891 the early Bulgarian social democrats chose the historic site for their first congress. Finally, the monument house of the Bulgarian Communist Party was built in 1981. Ironically, during the opening speech, the Bulgarian communist leader Todor Zhivkov celebrated those first socialists for sowing the immortal seeds of Bulgarian Communism. 8 years later Bulgarian Communist party fell.
Like most communist sights, shortly after the fall, the Buzludzha monument was abandoned. Today the entrance is boarded up because what’s left from the interiors, including the expansive mosaic Panos and the massive round roof, is at risk of collapse. Still, you can check out the impressive images from the inside, both before and after decay, thanks to Buzludzha Project which works on the site’s restoration so it can be reopened to the public one day.
The first time I went to Buzludzha the sun was going down. Even though I could already see it from the nearest town of Shipka, there was still 30 minutes climb up the mountain by car. So I had to speed up the serpentine road to make it to the top before sunset. But the rewarding view was totally worth it. I hope you can feel it through the photos I took with my now-gone Nikon FG20 film camera.
My second trip was completely different. Even though it was completely dry down in Shipka, as me and my wife have been climbing up, the scenery turned to a complete snow land. There was so much snow that we weren’t able to reach the top. The road ended a mere 300 meters before the monument, and the snowdrifts were so deep we could get there on foot. It was snowing so hard that we weren’t able to see the monument from afar, even though it was hiding just a few minutes away.
Hopefully, one day we will make it together and the monument house will be restored to its original beauty.
