Buzludzha monument

The Monument House of the Bulgarian Communist Party (also known as the Buzludzha Monument (/ˈbʊzlʊdʒə/)) was built on Buzludzha Peak in central Bulgaria by the Bulgarian communist government. It commemorated the events of 1891, when a group of socialists led by Dimitar Blagoev assembled secretly in the area to form an organized socialist movement that led to the founding of the Bulgarian Social Democratic Party, a forerunner of the Bulgarian Communist Party.

Monument House of the Bulgarian Communist Party
Дом паметник на БКП
LocationBuzludzha Peak, Bulgaria
Height70 m (230 ft)
Opening date1981

Construction
The interior of the monument in its early days.

Construction of the monument began on 23 January 1974 under architect Georgi Stoilov, a former mayor of Sofia and co-founder of the Union of Architects in Bulgaria.[1] Trinitrotoluene (TNT) was used to level the peak into a stable foundation, reducing the mountain's height from 1,441 metres (4,728 feet) to 1,432 metres (4,698 feet).[1] More than 15,000 cubic metres of rock were removed in the process.[1] The monument was built at a cost of 14,186,000 leva, which by today's rates is roughly equivalent to US$35 million.

The building exemplifies the futurist architecture common to many state-constructed communist buildings. It is no longer managed, and is closed to the public as it is considered dangerous.[1] There is a proposal by The Buzludha Project to architecturally preserve the monument and turn the building into an interpretive museum of Bulgarian history.[2]

Mosaics

Inside the building, mosaics that cover approximately 937 square meters of space commemorate the history of the Bulgarian Communist Party. The mosaics were built with 35 tons of cobalt glass. Today 20% of them have been destroyed due to age, weather conditions, and vandalism.

On the outer ring of the monument, mosaics were built with natural stones gathered from rivers across Bulgaria. These mosaics have also mostly vanished due to natural causes.

The final mosaic in the building was the communist hammer and sickle encircled by a quote from The Communist Manifesto stating, "Proletarians of all countries, unite!"[3]

Opening ceremony

The monument was opened on 23 August 1981.[4] At the opening ceremony, Bulgarian communist leader Todor Zhivkov announced:

I am honoured to be in the historical position to open the House-Monument of the Bulgarian Communist Party, built in honour of the accomplishments of Dimitar Blagoev and his associates, who 90 years ago laid the foundations for the revolutionary Marxist Party in Bulgaria. Let the pathways leading here – to the legendary Buzludzha Peak, here in the Stara Planina where the first Marxists came to continue the work of sacred and pure love that was started by Bulgaria’s socialist writers and philosophers – never fall into disrepair. Let generation after generation of socialist and communist Bulgaria come here, to bow down before the feats and the deeds of those who came before; those who lived on this land and gave everything they had to their nation. Let them feel that spirit that ennobles us and as we empathise with the ideas and dreams of our forefathers, so let us experience that same excitement today! Glory to Blagoev and his followers; those first disciples of Bulgarian socialism, who sowed the immortal seeds of today’s Bulgarian Communist Party in the public soul!

The band Kensington filmed the videoclip for their song Riddles on the monument. Finnish rock band Haloo Helsinki! shot a videoclip featuring the monument for the single "Vihaan kyllästynyt."[5]

The building is visited by the main character in the 2018 movie I Feel Good by Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern.

In the 2019 opera Frankenstein[6] by Mark Grey, the creature is discovered at a point with coordinates 42°44'09.4"N 25°23'37.6"E, which are those of the Buzludzha Monument.[7]

The monument was used as a filming location for the movie Mechanic:Resurrection. Nevertheless, it was moved next to a shoreline by digital effects and a Helipad was put on the top of the saucer.

Travel

Buzludzha can be reached by two side roads from the Shipka Pass,[8] either a 16 km (10 mi) road from Kazanlak in the south or a 12 km (7 mi) road from Gabrovo on the north side of the mountain.

Preservation

Multiple initiatives for preserving the monument have been attempted throughout the years, most of them being political and associated with the Bulgarian Socialist Party. In 2018, the monument was recognized by Europa Nostra as one of the seven most endangered heritage sites in Europe. The latest preservation works started in 2019 with the "Buzludzha Project" Foundation in collaboration with ICOMOS Germany and the municipality of Stara Zagora. Together they were able to secure a Getty grant of $185,000 to establish a Conservation Management Plan for the future of the monument. The early results from the plan were that the building can be preserved and used. Which led to a follow-up of a second Getty grant in July 2020, to stabilize the mosaic panels in order to preserve the existing mosaics. Currently, conservation and preservation are ongoing.


Destroyed Torch Monument

See also

References
  1. "The Monument". The Buzludzha Monument.
  2. Ian Elsner (2018-07-23). "47. Buzludzha Is Deteriorating. Dora Ivanova Wants To Turn It Into A Museum". Museum Archipelago (Podcast). Museum Archipelago. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
  3. "History". The Buzludzha Monument. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  4. Bell, John D. (1986). The Bulgarian Communist Party from Blagoev to Zhivkov. Hoover Institution Press. p. 22.
  5. Rytkönen, Annika (2014-10-03). "Haloo Helsingin uutuusvideo kuvattiin poikkeusluvalla". Iltalehti (in Finnish). Retrieved 2015-07-31.
  6. "Frankenstein". La Monnaie / De Munt.
  7. "Buzludzha Features in New 'Frankenstein' Opera". The Buzludzha Monument.
  8. The Rough Guide to Bulgaria (2008) ISBN 978-1-85828-068-4 p. 297

Media related to Buzludzha monument at Wikimedia Commons

Bibliography

Adrien Minard, Bouzloudja. Crépuscule d'une utopie, Paris, éditions B2, 2018.

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