The Monument House of the Bulgarian Communist Party (), also known as the Buzludzha Monument (), was built on Buzludzha Peak in central

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

by the Bulgarian communist government and inaugurated in 1981. It commemorated the events of 1891, when a group of socialists led by

Dimitar Blagoev Dimitar Blagoev Nikolov (, ; 14 June 1856 – 7 May 1924) was a Bulgarian political leader and philosopher. He was the founder of the Bulgarian left-wing political movement and of the first social-democratic party in the Balkans, the Marxist ''Bu ...

assembled secretly in the area to form an organized socialist movement that led to the founding of the

Bulgarian Social Democratic Party The Bulgarian Social Democratic Party (, ''Balgarska Sotsialdemokraticheska Partiya'', BSDP) is a social-democratic political party in Bulgaria. History The party was launched on 26 November 1989 under the name Bulgarian Social Democratic Work ...

, a forerunner of the

Bulgarian Communist Party The Bulgarian Communist Party ( Bulgarian: Българска комунистическа партия (БΚП), Romanised: ''Bŭlgarska komunisticheska partiya''; BKP) was the founding and ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria f ...

(itself a forerunner of the current

Bulgarian Socialist Party The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), also known as The Centenarian, is a centre-left, social democratic political party in Bulgaria. The BSP is a member of the Socialist International, Party of European Socialists, and Progressive Alliance. Alt ...

Construction

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. The peak was leveled into a stable foundation using

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

, reducing the mountain's height from to . Over 15,000 cubic metres of rock were removed in the process. The monument was built at a cost of 14,186,000 leva, equivalent to US$35 million in 2020. The monument exemplifies the

futurist architecture Futurist architecture is an early-20th century form of architecture born in Italy, characterized by long dynamic lines, suggesting speed, motion, urgency and lyricism: it was a part of Futurism, an artistic movement founded by the poet Filippo T ...

common to many state-constructed communist buildings. All maintenance ended with the fall of communism in 1989, and the building remains closed to the public due to the hazards of the weakened structure. The Buzludzha Project has helped to begin work on the monument's preservation, with the eventual aim of creating an

interpretation center An interpretation centre, interpretive centre, or visitor interpretive centre is an institution for dissemination of knowledge of natural or cultural heritage. Interpretation centres are a kind of new-style museum, often associated with visitor c ...

for Bulgarian history.

Mosaics

Inside the building, mosaics commemorating the history of the Bulgarian Communist Party cover approximately 937 square meters; 35 tons of cobalt glass were used in their manufacture. One-fifth of the mosaics have already been destroyed due to age, weather-related deterioration, and vandalism. The largest mosaics were glorifying

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

and

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

. The monument has a hall used for important celebrations of the Communist Party until the fall of communism in 1989. At the top of the monument’s hall, there was a star-shaped red window associated with communism. A corridor with 14 mosaics showed the labor of ordinary workers. Mosaics on the outer ring of the monument were built with natural stones gathered from rivers across Bulgaria; these mosaics have mostly vanished due to natural wear. The building's main ceiling mosaic features the communist

hammer and sickle The hammer and sickle (Unicode: ) is a communist symbol representing proletarian solidarity between industrial and agricultural workers. It was first adopted during the Russian Revolution at the end of World War I, the hammer representing wo ...

encircled with a ''

Communist Manifesto ''The Communist Manifesto'' (), originally the ''Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (), is a political pamphlet written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, commissioned by the Communist League and originally published in London in 1848. The t ...

'' quote, "Proletarians of all countries, unite!"

Opening ceremony

The monument was opened on 23 August 1981. At the opening ceremony, Bulgarian communist leader

Todor Zhivkov Todor Hristov Zhivkov ( ; 7 September 1911 – 5 August 1998) was a Bulgarians, Bulgarian communist statesman who served as the ''de facto'' leader of the People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB) from 1954 until 1989 as General Secretary of the Cen ...

announced:

In popular culture

Finnish

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Haloo Helsinki! Haloo Helsinki! () is a pop rock band from Finland, founded in 2006. They have released five studio albums, all of which have reached the top ten on the Finnish Albums Chart. From 2007 to 2012, the band were signed to EMI Records, EMI Finland and ...

shot the entirety of the

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for their 2014 single "Vihaan kyllästynyt" at the monument; Dutch rock band

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

's 2015 "Riddles" music video was likewise entirely filmed on location there. The closing sequence of

Rita Ora Rita Sahatçiu Ora (; born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer-songwriter, television personality, and actress. Born in Pristina, modern-day Kosovo, she rose to prominence when she featured on DJ Fresh's 2012 single, "Hot Rig ...

's ''

Bang Bang, bang!, or bangs may refer to: Products * M1922 Bang rifle, a US semi-automatic rifle designed by Søren Hansen Bang * Bang, a model car brand * Bang (beverage), an energy drink Geography * Bang, Central African Republic * Bang, Lores ...

'' EP video was shot at the monument in early 2021. The site was used as a filming location for the 2016 action movie '' Mechanic: Resurrection''; special effects were added to show the structure next to a shoreline, with a

helipad A helipad is the landing area of a heliport, in use by helicopters, powered lift, and vertical lift aircraft to land on surface. While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fa ...

added to the top of the saucer building. The monument is visited by the main protagonist in the 2018 comedy film ''

I Feel Good "I Feel Good" is a song by American rapper Pitbull featuring producers Anthony Watts and DJWS. It was released on August 20, 2021, via Mr. 305 Records. Composition The song is written in the key of G♭ major, with a tempo In musical ...

''. The 2019 opera ''Frankenstein'' by Mark Grey appears to take place inside the Buzludzha Monument.

Access

Buzludzha can be reached by two side roads from the

Shipka Pass Shipka Pass (, ) (el. 1150 m./3820 ft.) is a scenic mountain pass through the Balkan Mountains in Bulgaria. It marks the border between Stara Zagora province and Gabrovo province. The pass connects the towns of Gabrovo and Kazanlak. The ...

, either a road from

Kazanlak Kazanlak ( , known as Seuthopolis () in ancient times, is a List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, town in Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria. It is located in the middle of the plain of the same name, at the foot of the Balkan Mountains, Balkan mo ...

in the south or a road from

Gabrovo Gabrovo ( ) is a city in central northern Bulgaria, the Local government, administrative centre of Gabrovo Province.It is situated at the foot of the central Balkan Mountains, in the valley of the Yantra River, and is known as an international ca ...

on the north side of the mountain. The road in the south (Kazanlak) is in better condition than the other one as October 2023.

Preservation

Multiple initiatives to preserve the monument had been undertaken throughout the years, most of them political and associated with the

. In 2018, the monument was recognized by

Europa Nostra Europa Nostra (Latin for "Our Europe") is a pan-European Federation for cultural heritage, Cultural Heritage, representing citizens' organisations that work on safeguarding Europe's cultural and natural heritage. It is the voice of this movement ...

as one of the seven most endangered heritage sites in Europe. The most recent preservation works started in 2019 under the Buzludzha Project Foundation, in collaboration with

ICOMOS The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS; ) is a professional association that works for the conservation and protection of cultural heritage places around the world. Now headquartered in Charenton-le-Pont, France, ICOMOS was fou ...

Germany and the municipality of

Stara Zagora Stara Zagora (, ) is a city in Bulgaria, and the administrative capital of Stara Zagora Province. It is located in the Upper Thracian Plain, near the cities of Kazanlak, Plovdiv, and Sliven. Its population is 121,582 making it the sixth largest c ...

. Together they were able to secure a $185,000

Getty Foundation The Getty Foundation, based in Los Angeles, California, at the Getty Center, awards grants for "the understanding and preservation of the visual arts".Getty FoundationAbout the Foundation. Retrieved September 18, 2008. In the past, it funded the ...

grant to establish a Conservation Management Plan for the monument. Early results indicated that the building could be preserved and used, leading to a second Getty grant in July 2020 to stabilize surviving mosaic panels. Conservation and preservation efforts are ongoing. File:20140622 Buzludzha 016.jpg, The monument as of 2014 File:Buzludzha Monument.jpg, Monument seen from the air File:Бузлуджа IMG6338.jpg, View from below File:Bouzloudja02.jpg, Dome File:Buzludzha Monument Auditorium.jpg, Auditorium File:Buzludzha-03.JPG, Torch monument File:Buzludzha vatre.jpg, From left to right, mosaics of

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ;"Engels"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

and

File:Buzludzha & Torch Monument.jpg, Torch and Buzludzha monuments File:Budludzha.jpg, Drone view 20140618 Buzludzha 09

References

External links

The Buzludzha Monument Archive

Website dedicated to the preservation of Buzludzha Monument

Website dedicated to the archive Buzludzha Monument

Published in 2019 * The Economist
Buzludzha: A crumbling reminder of communism
Published on Oct 20, 2014.
Bulgaria’s crumbling ode to socialism
BBC News, July 26, 2018.
Podcast About Buzludzha Monument's Current State and Plans To Turn It Into A Museum
Featuring Bulgarian Architect Dora Ivanova
Buzludzha 3D

Bibliography

Adrien Minard, ''Bouzloudja. Crépuscule d'une utopie'', Paris, éditions B2, 2018. {{authority control Monuments and memorials in Bulgaria Buildings and structures in Stara Zagora Province Futurist architecture 7 Most Endangered Programme 1981 establishments in Bulgaria Buildings and structures completed in 1981