The Truth Is Up There
KAZANLÁK WAS A BUST. We had traveled out of our way to see the city’s famed Thracian Tomb, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but when we got there the place was chained.
After looking around I found the “Thracian Tomb copy” down some stairs near the site.
The copy was a one-to-one replica of the real thing and there was only room enough for the two of us, plus an angry fly whose echoed buzzing demanded attention. The level of protection the original was under started to make sense. I could have rubbed the fragile frescoes and brought a Thracian burial feast home on my backpack. It was just too tight, too fragile, and too important to allow bulky visitors.
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Later on while killing time in the city we walked through a series of large photos displayed on the square, each depicting another gem in Kazanlâk’s historic treasure chest. The image which most piqued our interest was an imposing, dilapidated saucer, emblazoned with Communist symbols and propaganda.
Back in our room, I was gazing out the window at the hills that surrounded us when a peculiar, almost eerie structure in the distance caught my eye. It was the same Communist saucer we had seen in the square - we just so happened to have a view of it from our bed.
We immediately postponed our bus to Veliko Tărnovo. We were going to trespass into the former House-Monument of the Bulgarian Communist Party.
There are more than 150 Soviet monuments around Bulgaria, but Buzludzha, the saucer on the mountain, is the largest, and the most intriguing. It was built in 1981 at the Shipka Pass - the site of an epic battle in which Bulgarians and Russians defeated the Turks in 1877 despite being outnumbered five to one. Once Communism came to an end in Bulgaria in 1989 the monument was inherited by the state, and eventually fell into disrepair. It now sits, abandoned and crumbling, perched nearly 5,000 feet above Kazanlâk, a town that is getting more interesting by the minute.
A brief Internet search showed us how to snake right in, so all we needed was a way to get to the top of Mt. Buzludzha. The hostess at our hotel was happy to oblige, and introduced us to a friend who knew the way and had a car (but unfortunately liked to blast techno first thing in the morning).
Once at the summit, we stood before the stark grey structure and over what has to be the best view in Bulgaria. The intimidating facade was covered in Communist propaganda from the 80’s and present-day graffiti. Large metal Cyrillic words, today with letters falling and missing, once spelled out:
“On your feet despised comrades! On your feet you slaves of labour! Downtrodden and humiliated, stand up against the enemy! Let us without mercy, without forgiveness, yes we take down the old, rotten system! Working men, working women from all countries, come together, forwards! Comrades without fear build strong our great deeds! To work and to create!”
The monument is off-limits, so the front doors are chained and the only way in and out is through this hole.
After a cursory search of the exterior we dipped around one side and located the makeshift entrance - a jagged dark opening into one of the side stairwells. Dodging the rebar hanging at eye-level, we wriggled in like eels. Once inside other perils were exposed - debris piles, asbestos mounds, holes in the floor, and falling tiles, all masked by patchy darkness. Our headlamps cleared paths among the shadows.
A violent storm the previous night meant level after level of leaks. Loud hollow drips echoed throughout, like a plumber’s nightmare. Knowing the main attraction was up, along with the sunlight, we skittered over a mountain of fallout covering a set of stairs.
The auditorium was outstanding - a circular room with rows and rows of concrete bleachers. Sunlight peeked in from the rotted ceiling above, casting slits of light on intricate mosaics still in tact in many places. The ceiling center was crowned by another mosaic, almost entirely preserved, a gorgeous hammer and sickle surrounded by the words "The Proletariats of every country join together!”
Fernando wasn’t satisfied with the main auditorium and windy, windowless walkway around the circumference, so we headed downstairs to the pitch black bowels of Buzludzha.
My headlamp was getting weaker by the minute, so I used my camera’s flash for additional illumination, and my imagination began to take over.
Flash! Torture chamber. Back to black.
Flash! Haunted mental ward. Back to black.
Flash! There was a long dark corridor, interrupted every few meters with even darker rooms, doors long gone. The floor was littered with rubble and icy puddles.
Flash! Cellar full of corpses. Back to black.
Maybe that’s enough exploration for one day… Heading back towards the surface, graffiti of "Silence again” and a deep red “Devil” sent chills up my spine.
This monument was once a source of pride for the people of Kazanlâk, but its current condition shows how it’s regarded today - as an unwanted relic of an uneasy past. The saucer may be easy to ignore on cloudy days when Buzludzha is covered, but like the giant red letters painted over the entrance say, you can “Never forget your past”.
After all, the truth is up there.
VERDICT: Mostly Harmless - just don’t get caught trespassing, or hit with a falling ceiling tile.
LINKS:
Kazanlâk, Bulgaria: Town at the foot of the Balkans in the center of Bulgaria’s Valley of the Roses. One of the 15 largest industrial centers in the country.
Thracian Tomb: Burial chamber from 4th century BC, and protected by UNESCO since 1979. Murals inside are Bulgaria’s best-preserved works from the Hellenistic period. NOTE: Original tomb is not open to public.
Veliko Tărnovo, Bulgaria: Known as “the most beautiful town in Bulgaria”. Home of the medieval fortress Tsarevets. Declared a Balkan capital of cultural tourism.
Shipka Pass: Scenic mountain pass in the Balkans, site of famous battle in 1877, and part of Bulgarka Nature Park.
Buzludzha: A citizen-funded monument celebrating socialist communism. NOTE: In early 2018, guards have been placed near the entrance to deter urban explorers.
