Archetics

The iconic Buzludzha Monument can be found just a few kilometres from the city centre of Kazanlak. Its full original name is Memorial House of the Bulgarian Communist Party at Buzludzha Peak. It was built on a mountain top where key historic events happened: the last fight against the Ottomans (1868); the foundation of the Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers Party (1891); and the Second World War battle between fascists and partisans (1944). The Buzludzha Monument was opened in August 1981 and closed in 1989. During the monument’s eight years of use, it was visited by more than 2 million people, serving as a political museum and ceremonial venue for the Bulgarian Communist Party.

After the political changes in 1989, the new democratic government had no interest in preserving the most significant symbol of the former ideology, and the monument was abandoned. In early 1992, the monument was nationalised under the Law on Confiscation of the Property of Totalitarian Organisations. Around the mid-1990s, the last employees were released. The doors of the monument were locked, and looting and vandalism started.

The Buzludzha Monument represents a dissonant heritage site, as it was built to glorify the Bulgarian Communist Party. Today, on the one hand it represents a conflict between people holding different views about the recent past, and on the other hand young generations see it as a symbol of free will, art and curiosity.

In 2018 the monument was recognised by Europa Nostra, Europe’s largest cultural heritage organisation, as one of the seven most endangered cultural sites in Europe. In 2019, the Getty Foundation, through the architectural heritage initiative Keeping it Modern, funded an initiative promoted by the Buzludzha Project Foundation and ICOMOS Germany to deliver a Conservation Management Plan for the Buzludzha Monument.

Extensive structural and technical examinations showed that the building could be preserved through urgent measures to prevent losing it irretrievably. Thanks to a second grant, through a workshop with university students and practitioners, the mosaic artworks were stabilised and shelters built for additional protection.

After the monument was officially listed as a national heritage site in 2021, a project to guarantee safe visitor access was implemented in 2022. Roof debris were cleared and secure temporary visitors’ pathways installed. However, the monument is still not open for visitors due to administrative hurdles.

Despite this, a cultural art festival called OPEN BUZLUDZHA has been organised every year since 2021 by the Buzludzha Project Foundation to raise awareness about the dissonant heritage of the monument.

The final goal of this ongoing project is to reuse the monument as an agora, a public space for exchange and learning about history, with cultural events and contemporary art exhibitions, as well as fostering education and tourism.