The Buzludzha Monument, located just 250 km from Bucharest, an abandoned UFO-shaped structure in Bulgaria, attracts 50,000 curious visitors annually. After decades of deterioration, the local council of Kazanlak proposes to restore it and turn it into a tourist attraction.
Bulgaria’s UFO-shaped monument, Buzludzha – Photo Pixabay
The Buzludzha Monument, located on a mountaintop near Kazanlak, Bulgaria, was built between 1971 and 1984 to celebrate the founding of the Bulgarian Social Democratic Party. After the fall of communism, the building was abandoned and left to decay. In recent decades, its weathered interior has attracted thousands of curious visitors, gaining popularity on social media.
The local council of Kazanlak proposes to purchase the Buzludzha monument to increase its attractiveness as a tourist destination.
This communist-era structure attracts around 50,000 visitors a year, including urban explorers and photographers, despite its unstable condition and off-limits. The authorities will organize a vote to consult citizens on the purchase of the monument, writes Euronews.
Buzludzha has become popular on social media, often being featured on accounts dedicated to abandoned places.
After the fall of communism, the Buzludzha monument was abandoned and began to deteriorate. Heritage organizations did not ignore it, and in 2020, an international team of restorers began conservation work on the interior mosaics, which cover an area of approximately 1,000 square meters and are composed of more than two million tiles. The dome partially collapsed, exposing the mosaics to the elements.
The Kazanlak council proposal marks the first involvement of a public body in restoring the monument, and Mayor Galina Stoyanova has announced plans to invest 3.5 million euros from the EU Recovery Plan to turn the building into a tourist attraction. This could bring new fame to the Bulgarian city.
The saucer-shaped structure is now owned by the Bulgarian state, after being owned by the Bulgarian Socialist Party, which lacked the funds to protect it.
The monument celebrates 1,300 years since the creation of the first Bulgarian state and 90 years since the establishment of the first socialist party, but remains controversial, having a strong political and ideological charge. The nearby slopes continue to host the annual gatherings of Bulgarian Socialists.
If the mayor’s proposal is approved, a referendum will be held on November 17 to decide whether the local authority should purchase the monument.
