Welcome to the House-Monument of the Bulgarian Communist Party / Buzludzha Monument located in the Central Balkan Mountains at the elevation of nearly 5,000 feet. Construction began in 1974 and was opened in 1981. It was built by the Bulgarian communist regime commemorating the secretly organized movement by Dimitar Blagoev in 1891 that led to formation of Social Democratic Party, the precursor to the Bulgarian Communist Party.
That is one giant Communist star at the top of the tower on the hill...the biggest I have ever seen and I have seen quite a few!
This sculpture is so chunky/ massive! Just to give you an idea of scale, I am as tall as the ring finger on the left hand.
Even the leaves have a hint of Communist red...they have thought of everything.
This building is an example of Brutalist architecture. Raw concrete and massive, fortress like structures were popular with governments and institutions back in the day. Evidently, it was not considered a style but an expression of "moral seriousness". Interesting concept, don't you agree?
Gotta love the tag on the steps! :D
I wanted to share a quote from the opening ceremony of the monument by the Bulgarian Communist leader Todor Zhivkov:
"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 collapse of the Soviet Union brought about Buzludzha's closure in 1989.
I stuck my iPhone through a broken glass door to get this shot. It was so dark inside, frankly, I am amazed we are able to see anything here!
The monument is basically abandoned and considered dangerous so, of course, people find a way to get in. Unfortunately, I got there as this group was leaving otherwise I would have joined the fun. A girl told me that you have a little bit of a jump and then you are climbing on filing cabinets for a short while but after that, it's fine. She didn't recommend me going by myself...imagine my dismay.
I love how the color of sky coordinates with the graffiti.
I don't want to rain on the architect / designer's parade but lumpy concrete with rusty metal sticking out is not aesthetically pleasing. It is tough to tell if this was leftover building material or artistic expression.
I really just wanted to show you the windmills...what a perfect spot for them.
I hope you enjoyed this short tour around the strangest place I have visited so far in the great country of Bulgaria. If any of you have more information to share about this place or would just like to leave a comment, I would love to hear from you. We can learn from each other!
This is my submission for the daily photo contest sponsored by 
Previously posted at:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008940904112
https://steemit.com/colorchallenge/@samanthajbarnes/colorchallenge-fridayblue-enjoy-communism-y-all-buzludzha-bulgaria (edited/re-formatted)
!steemitworldmap 42.736028 lat 25.393589 long Buzludzha d3scr