On the Bulgaria leg of our European trip 2023 we came across quite a number of monuments dotted all around the country, some in quite remote places or in areas with abandoned and overgrown buildings which had clearly been empty for decades. This blog is a disjointed rambling attempt to describe a few that we saw and understand the reasons behind them.

Founders of the Bulgarian State Monument, Shumen

Transformers!

Our first sighting of a Bulgarian monument was a shock. It looked from a distance as though some massive communist era power station had been cleaned up and carefully positioned on a hilltop above a small city. The Founders of the Bulgarian State Monument as its known was built in 1981 to celebrate 1300 years of Bulgaria existing as its own nation state (giving it a good claim to be the oldest country in Europe).

At an impressive 70m high the monument is filled with concrete representations of the early leaders of Bulgaria, seemingly converted into transformers for reasons best known to the designer! These figures include Khan Asparuh, the first founder of Bulgaria who forged a treaty with the Byzantine Empire in 681 which is considered the first recognition of Bulgaria as a nation state, and Khans Tervel, Khrum and Omertag together with what is apparently the biggest outdoor mosaic triptych in Europe, whatever that means. Sitting at the very top is a Lion, the symbol of Bulgarian independence, watching out over the city of Shumen far below.

The Freedom Arch

The Freedom Arch

Surprisingly enough this is a huge concrete arch built on top of a hill during the communist regime. It actually looks  lot taller than its 35 metres when up close (or circling a drone around). The two sides of the arch represent the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878 and the State coup in 1944, both major events in the history of the country. 

The surrounding area is stunning as it is built on a peak at 1595m high with views across miles of hilltops and mountains, although typically we had thick fog for most of the day we were there so had to be content with the occasional glimpse through the mist! Still, it was a great overnight spot as well as a chance to find out something new about Bulgarias history.

Why all the monuments?

A monument to soldiers who died in the second world war, near Kalen.

During the communist years in Bulgaria (1946 to 1989) thousands of monuments were erected around the country, most fairly small but several like the monument to Bulgarian state and the arch of freedom  are massive concrete structures visible for miles around. 

Thi communist period still casts a large shadow (physically in the case of the bigger monuments!) over the country, reflected in the current political turmoil where pro EU and western parties, socialist parties, pro Russia parties and extreme right wing idealogues all fight for power with alliances and power sharing plans rising and falling almost daily. Five general elections in two years still hasn't resulted in a stable government and with corruption running rampant President Radevs big plan appears to be to distract everyone by sticking the largest flag in Europe on top of a large hill (not visited). Maybe this harks back to the mass monument building plan of the communist party? 

Radev has made several rather eye catching announcements in relation to the Russia-Ukraine war, most recently appearing to blame Ukraine for ‘waging war’ and making Europe pay for it. Many of the older generation have nostalgic memories of the communist era which, along with the economic importance of Russia to Bulgaria, possibly helps explain Bulgaria's relatively pro Russia stance even since the illegal invasion of Ukraine. However these sympathies are by no means felt by everyone, the complexities of Bulgaria-Russian relations are perhaps best summed up by the fact that Bulgaria continues to import and refine oil from Russia through Lukoil (a Russian company), much of which ends up ultimately being exported to Ukraine as diesel, no doubt to then be used in the fight against Russia!

Anyway, politics aside, Bulgaria is a beautiful country to explore by van/motorhome and an ideal option for doing the 'Schengen shuffle' - avoiding the 90 day limits in EU countries but still actually staying inside the EU. There is plenty to see and do there even if, like Tuna, you are not that fussed about massive concrete structures. We spent 5 weeks in Bulgaria and there were still lots of things left on our list that we didn't get to see this time round so another trip is very likely in future.