BUZLUDZHA PEAK: Perched atop a mountain peak in central Bulgaria, a giant UFO-like concrete monument, built to glorify the Balkan country’s communist rule, has been left to crumble since the totalitarian regime collapsed in 1989.

Some 30 years later, a team of restorers from five European universities is working against time and weather to protect one of the largest modernist mosaics in Europe, while Bulgaria decides on the fate of the controversial monument.

Behind the plan is Bulgarian architect Dora Ivanova, whose foundation won grants from the US Getty Foundation to draw a conservation plan for the abandoned monument and its curved intricate mosaic panels depicting communist propaganda.

“We should not destroy everything that has been created in periods that we like or do not like or are traumatic but on the contrary, they should exist to remind us, to help us learn from the mistakes in the past,” 30-year-old Ivanova said.

The monument, a Brutalist example of Socialist architecture, has fallen victim to vandalism, thieves and severe weather. Different graffiti artists have also left their mark inside next to the original murals of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin.

In 2018, the Buzludzha Monument was put on the list of seven most endangered heritage sites in Europe by cultural heritage organisation Europa Nostra, which wanted to have it renovated and opened to the public.

Spread over 900 square metres (9,687 square feet) on curved walls around a ceremonial wall, the mosaics have been damaged by rain and snow pouring through the building’s broken domed ceiling.

For over two months restorers collected fallen pieces, injected mortar and different materials to stabilise them.

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2020