‘They look as if they were dropped there overnight,’ says photographer Ismaël Gueymard of the communist-era monuments he shot on top of Bulgarian mountains.
These structures, which range from spaceship-like discs to Cubist monoliths, jut proudly from the country’s bleak, wintry landscape – political propaganda for a bygone era, flung out of time. While hundreds of monuments were built by Bulgaria’s communist government from 1944 until its collapse in 1989 – many celebrating the country’s special relationship with the Kremlin – it is though that fewer than 150 of them remain.
Montreal-based Gueymard took a 10-day, whistle-stop tour across Bulgaria, travelling through the mountains down to the Black Sea to capture some of the last survivors.
‘Bulgaria’s communist monuments aren’t as documented as ex-USSR or former Yugoslavian monuments,’ he says. ‘Of those I’ve seen, the only ones that haven’t been abandoned are those that don’t refer to the country’s history of communism – and the USSR’s influence.’
Gueymard opted to create simple portraits of the structures, many of which are on the precipice of ruin, like the Buzludzha Monument, stripped bare and left to the elements. ‘I have been told that most of the fireplaces in Kran, the village at the bottom of the mountain, are made from marble that once paved the auditorium,’ Gueymard adds.
The Torch Monument forms part of the Buzludzha Monument, which sits on top of the Buzludzha peak in the Central Balkan Mountains, was opened in 1981 to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the founding of the Bulgarian Social Democratic Party, the forerunner to the Bulgarian Communist Party. It has been abandoned by the Bulgarian government for over 30 years. Photography: Ismaël Gueymard
Built for the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Stara Zagora – a major event in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 that resulted in the liberation of Bulgaria after 500 years of Ottoman rule – the Defenders of Stara Zagora memorial features five Bulgarian volunteers and a Russian officer, representing the six Bulgarian units who fought under Russia. The 50-metre-high concrete structure is reached by 100 steps, and was designed by sculptors Krum Damianov and Bojidar Kozarev. Photography: Ismaël Gueymard
The Monument to the 1300 years of Bulgaria – also known as the Founders of the Bulgarian State Monument – was built in 1981 on a plateau above the city of Shumen. Commemorating the 1300th anniversary of the First Bulgarian Empire, it was designed by sculptors Krum Damyanov and Ivan Slavov in a Cubist style and stands 450 metres above sea level. Photography: Ismaël Gueymard
The Founders of the Bulgarian State Monument. Photography: Ismaël Gueymard
The Founders of the Bulgarian State Monument. Photography: Ismaël Gueymard
The park-monument of Soviet-Bulgarian Friendship was built on the site where Russian forces were based before their successful attack on Varna during the Russo-Turkish War from 1828-29. It is made from 10,000 tonnes of concrete and 1,000 tonnes of armature iron. Photography: Ismaël Gueymard
A roadside monument between Kran and Buzludzha
‘I don’t think there’s any political will to preserve these buildings. The discomfort they evoke might still be too strong,’ he says, alluding to decades of economic and social hardship forced by the Bulgarian Communist Party onto its subjects. ‘The locals didn’t really understand why I liked them – or would want to document them. I guess they find them repulsive and would rather hide them from tourists.’
The experience of capturing them was almost otherworldly for Gueymard.‘There’s something superhuman or extraterrestrial about these structures… as a foreigner, you react almost as if it were some kind of UFO encounter.’
