The turbulent story behind the Buzludzha, the world-famous Brutalist monument

Also known as the “Soviet Ufo”, the Buzludzha Memorial House was inaugurated by the Bulgarian communist regime in 1981. After years of looting, degradation, and public outrage, there is finally hope that it will be open again.

Erected as a symbol of the Bulgarian Communist Party’s victory, the Buzludzha Monument was commissioned in 1974, and inaugurated in 1981. It is one of many modern buildings abandoned after the post-war era. After only eight years of use, the Bulgarian communist regime fell in 1989, along with other regimes across Eastern Europe. What followed were more than thirty years of neglect. However, the Buzludzha Monument was never forgotten. In 2018, it was listed as one of the seven most endangered buildings by the NGO Europa Nostra. 

Photo Stefan Spassov

Despite the years of neglect, which resulted in decay, material theft, unsafe conditions, and inaccessibility, the Buzludzha Memorial House has continued to attract tourists—over two million visitors before its closure to the public—as well as internationally renowned photographers like Roman Robroek and brutalist architecture enthusiasts. Even if you are unfamiliar with it, you have likely seen it at least once in the feed of an Instagram page dedicated to brutalism or in the reels of urbex explorers—those daring adventurers who seek out abandoned buildings. 

Today, the monument still towers atop the mountain of the same name, at an altitude of about 1441 meters on the Balkan Mountain range. Designed by architect Georgi V. Stoilov and built of concrete, it consists of a main spherical structure reminiscent of a crown, commemorating the historical events that took place on Buzludzha Peak. 


The interior is adorned with 924 square meters of artistic mosaics, extending to the dome and depicting the most significant episodes of Bulgarian history. Standing next to the main building is a 70-meter-high external tower, engraved with two stars, which has never been accessible to the public.

For thirty years, the building has remained unchanged. Despite the efforts of some activists and the creation of the Buzludzha Project Foundation, no restoration work has ever been undertaken due to the high costs the process would have entailed. Like other famous examples of modern architecture, such as the Nakagin Capsule Hotel by architect Kisho Kurokawa in Tokyo or the Robin Hood Gardens by the Smithsons in London, both demolished after years of neglect, the Buzludzha Memorial House seemed destined for the same fate. However, in recent years, it has regained visibility first in Europe and then worldwide, securing funding from the Getty Foundation under the Keep It Modern project.

The interior of the Buzludzha monument. Photo taken in May 2015, before the mosaics were secured. Photo by Rumena Zlatkova

Since 2020, a team of researches and conservators from around the world, along with the Buzludzha Project Foundation, has been working to secure and preserve the mosaics and the entire structure, which had been gutted by the theft of copper from its roof and marble from its interiors. The site was initially expected to open for temporary visitor access by the end of 2023, and while the work appears to be complete, the Foundation has announced that the site is not yet accessible due to bureaucratic reasons.

In the meantime, in collaboration with other institutions and universities, including the Department of Architecture in Bologna, a digital version of the monument will be created. This initiative, countering cancel culture, aims to make the monument even more renowned worldwide while awaiting its reopening to visitors.

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