We were headed up into the mountains from Shipka to find the Freedom Memorial. It is the place in Bulgaria where one of the final battles was fought to free the Bulgarians from the Ottoman Empire. On the way we encountered this strange sight atop a mountain. It looks like a spaceship or flying saucer with a smokestack, but what is it? David and James hiked the steep path up the mountain to find out. After they got up there, they heard people inside and found a way in though a broken window. They came back with exciting tales of an abandonded and vandalized communist memorial or building. The next morning we went back because David and James had seen cars up by the memorial and knew there was a road that could take us there. They wanted Allison and I to see it. We found the way up and were there early in the morning. It was still foggy and drizzly and very eerie since we were the only ones there. This was by far the weirdest thing we came across on our week long travels around Bulgaria. Once we got back to Sofia later that day, we got online to find out about this place. It is called Buzludzha. It was built by the communists and was started in 1974 and finished in 1981. After the fall of communism in Bulgaria in 1989, the memorial/socialist meeting place was vandalized and much of it was destroyed. You can read about it here.
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- The view from the mountain.
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- The is opening where David and James entered the building.
