The remnants of communism in Bulgaria

About

Experience life behind the Iron Curtain before 1989. In a special six-day tour among the most bizarre places in Communist Bulgaria. Our journey will cover stunning monuments and architectural creations in the style of brutality and the so-called Stalin Baroque. You will immerse yourself in the past with the clothes, music and lifestyle of the 70s and 80s in Eastern Europe.

Highlights

• We'll take you to the famous Buzludzha Flying Saucer, a memorial house of the Communist Party.

• Immerse yourself in the Communist past of Bulgaria, which between 1944 and 1989 was the most faithful satellite of the USSR.

• Meet the most amazing monuments and architectural works built behind the Iron Curtain before 1989.

• Visit the giant factories and the exotic museums of socialism.

• Guide the way of communist revolutionaries and partisans.

 Description
First day

Our journey will begin with the tying of red links to tourists. Such connections were made by the pioneers - like all children at the age of 10. First we'll take you to the Museum of Communism, where we will look at the brightest paintings and sculptures of the stream of "socialist realism," a canon in art throughout the eastern camp. Here is also guarded the pentagram, which until 1990 rose to the most representative building in the country - the Party House. We will also visit the Bells of Peace - where bells from 68 different countries are ringing. The installation was established in 1979 by the daughter of Communist Chief Todor Zhivkova - Lyudmila, at the Banner of Peace Assembly. We are returning to the center of Sofia, where the central buildings built in Stalin's baroque style - the former Party House, where the National Assembly, the Council of Ministers, the Presidency and the Central Committee are situated. On the same day, lunch is included in a communist-style restaurant.

If desired, the tour in Sofia can be done with a vehicle produced during the era of socialism. The VIP option is to ride the Chaika, the Russian analogue of Rolls-Royce, with the leaders of the Communist Party.

Second day

We are going to Pernik - the former capital of metallurgy and coal mining, an early center of the socialist movement in Bulgaria. The city was also known as the place where the most famous communist politician, Georgi Dimitrov, the secretary general of the Third Communist International, and the protagonist in the famous case, were the burning of the Reichstag in Germany in 1933.

Here we will pay attention to the Miner's Museum - one of the mythological professions during the regime. Walk to Kovachevtsi, where is the home of Georgi Dimitrov. We will visit the remains of the Chervena Mogila plant on the way back - a sad mishandling attempt to build a giant machine-building company, which has pumped $ 1.4 billion. We will return to Sofia where we will meet two of the impressive communist monuments - the Soviet Army and the guerrilla movement.

Third day

Visiting the pride of the socialist industry - the Kozloduy nuclear power plant. Stop in Pleven and explore the Pleven Epopee, dedicated to an important battle of the Russo-Turkish War in 1877-78 and built during the Communist era. Explore the places where the September 1923 Uprising broke out, led by Georgi Dimitrov and cruelly suppressed by power. Understanding the life and limitations of the inhabitants of the border zones of the country under communism. Overnight in a luxury complex on the shores of Lake Pravetz - the birthplace of the communist dictator Todor Zhivkov

Fourth day

A trip to Pravets - the town was turned into a showcase of the Communist system. Todor Zhivkov's birth house has a museum where interesting gifts from heads of state from all over the world are kept in an authentic rural setting. A monument stands on the square, and the center of the city is built in the spirit of late 1980s socialist modernism. Departure and overnight in Kazanlak - an early center of the socialist movement in Bulgaria.

Fifth day

Climbing in the Balkan Mountains and visiting the Buzludja memorial house. The "flying saucer" on one of the high peaks is one of the most popular sights of Bulgaria in the world. The monument was used as the decor of various Hollywood productions, such as The Mechanic. Resurrection "with Jason Statham. On the meadow beneath Buzludja was founded the Bulgarian Work Social Democratic Party. This happened in August 1891 at a conspiracy meeting led by Dimitar Blagoev-Grandfather. The journey will go back to Kazanlak, where we will look at industrial and architectural monuments from the communist era and we will meet the lives of prominent figures of the Communist movement.

Departure and overnight in Plovdiv.

Sixth day

Familiar with the Communist architecture of Plovdiv and with the most celebrated monument - the Brotherhood Mound, which also filmed several Hollywood stars. A tour of the Communist sites and the landmarks of the European Capital of Culture 2019, including the Ancient Theater and the Roman Stadium.

Departure to Sofia.