A Little Piece of… Art in the Center of Sofia

“What is this Monument?” and “Why it’s still here?” are questions all my tourists ask me every time we pass the city center on the way to the National Palace of the Culture. But the question which scares me the most is “What do you think about it?”. My answer is always the same: “To be honest, can’t wait the day when it will be leveled to the ground!”

Why? Rats, hiding junkies, smell of piss, little kids climbing the rusty iron bases, indiscriminately scrawled graffiti tags or just because it’s ugly. I don’t know. Compare to the great and glorious times of the Bulgarian state, this “piece of art” shows how indecisive we are, now.
Actually, this  is a monumental architectural complex, dedicated to the 1300th anniversary of the Bulgarian state. The monument is located in the garden in front of the National Palace of Culture (НДК).

There were many competitions where young people applied with creative projects and ideas on how the monument can be used, without the need for destruction. But, for some reason none of this projects was implemented. 

Last month a cheerful news illuminated the Bulgarian news sites! The municipality of Sofia decided to remove the monument and to create a memorial to the fallen soldiers of the First and Sixth Sofia infantry regiments and expect dismantling of the memorial to begin soon.  The decision to change had supporters and opponents. I  would love to see their comments bellow this article. Hopefully, this will be a real step forward, not only an eyewash as always. I just want to note that I don’t want this monument to be removed because I am a hater, no! I want it, because I love my city.
The pictures bellow are 3D models of the future monument.