Take A Tour Of Bulgaria’s Abandoned Places Through These 20 Stunning Photos

Most, if not all, of Bulgaria’s abandoned infrastructures are the remains of the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1989. The memory of communist ideologies, now in forms of buildings, villages, and forgotten monuments left to rust and crumble, wasting away and overtaken by the elements, as the Bulgarian state opts for more market-oriented practices.

Bulgarian photographer Hristo Uzunov traveled to over 20 of the country’s deserted locations to capture their existence, perhaps reminding the country of its past, as knowledge of these abandoned historical places slowly recedes from the nation’s memory.

Uzunov’s series of photographs titled “The Abandoned Bulgaria” will take you on a rather eerie tour of Bulgaria’s forgotten places.

 
Industrial skeletons strewn across the Bulgarian landscape remind us that no ideology is immune from time.

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Hristo Uzunov

A sign on the gate of a former dairy farm reads “No Entry!”

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Hristo Uzunov

Buzludzha Monument, constructed on site by the Bulgarian communist regime.

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Hristo Uzunov

At 4,728 ft. tall, the historical peak of Buzludzha is located in the Central Balkan Mountains.

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Hristo Uzunov

It was opened in 1981 and was abandoned in 1990 with the fall of the USSR.

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Hristo Uzunov

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Its inner dome has fallen into a state of disrepair.

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Hristo Uzunov

The city of Varna is the home of this monument to the former Bulgarian-Soviet alliance.
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Hristo Uzunov

The Rhodope Mountains are home to many small villages, most of which have been abandoned and overtaken by the elements.

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Hristo Uzunov

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Hristo Uzunov

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Hristo Uzunov

An impressive smoke stack from a lime producing factory that last operated in the 1950s.

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Hristo Uzunov

An abandoned walkway tunnel is adorned with the Soviet Star. A crumbling yet still an eerie reminder of the communism that once ruled the Soviet Repulic.

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Hristo Uzunov

This train plant in Sofia has been abandoned since 2003. The first Bulgarian locomotive was manufactured in this site in 1948.

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Hristo Uzunov

The train plant was built in 1888.

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Hristo Uzunov

Buildings at the plant show signs of trespassers and vandals.

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Hristo Uzunov

Abandoned buildings in the town of Kardzhali

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Hristo Uzunov

This train car sits rusted at the Kardzhali train station.

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Hristo Uzunov

A rusting KrAZ 256 hopper that was once used in the marble quarry in the town of Ardino
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Hristo Uzunov

This old T-130 bulldozer was also used in the marble quarry.

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Hristo Uzunov

An Antov An-2 at the Museum of Aviation in the village of Krumovo.

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Hristo Uzunov

 
H/t ATI