This, of course, is what happened to the pyramids at Giza: whatever materials could be stripped from them and used in newer buildings WAS stripped from them and used in newer buildings.
@James It's a fair comparison. Majority of buildings from antiquity were stripped bare to what we see today. The only difference between the two in this context is literally time. If they made this place out of granite, it would be here long after humans were dead,.
The conversation's come up a few times about the monument over here. Personally I'm fond of the idea of restoring it and having it be a museum of Communism in Bulgaria and information on the crimes of the regime and it's failure could also be included. They could even leave a room in it's current state and show photos of the ruins of it inside.
@@ohioyodertoter6827 I'm nor sure I understand, as all things have a history all things are part of history and we simply can't preserve everything. That said this building does look worthy of preservation.
How about restoring 2/3rds and having one third in it's dilapidated state with the roof covered in clear plexiglass. That way the history of what this site went through is preserved. Every part of it tells a story.
No, restore it to the previous glory and make a separate exhibition of the history and crimes of "democracy" in Bulgaria. The graph at 7:09 clearly shows that it is a genocide being covered as a "democracy".
It is definetly an interresting building, I would have loved to see it when it was still maintained and fully operational, especially since I love mosaics, they are just really cool. Also interrestingly, it is being restored - atleast to a stable state where it can be open to the public for tours and visits.
Looks scary though.. like it's alone on the hill, imagine during thunderstorm and thunder frequently "targeted" that being the only tallest structure in that area.. or imagine during winter, how imposing is that...
I met a traveller from an antique land, Who said-“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand, Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed; And on the pedestal, these words appear: My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
It really is a stunning structure. Even in its decayed and vandalized state the structure stands tall. I think it should be preserved and perhaps even refurbished.
While this may be a relic of a by-gone era, I too think the architecture of this edifice is worthy of preservation. Don’t let it continue to be vandalised.
I'm no fan of communism, but I think it's sad that it's allowed to fall into ruin. It's history and could have continued to serve as a museum. And I've got to give it to them, commies make beautiful mosaics.
@@johnthefishermanjohnhoyle5763 No, it shouldn't. That's such a broad bruch to paint from a fundamentally incorrect perspective that I can't even begin with you. That's just a roundly terrible idea from every perspective, from cultural to financial to being truthful about history.
The reason for it is that it is in a remote location on a mountain top. To reach it, you need to drive 20 minutes from the nearest small town via a windy mountain road. Bulgaria is a poor country and the business would not be sustainable.
@@Mikshvert No, it does not. Let alone any Soviet associations, its a key example of the Brutalist design language, a truly wonderful style that continues today.
...after the creation of the monument, surplus funds were said to have been spent to develop new kindergartens in the surrounding area in addition to new road and infrastructure...Bwahaha...more like went to line someone's pockets...
You're getting a +1 just for showing a novel by Jack Vance. In my opinion, one of the most underrated authors of classic science fiction (and fantasy), and one of the last of the golden era to pass away.
“The _brutalist_ architecture then popular in Europe.” Here in Toronto, Canada, home to the Robarts Library at the University of Toronto (just to name one), this statement makes us feel rather left out.
I am not sure about the term 'Brutalist' Some say it means that practical engineering and structural elements are exposed as ornaments and others suggest it just means concrete and/or stark stucco look.
@@urrywest Brutalism was and is an entire architectural school of thought. Bare concrete and harsh geometric shapes are its hallmarks, meant to fully exploit the elasticity that only concrete can provide.
@@jakekaywell5972 What I have seen described as brutalism leads to awkward engineering solutions. I can understand putting the structural members forward as ornaments but to do it in stucco and when you look at it you see obvious problems with drainage management putting the structure in peril then I don't get it.
@@urrywest Stucco is porous and tends to trap moisture. Great for the American southwest climates it is most famously used in, not so in much of the rest of the world. Concrete, however, remains sturdy in pretty much any environment. Roman concrete structures still exist everywhere from modern France to Egypt. As for drainage management, that would be a building-by-building basis. It's unfair to pin the blame for that on Brutalism as a whole. Also, in Brutalism, concrete isn't merely a structural element repurposed as ornamentation. It is the structure and the decoration all in one, often with rebar as support.
@@jakekaywell5972 I don't know what brutalism is.... I have seen some very foolish structures that were called brutalist.... Of course structural members can be ornaments. I have more of an engineering head set.... Sometimes I don't understand people's aesthetics.. Some leftist politicians will reject their supporters for differences in what they think is aesthetic...
This building seems to close to Frank Llyod Wright's Marin County Civic Center north of San Francisco to be an accident. It just celebrated it's 60th anniversary this last week.
Communism steals nearly all it's "achievements" from others. It's just another attempt to control people by elites to the elites can have everything they want.
@@toomanyhobbies2011 False, the USSR developed quite a lot on its own. The human-capable anthrax vaccine, the mobile phone, and the artificial heart for starters.
@@jakekaywell5972 The artificial heart the "Soviets developed" was created by a biology student for implantation into a dog, and used an external motor. The first use of an artificial heart on a human was in the United States, as was the first heart-lung machine, and fully-implantable artificial heart. The U.S. was not pursuing a human anthrax vaccine in the 1940s or prior, and the Soviet human anthrax vaccines built on previous work from French and Austrian scientists. The claim that the Soviet Union developed the mobile phone is laughable, as concepts of mobile telephony were pursued by many countries throughout the 20th century. The first actual hand-held mobile phone was created by a U.S. company in the early 1970s.
@@jakekaywell5972 the USSR ? or the overworked scientists and doctors that would be sent to a Gulag if they didn't support the government to compete against the "evil" capitalist west ?
@@Dan_Kanerva Various scientists working for the various state-owned corporations of the USSR. None I mentioned were in the gulag system as the time of their completion.
The ideologie might have been crap but the building itself is art ! I would love to see it restored and maintained in some capacity ! Maybe as an theatre or an art gallery or something !
@@amparocruz951 Communism does not work! Don t take it from me , Marx himself said it look it up ! Its a nice idea thou , but in the in end it always ends up beeing capitalistic anyway ! Probably even more so than actual capitalistic sytems! Look at Xi xingping or Ki Jong Un , if you know how those guys are living , they are everything but communistst , that stuff is only for their citizens! Corruption prevents such sytem from working like intended ! Not even police states like china can make that work! If you even want such a thing!
@@christianjunghanel6724 That’s Not True At All Marx Never said that,in fact Marx said the Opposite ALL the Time, and just with this Comment Alone you’ve shown to me that you have NEVER Read Marx or any Real Communist Theory, first of all, Communism is basically a Science, because it takes up dialectics as highest form of reason, and takes into account Nature and History, and it is much more in line with human nature than capitalism is China and North Korea are Not Accurate examples of Communism, they are By Definition Not Communist, even they will admit it, they call themselves communist because that’s their end goal (however I doubt that), and it’s not because they ARE Communist rn, You NEED to READ!
Even without the Soviet association, this building remains a hallmark design of the Brutalist architectural movement. It deserves to be preserved as it originally was. I'm pleased to say that renovation efforts are happening as I type this.
I may be mistaken, but I think I read just a few weeks ago about this monument and that Germany? Or some private investor? Intents to help them restore it.
Having visited the monument, it was certainly impressive, even in its deteriorated state. I would have loved to see it in its original state, but it's still worth visiting
Reminds me of what happened to many roman buildings across Europe. Those that were not of further use were dismantled or repurposed, its materials being stripped and use for housing, other projects and the such. ps: A Romanian stole the copper (that's it, i had to say the meme)
I have mixed opinions about this. One is that it exemplifies communism and is a waste of money and resources. The other is how they managed to overcome the elements and remoteness to build this building with beautiful artistic murals and designs.
Would you have the same opinions of it being "a waste of money and resources" if the Bulgarian People's Republic was capitalist during its construction?
Thank you for this insight! I've subscribed to this chanel because I like to be surprised ...I hadn't heard of this monument and now I've an entree into Bulgarian politics, futuristic/brutalist architecture, survival of decorative mosaic techniques et al. .... !!!!!!
The time, and the size, and the weight, and all of those intricate details! All except one: How many hungry people could have been fed with the money it took to build what is now totally worthless and abandoned?
The CIA made a report in 1983 that stated that the average Soviet diet was on par with and at times even slightly better than the West. It was likely to have been this way since at least the mid-50s. I don't imagine the Buglarian People's Republic would be very different.
@@jakekaywell5972 That may have been the case, because the quality was quite good but the quantity in comparison to the west was not on par. Its not a secret that alot of food in western society is hot garbage nutrition-wise.
@@jakekaywell5972 Thing is, in the US at least, a poll taken after the so called Cold War America bragged of having won, which they actually did not win exactly, Seems forgotten was the poll of the Soviet areas involved 70% preferred to keep the Soviet System, across the board in place[but maybe felt new ideas and new people (Gorbachev was one for example,but he was naive to think all the BS blathering out of America[as if all true,discounting its 95% propaganda]) since Stalin beat back Hitler at a great personal loss of people. Even Kruschev it was found he was far less a Communist than an opportunist, demeaning Stalin as a cult of personality proponent,which wasn't true, he was really a Communist and to him it was about the people not leaders revolutions. US 3 tmes tried its all hands on deck take over that hurt so many Russians, with their firesale of state[ all of it belonged to the Russian people,but formerly controlled by the State, with oligarchs created that took most of it even then, Putin uncorruptibility stopped that. Also military had to attack 3 times to take down its parliament. Look at US actions now, Russia is not a Communist state,yet the US still pretends they are and claiming Putin must go to make Russia a democracy, US still thinks it owns the world. RFor decades claiming USSR wants to take over the world while they are actually doing sp, Also compare military bases and world regions mapped out as xxxx-coms. look at the many accomplishments since 1900 revolution, illiteracy,2 WW wars, 1st earth orbiter, planetary vehicles to study planets, what took US 200 yrs the did in less than 60 years, never unemployment problem. Sorry, for going on so, but I agree with you hold to the history.
Bulgarian here. This and many other communist atrocities continue to visually polute our steets and land. Ideally, one day we would be able to get rid of our communist past, and what is worse, Russian serfdom which is still prevalent in a good chunk of the population. Although, to be honest if we want to keep one museum just for the sake of having a place to display all of our dark history in the 44-89 period, then let it be this one.
Thank you for your insights. Bulgarian history and culture are not known in the UK (excepting Slavic studies students and academics of course). I'm happy that this is changing. My son and his friends very much enjoyed visiting Sofia this summer and learned all they could.
@@Silver_Prussian Дори да оставим на страна историческата причина за тези паметници (не знам кой нормален човек вдига паметник на чужда окупаторска армия...), чисто естетически всичките са за боклука. На фона на архитектурата от Възраждането и Царско време, е смешно да си грозим земята с панелки и летящи чинии. На МОЧА ще му дойде времето, както падна петохуйника пред НДК и беше заменен с истински български паметник - мемориала на Първи софийски пехотен полк.
@@nonicknameable 1 незнам кой нормален човек укачна чужди знамена където не им е мястото. 2 защо има статой на Христофор Колумб извън старната му ? Защото има хора от човешката история който заслужават уважение от всички и техните подвизи и дела са повлиали на много държави. Във нашата така скъпа и чудесна украйна където българите са атакувани със зулоьнка или изгопени живи има паметник на Христо Ботев, който бе осквернен познай от кой ? Има и паметник на опълченците на шипка който също бе осквернен. Но най-забавното е че много от войниците в червената армия ся били какви ? Украинци. Забавно ми бе да ги гледам как оскверняват паметта на дедите си украинците, как сабарят статой на жуков, този който е бил на фпонта и е водил украинсси части в боя. 3 и тук разбирам че ти нямаш усет за изкуство нито го разбираш. Харесват ли ти или не тези са нашите сгради и различието прави цялата картина да изглежда интригуваща и някак си пленяваща. 4 колко време им отне да го махнат мовзолея ? 2 или 3 дни не знам аз така са ми казвали. 5 аз съм много по-млад от теб и също си мислех така както и ти, бууу кумонизм, как ли щеше да е ако бялата армия бе победила ако ленин и останалите бяха сложени на бесилото. Представял съм си го 100 пъти, минал съм през 100 сценариий но колкото и да го правя няма полза, няма да променя нищо, не мога да променя миналото но можем да променим бъдещето.
I wish they would fix it and use it to promote tourism in the country. No sense letting something that iconic go to waste, plus you could use the tower for cell service.
Before watching I'm going to hazard a guess that it's abandoned because it's a monument to a failed murderous authoritarian ideology on top of a mountain,over thirty years after the regime it was built to glorify collapsed.
Someone should really undertake some effort to restore most of this back to its former glory. Its a fascinating building, and would make for a lovely tourist destination. I mean, it still is, but come on, seeing all those murals in their former glory, the red start beaming at the top, lets not let something like this to just, rot.
Well show some example, call all those proletariat people and ask them to reconstruct this communist joke without pay. I am sure many oppressed by capitalism would like to join you.
When I come to power I will issue decree that this building should be renovated and restored to it's former glory - without modern replacements of lighting, electronics and such.
What amazes me is how fast it went to pot. When I heard developement started in 1961 I thought ok must have been finished and opened like 1964 or 1965. I mean it looks like some 1960s James Bond villain's lair However it was finally opened in 1980s that's crazy.
It's crazy! 1960s Cold War era that James Bond infiltrates and finds out its some kind of "super directional emp weapon at the top of that freaking Tower. I was thinking that same shit.. A villain's lair.. what a laugh😂
the world should take a lesson and like this monument to communism, let communism its self die. Rarely through history has evil been perpetrated on the scale communism has allowed
Much worse evils have been and are still being perpetrated under capitalism. Even the most extreme (read: heavily biased) sources place communism's death count at 97 million over its entire existence. Capitalism, on the other hand, kills 20 million people every year. It would not be profitable to prevent these deaths, despite us having both the capability and the distribution channels for it, so we let them happen. 8 million due to a lack of clean water, 7.6 million due to hunger, 3 million due to vaccine-preventable disease, and a further 500k due to malaria, all in various capitalist nations. This is all publically available, current data from the UN by the way.
Monuments raised by pure evil, tend to get destroyed or abandoned. Even though majestic in appearance they will always represent evil for the nations population. But seeing the monuments of evil fade away and turn to rubble, becomes symbolic for better times and positive change.
@@nochance1013 I'd be concerned about the health of your dog then, if it can poop out perfect angles and geometry. My dog also left a monument to capitalism in my own front yard.
I’m surprised some Russian oligarch or eccentric billionaire of another type hasn’t snapped this thing up and renovate it into the coolest house ever. I’d knock down the wall separating the observation deck from the interior, then build a floor going across. Maybe a large indoor fire pit in the middle of the lower floor?
Sad that they didn't have the money to maintain it. It would have been a good tourist attraction. It is a really cool looking building. Being from a communist building they should have made it with materials that were dirt cheap, durable, but beautiful, I think that would have symbolized what they thought communism was better than decking it out in copper and expensive marble.
7:00 You mean there wasnt enough money to be stolen and to keep it running at the same time, this normal, if they say 600milion for something 400milion disappears
If you want a structure to last, while still looking beautiful thousands of years later (see Greek and Roman buildings/monuments), then you can't use modern materials like concrete and steel. It'll just crumble into a decrepit state and be soon forgotten.
@@raziel3099 So decades of environmental decay directly because of capitalism is now symbolic of the suppossed "failures of communism"? The mental gymnastics.
Last time visited I flew back to Hong Kong the same day. After I got home. I saw that a piece of the broken red star glass was in the tread of my boot. Conflicted if I should take it back one day or not.
Ahhhh Yes. The famous bleeding Red Glass.(Stars in the Tower) Just like in a Trabant's tail light, the weather somehow melt the red right out of the glass. Making ref streaks down everything, like the blood of millions of it's followers, that you can't hide. lol!
If a Trabant's tail light can give a reflection of the blood of the "victims of communism", imagine the deluge that spills from a 1959 Cadillac's taillights!
@@Lawnmower737 The collapse of the USSR was a coup d'etat against Gorbachev by Yetsin after a minor recession. Hardly proves communism itself was the main reason. Given how I'm a Marxist-Leninist, with my whole family coming from the Hungarian People's Republic, maintaining the Soviet cause is absolutely essential for me.
They should restore the monument, then replace the missing mosaics with the names of all people that were slaughtered during the Communist regime in Bulgaria. Maybe.. there will be enough room for them.
It's sad how fickle human beings are as this was a historic accomplishment. And really was a wonderful event and if nothing else should glorify the ones who joined together and their work displayed. Another monument was to the people and an uprising of Kordun and Banijy in WWII, {unsure of completeness or accuracy of the monument's info, but story I heard was it was a dedication to those who fought in an uprising of the people against fascism,I think,and in Croatia,but unclear after Kosovo, Serbia war NATO did bombing in]
@@goshu7009 You aren't representative of all Bulgarians, even if you are one. Unfortunately for you, this monument is currently being restored to original Soviet specifications regardless.
I was there as a young boy, holding my grandfathers hand during a political rally shortly after the reform. Circa 1992. What a waste of a beutiful building in the name of ideology.
A great piddy that this building serves no porpouse. The Roman's created their water works centuries ago. Now Roman's society doesn't exzist. Yet the aquafure still works like it did when made in Roman's time.
This, of course, is what happened to the pyramids at Giza: whatever materials could be stripped from them and used in newer buildings WAS stripped from them and used in newer buildings.
@James He's pointing out a similarity in the fate of both structures.
@James pyramids and this one were made thanks to no-payed labor workers that worshiped the system...
@James Same happened with the Collosseum in Rome
@James It's a fair comparison. Majority of buildings from antiquity were stripped bare to what we see today. The only difference between the two in this context is literally time. If they made this place out of granite, it would be here long after humans were dead,.
I thought giza rock just fell off overtime showing rawnm underside
The conversation's come up a few times about the monument over here. Personally I'm fond of the idea of restoring it and having it be a museum of Communism in Bulgaria and information on the crimes of the regime and it's failure could also be included. They could even leave a room in it's current state and show photos of the ruins of it inside.
All history should be preserved
@@ohioyodertoter6827 I'm nor sure I understand, as all things have a history all things are part of history and we simply can't preserve everything.
That said this building does look worthy of preservation.
How about restoring 2/3rds and having one third in it's dilapidated state with the roof covered in clear plexiglass. That way the history of what this site went through is preserved. Every part of it tells a story.
Even the ones where tragedy struck.
No, restore it to the previous glory and make a separate exhibition of the history and crimes of "democracy" in Bulgaria. The graph at 7:09 clearly shows that it is a genocide being covered as a "democracy".
It is definetly an interresting building, I would have loved to see it when it was still maintained and fully operational, especially since I love mosaics, they are just really cool.
Also interrestingly, it is being restored - atleast to a stable state where it can be open to the public for tours and visits.
That's nice to hear. Hopefully more people visit when it's renewed
Looks scary though.. like it's alone on the hill, imagine during thunderstorm and thunder frequently "targeted" that being the only tallest structure in that area.. or imagine during winter, how imposing is that...
I've learned about some amazing stuff from your channel. That towers construction looks pretty solid, I wonder how long it will be standing.
That it's decaying and depressing actually make it a fitting monument to communism.
Then there are those is the USA who want this.
Facts!
Except Ccp China which the west loves to trade with forced slave labor prisons no human rights no environmental laws..
Capitalism loves ccp China..
MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY!
Lol, Beat me to it...
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said-“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
It really is a stunning structure. Even in its decayed and vandalized state the structure stands tall. I think it should be preserved and perhaps even refurbished.
While this may be a relic of a by-gone era, I too think the architecture of this edifice is worthy of preservation. Don’t let it continue to be vandalised.
I'm no fan of communism, but I think it's sad that it's allowed to fall into ruin. It's history and could have continued to serve as a museum. And I've got to give it to them, commies make beautiful mosaics.
It’s a very beautiful monument, I think it should be preserved too
@@ressljs commies dont make anything, they take from others.
Socialist architecture should be destroyed like Nazi architecture.
@@johnthefishermanjohnhoyle5763 No, it shouldn't. That's such a broad bruch to paint from a fundamentally incorrect perspective that I can't even begin with you. That's just a roundly terrible idea from every perspective, from cultural to financial to being truthful about history.
I'm surprised they've never tried to sell it, as it would make for a fantastic restaraunt or tourist spot.
Ello, you. Seriously though, make it into the Bulgarian version of the Seattle space needle. It looks enough like it.
The reason for it is that it is in a remote location on a mountain top. To reach it, you need to drive 20 minutes from the nearest small town via a windy mountain road. Bulgaria is a poor country and the business would not be sustainable.
Currently there is a restoration work done on the monument. There's a project to renovate it as well.
those ridiculous wind turbines they now put around it ruined the entire landscape of the monument itself.
@@lcfflc3887 good. The monument deserves to be leveled.
@@Mikshvert what do you mean?
@@Mikshvert No, it does not. Let alone any Soviet associations, its a key example of the Brutalist design language, a truly wonderful style that continues today.
@@jakekaywell5972 yes and no
I like the aesthetic of brutalism
I hate how many of it's examples are visual proofs of wastelesness and hollow promises
Beginning at around 11:17, it looks like a silhouette of a giant toilet. Great video!
The soviets did know how to build a monument.. it looks pretty awesome.
...after the creation of the monument, surplus funds were said to have been spent to develop new kindergartens in the surrounding area in addition to new road and infrastructure...Bwahaha...more like went to line someone's pockets...
The Star Wars show “Andor” definitely used this building design in the series for an Empire structure.
Great video! Love the brutalist architecture buildings in general. Looking forward to see more videos about historic monumental buildings like this!
Funny that when the ship went down, all the copper roofing disappeared! 😂
Bulgaria in a nutshell...
You're getting a +1 just for showing a novel by Jack Vance. In my opinion, one of the most underrated authors of classic science fiction (and fantasy), and one of the last of the golden era to pass away.
“The _brutalist_ architecture then popular in Europe.”
Here in Toronto, Canada, home to the Robarts Library at the University of Toronto (just to name one), this statement makes us feel rather left out.
I am not sure about the term 'Brutalist' Some say it means that practical engineering and structural elements are exposed as ornaments and others suggest it just means concrete and/or stark stucco look.
@@urrywest Brutalism was and is an entire architectural school of thought. Bare concrete and harsh geometric shapes are its hallmarks, meant to fully exploit the elasticity that only concrete can provide.
@@jakekaywell5972 What I have seen described as brutalism leads to awkward engineering solutions.
I can understand putting the structural members forward as ornaments but to do it in stucco and when you look at it you see obvious problems with drainage management putting the structure in peril then I don't get it.
@@urrywest Stucco is porous and tends to trap moisture. Great for the American southwest climates it is most famously used in, not so in much of the rest of the world. Concrete, however, remains sturdy in pretty much any environment. Roman concrete structures still exist everywhere from modern France to Egypt. As for drainage management, that would be a building-by-building basis. It's unfair to pin the blame for that on Brutalism as a whole. Also, in Brutalism, concrete isn't merely a structural element repurposed as ornamentation. It is the structure and the decoration all in one, often with rebar as support.
@@jakekaywell5972 I don't know what brutalism is.... I have seen some very foolish structures that were called brutalist.... Of course structural members can be ornaments.
I have more of an engineering head set....
Sometimes I don't understand people's aesthetics.. Some leftist politicians will reject their supporters for differences in what they think is aesthetic...
Good for Bulgaria. May they never again experience the horrors of communism.
i like that they allowed free market companies to gut it
Communism is something it, as well as more places, needs again.
This building seems to close to Frank Llyod Wright's Marin County Civic Center north of San Francisco to be an accident. It just celebrated it's 60th anniversary this last week.
Communism steals nearly all it's "achievements" from others. It's just another attempt to control people by elites to the elites can have everything they want.
@@toomanyhobbies2011 False, the USSR developed quite a lot on its own. The human-capable anthrax vaccine, the mobile phone, and the artificial heart for starters.
@@jakekaywell5972 The artificial heart the "Soviets developed" was created by a biology student for implantation into a dog, and used an external motor. The first use of an artificial heart on a human was in the United States, as was the first heart-lung machine, and fully-implantable artificial heart. The U.S. was not pursuing a human anthrax vaccine in the 1940s or prior, and the Soviet human anthrax vaccines built on previous work from French and Austrian scientists. The claim that the Soviet Union developed the mobile phone is laughable, as concepts of mobile telephony were pursued by many countries throughout the 20th century. The first actual hand-held mobile phone was created by a U.S. company in the early 1970s.
@@jakekaywell5972 the USSR ? or the overworked scientists and doctors that would be sent to a Gulag if they didn't support the government to compete against the "evil" capitalist west ?
@@Dan_Kanerva Various scientists working for the various state-owned corporations of the USSR. None I mentioned were in the gulag system as the time of their completion.
5:54, what kinda music is this? I hear it all the time with abandoned Soviet-Era stuff all the time.
I suggest that the people should renovate and repurpose that monument for the idea of Bulgarian nationalism.
So it goes the way of the ideology it represents. What a fitting way for it to go.
Its currently being renovated to original specs, so its story is hardly over. Also, communism is still very much alive, even if the USSR is no more.
@@jakekaywell5972 As long as education exists, communism won't flourish.
@@Helmutlozzi Which ironically communism provided and continues to provide at an higher average quality than capitalist nations.
The ideologie might have been crap but the building itself is art ! I would love to see it restored and maintained in some capacity ! Maybe as an theatre or an art gallery or something !
It’s the Opposite, Have you read any Marx or Real Communist ideology?
@@amparocruz951 Communism does not work! Don t take it from me , Marx himself said it look it up ! Its a nice idea thou , but in the in end it always ends up beeing capitalistic anyway ! Probably even more so than actual capitalistic sytems! Look at Xi xingping or Ki Jong Un , if you know how those guys are living , they are everything but communistst , that stuff is only for their citizens! Corruption prevents such sytem from working like intended ! Not even police states like china can make that work! If you even want such a thing!
@@christianjunghanel6724 That’s Not True At All Marx Never said that,in fact Marx said the Opposite ALL the Time, and just with this Comment Alone you’ve shown to me that you have NEVER Read Marx or any Real Communist Theory, first of all, Communism is basically a Science, because it takes up dialectics as highest form of reason, and takes into account Nature and History, and it is much more in line with human nature than capitalism is China and North Korea are Not Accurate examples of Communism, they are By Definition Not Communist, even they will admit it, they call themselves communist because that’s their end goal (however I doubt that), and it’s not because they ARE Communist rn, You NEED to READ!
The front entrance look like the freaking saucer that landed from the Tim Burton movie "Mars Attacks"
😆
I'm just gonna say this is a great video!
I'd love to see it renovated and used as a museum to peace and nature.
Love the Monopoly lettering.
Even without the Soviet association, this building remains a hallmark design of the Brutalist architectural movement. It deserves to be preserved as it originally was. I'm pleased to say that renovation efforts are happening as I type this.
While your video was recently posted, there is another, posted a year ago showing the restoration taking place. Please explain…
It's on my bucket list of abandoned places.
Well, this things looks like it already kicked the bucket... So better you rush yours... ;-)
@@MrKotBonifacy right?
I driven past it about 10 years ago, road was closed so could not drive up there. Wished I took my time to see it close up
I may be mistaken, but I think I read just a few weeks ago about this monument and that Germany? Or some private investor? Intents to help them restore it.
Don't agree with the politics - but it seems a shame to see it abandoned and vandalised.
No its pretty funny actually
I'd rather chose the "totalitarian evil communism" than the genocide that is clearly visible at 7:09
Having visited the monument, it was certainly impressive, even in its deteriorated state.
I would have loved to see it in its original state, but it's still worth visiting
Learning history is fun and important
Reminds me of what happened to many roman buildings across Europe. Those that were not of further use were dismantled or repurposed, its materials being stripped and use for housing, other projects and the such.
ps: A Romanian stole the copper (that's it, i had to say the meme)
It's a haunting reminder from a fallen regime. That's how I see it, I often go visit it, there's even an annual event "open buzludzja"
Not hard to see why the ruined version has become such a mecca for many urbex photographers
I have mixed opinions about this.
One is that it exemplifies communism and is a waste of money and resources.
The other is how they managed to overcome the elements and remoteness to build this building with beautiful artistic murals and designs.
Would you have the same opinions of it being "a waste of money and resources" if the Bulgarian People's Republic was capitalist during its construction?
reminds me of the Trylon and Perisphere from 1st NY worlds fair in 1939
Thank you for this insight! I've subscribed to this chanel because I like to be surprised ...I hadn't heard of this monument and now I've an entree into Bulgarian politics, futuristic/brutalist architecture, survival of decorative mosaic techniques et al. .... !!!!!!
I have a Bakelite model of them that were souvenirs from 1939-1940.
Socialist/Communist monuments are so bizarre sometimes. There are some pretty interesting ones in the Balkans, like the Ilinden monument in Macedonia.
The time, and the size, and the weight, and all of those intricate details! All except one: How many hungry people could have been fed with the money it took to build what is now totally worthless and abandoned?
Precisely.
The CIA made a report in 1983 that stated that the average Soviet diet was on par with and at times even slightly better than the West. It was likely to have been this way since at least the mid-50s. I don't imagine the Buglarian People's Republic would be very different.
@@jakekaywell5972 That may have been the case, because the quality was quite good but the quantity in comparison to the west was not on par. Its not a secret that alot of food in western society is hot garbage nutrition-wise.
That's so sensitive and perceptive. Did you think that up all by yourself or did you get help?
ask the Yankees the war maker .. trillion of dollars for destroying other people country
I cannot think of a more appropriate end to a monument to communism!!!
Its currently being renovated to original specifications. Good, because the more extant Soviet-era memorials that exist, the better.
@@jakekaywell5972 Thing is, in the US at least, a poll taken after the so called Cold War America bragged of having won, which they actually did not win exactly, Seems forgotten was the poll of the Soviet areas involved 70% preferred to keep the Soviet System, across the board in place[but maybe felt new ideas and new people (Gorbachev was one for example,but he was naive to think all the BS blathering out of America[as if all true,discounting its 95% propaganda]) since Stalin beat back Hitler at a great personal loss of people. Even Kruschev it was found he was far less a Communist than an opportunist, demeaning Stalin as a cult of personality proponent,which wasn't true, he was really a Communist and to him it was about the people not leaders revolutions.
US 3 tmes tried its all hands on deck take over that hurt so many Russians, with their firesale of state[ all of it belonged to the Russian people,but formerly controlled by the State, with oligarchs created that took most of it even then, Putin uncorruptibility stopped that.
Also military had to attack 3 times to take down its parliament.
Look at US actions now, Russia is not a Communist state,yet the US still pretends they are and claiming Putin must go to make Russia a democracy, US still thinks it owns the world. RFor decades claiming USSR wants to take over the world while they are actually doing sp, Also compare military bases and world regions mapped out as xxxx-coms. look at the many accomplishments since 1900 revolution, illiteracy,2 WW wars, 1st earth orbiter, planetary vehicles to study planets, what took US 200 yrs the did in less than 60 years, never unemployment problem.
Sorry, for going on so, but I agree with you hold to the history.
while it should be preserved, it should not be restored. its dilapidated abandoned state is a perfect symbol of communism in practice
Unfortunately for you, this building is currently being restored to original Soviet specifications.
@@jakekaywell5972, as it should be, this is a piece of history; this monument holds many feelings within it; it is a place of healing and learning.
Bulgarian here. This and many other communist atrocities continue to visually polute our steets and land. Ideally, one day we would be able to get rid of our communist past, and what is worse, Russian serfdom which is still prevalent in a good chunk of the population.
Although, to be honest if we want to keep one museum just for the sake of having a place to display all of our dark history in the 44-89 period, then let it be this one.
Thank you for your insights. Bulgarian history and culture are not known in the UK (excepting Slavic studies students and academics of course). I'm happy that this is changing. My son and his friends very much enjoyed visiting Sofia this summer and learned all they could.
Even without any Soviet influence, this building remains an important milestone for the Brutalist architecture movement. Let it stand forever.
,,Russian serfdom"
Оооо не ти си от онези големите патриоти всезнаещи и можещи.
Никой от монументите няма да се маха осебенно тези на Червената Армия.
@@Silver_Prussian Дори да оставим на страна историческата причина за тези паметници (не знам кой нормален човек вдига паметник на чужда окупаторска армия...), чисто естетически всичките са за боклука. На фона на архитектурата от Възраждането и Царско време, е смешно да си грозим земята с панелки и летящи чинии.
На МОЧА ще му дойде времето, както падна петохуйника пред НДК и беше заменен с истински български паметник - мемориала на Първи софийски пехотен полк.
@@nonicknameable 1 незнам кой нормален човек укачна чужди знамена където не им е мястото.
2 защо има статой на Христофор Колумб извън старната му ? Защото има хора от човешката история който заслужават уважение от всички и техните подвизи и дела са повлиали на много държави. Във нашата така скъпа и чудесна украйна където българите са атакувани със зулоьнка или изгопени живи има паметник на Христо Ботев, който бе осквернен познай от кой ? Има и паметник на опълченците на шипка който също бе осквернен. Но най-забавното е че много от войниците в червената армия ся били какви ? Украинци. Забавно ми бе да ги гледам как оскверняват паметта на дедите си украинците, как сабарят статой на жуков, този който е бил на фпонта и е водил украинсси части в боя.
3 и тук разбирам че ти нямаш усет за изкуство нито го разбираш. Харесват ли ти или не тези са нашите сгради и различието прави цялата картина да изглежда интригуваща и някак си пленяваща.
4 колко време им отне да го махнат мовзолея ? 2 или 3 дни не знам аз така са ми казвали.
5 аз съм много по-млад от теб и също си мислех така както и ти, бууу кумонизм, как ли щеше да е ако бялата армия бе победила ако ленин и останалите бяха сложени на бесилото. Представял съм си го 100 пъти, минал съм през 100 сценариий но колкото и да го правя няма полза, няма да променя нищо, не мога да променя миналото но можем да променим бъдещето.
Endlessly fascinating
DC will become this way in my lifetime. They have already established a commission to remove many of the monuments.
I wish they would fix it and use it to promote tourism in the country. No sense letting something that iconic go to waste, plus you could use the tower for cell service.
My dog left a monument to communism on the floor this morning.
Monument to capitalism more like.
Probably a better monument than this chunk of wasted money and resources shown in the video. Communism needs to die world wide.
@@raziel3099 From this communist, not likely.
Say what you think to the 100 million victims of communism
@@jakekaywell5972 are you an American
Based architecture. It’s a yes from me.
I like the first monument. It should never have been abandoned.
Before watching I'm going to hazard a guess that it's abandoned because it's a monument to a failed murderous authoritarian ideology on top of a mountain,over thirty years after the regime it was built to glorify collapsed.
This is a James Bond villain’s headquarters wet dream. I need this!
Someone should really undertake some effort to restore most of this back to its former glory.
Its a fascinating building, and would make for a lovely tourist destination.
I mean, it still is, but come on, seeing all those murals in their former glory, the red start beaming at the top, lets not let something like this to just, rot.
Well show some example, call all those proletariat people and ask them to reconstruct this communist joke without pay. I am sure many oppressed by capitalism would like to join you.
"Donate willingly." Right.
I am Bulgarian and even I learned something new
When I come to power I will issue decree that this building should be renovated and restored to it's former glory - without modern replacements of lighting, electronics and such.
It would be fun to see the view from the top of the tower.
What amazes me is how fast it went to pot. When I heard developement started in 1961 I thought ok must have been finished and opened like 1964 or 1965. I mean it looks like some 1960s James Bond villain's lair However it was finally opened in 1980s that's crazy.
It's crazy! 1960s Cold War era that James Bond infiltrates and finds out its some kind of "super directional emp weapon at the top of that freaking Tower. I was thinking that same shit.. A villain's lair.. what a laugh😂
Which is why communism died.
@@jeffjay9350 Yeah, those "Five Year Plans" never seemed to quite workout as planned.
@@jeffjay9350 Communism is still alive in well in quite a few places. China and Cuba stand out.
@@mzwere1 What? The "Five Year Plans" under Stalin were resounding successes despite its wildly idealistic goals.
the world should take a lesson and like this monument to communism, let communism its self die.
Rarely through history has evil been perpetrated on the scale communism has allowed
Much worse evils have been and are still being perpetrated under capitalism. Even the most extreme (read: heavily biased) sources place communism's death count at 97 million over its entire existence. Capitalism, on the other hand, kills 20 million people every year. It would not be profitable to prevent these deaths, despite us having both the capability and the distribution channels for it, so we let them happen. 8 million due to a lack of clean water, 7.6 million due to hunger, 3 million due to vaccine-preventable disease, and a further 500k due to malaria, all in various capitalist nations. This is all publically available, current data from the UN by the way.
There is no way that an illuminated star on that tower could be seen in Greece, over 160km away.
Follies are found everywhere. This is on the grand scale.
Monuments raised by pure evil, tend to get destroyed or abandoned. Even though majestic in appearance they will always represent evil for the nations population. But seeing the monuments of evil fade away and turn to rubble, becomes symbolic for better times and positive change.
Recently, they extended the brutalist style to the interior.
It is hideous. Sad the mountain top was removed to put that ugly thing up…
This is a marked improvement over a bare mountaintop. Frankly, if this is ugly to you, I'd hate to see your definition of beautiful.
@@jakekaywell5972 this looks like a loo also my dog left a monument to comunisum in the back garden
@@nochance1013 I'd be concerned about the health of your dog then, if it can poop out perfect angles and geometry. My dog also left a monument to capitalism in my own front yard.
Where is this Bulgaria they keep talking about?
The Dutch band is Kensington with Riddles. They made a very nice video on this location. Watch the video on youtube.
I’m surprised some Russian oligarch or eccentric billionaire of another type hasn’t snapped this thing up and renovate it into the coolest house ever. I’d knock down the wall separating the observation deck from the interior, then build a floor going across. Maybe a large indoor fire pit in the middle of the lower floor?
Reminds me of jabba's palace.
I am bulgarian and i think that place need restoration but the country is so poor that thing will never gonna happened
Sad that they didn't have the money to maintain it. It would have been a good tourist attraction. It is a really cool looking building. Being from a communist building they should have made it with materials that were dirt cheap, durable, but beautiful, I think that would have symbolized what they thought communism was better than decking it out in copper and expensive marble.
8:49 The opposite of communism is not democracy, it is capitalism
It is both as communism cannot exist without destroying democracy in the process.
Lots of people seem to have trouble with that stuff.
Fitting end to.a 'brutalist' philosophy and regime...
Its currently being renovated to original specs, so it has hardly reached its end.
It’s actually a disguised Alien spaceship, ain’t it?…
7:00 You mean there wasnt enough money to be stolen and to keep it running at the same time, this normal, if they say 600milion for something 400milion disappears
If you want a structure to last, while still looking beautiful thousands of years later (see Greek and Roman buildings/monuments), then you can't use modern materials like concrete and steel. It'll just crumble into a decrepit state and be soon forgotten.
It really looks like a UFO sitting on a support structure.
The better graffiti serve as a continuation of the monument’s history. If anyone restores it, they should think hard about removing them.
As a final FU to communism they should of turned it into a mall with a giant McDonald’s in the middle lol
Utterly tasteless suggestion. I'm pleased to announce that renovation work is currently being done to return it to its original condition.
I think it should be left as is as a reminder of how utterly trash communism ideology really is as are those who followed it.
@@raziel3099 So decades of environmental decay directly because of capitalism is now symbolic of the suppossed "failures of communism"? The mental gymnastics.
@@jakekaywell5972 A shiny monument to a dead pseudo-religion.
I think it's a property of the ex-communist party that's why it is in shambles.
"My name is Ozymandius, King of Kings
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair."
Empty fry pot and upright spoon. Broken promise of workers utopia.
I don't get where you see that. For me, its a shining beacon of progress, allowed to decay with the adoption of capitalism.
Last time visited I flew back to Hong Kong the same day. After I got home. I saw that a piece of the broken red star glass was in the tread of my boot. Conflicted if I should take it back one day or not.
Ahhhh Yes.
The famous bleeding Red Glass.(Stars in the Tower) Just like in a Trabant's tail light,
the weather somehow melt the red right out of the glass. Making ref streaks down everything, like the blood of millions of it's followers, that you can't hide. lol!
If a Trabant's tail light can give a reflection of the blood of the "victims of communism", imagine the deluge that spills from a 1959 Cadillac's taillights!
@@jakekaywell5972 You’re in every comment section defending communism, why?
@@Lawnmower737 Because its a good and worthwhile thing for me to do.
@@jakekaywell5972 defending a nations ideology that led it to its downfall and subsequent failure as a whole doesn’t seem very worthwhile to me.
@@Lawnmower737 The collapse of the USSR was a coup d'etat against Gorbachev by Yetsin after a minor recession. Hardly proves communism itself was the main reason. Given how I'm a Marxist-Leninist, with my whole family coming from the Hungarian People's Republic, maintaining the Soviet cause is absolutely essential for me.
Made in 'The Brutal Style'. Say no more. Wink, wink. Nod, nod.
Brutalist. Also, it was invented in France. Brutalism just comes from the French "beton brut" meaning raw concrete.
What Fallout game is this from?
They should restore the monument, then replace the missing mosaics with the names of all people that were slaughtered during the Communist regime in Bulgaria. Maybe.. there will be enough room for them.
Did someone say “Soviet mosaics?” *Bald and Bankrupt appears.*
looks like a Command & Conquer building
KANE LIVES!
It's sad how fickle human beings are as this was a historic accomplishment. And really was a wonderful event and if nothing else should glorify the ones who joined together and their work displayed.
Another monument was to the people and an uprising of Kordun and Banijy in WWII, {unsure of completeness or accuracy of the monument's info, but story I heard was it was a dedication to those who fought in an uprising of the people against fascism,I think,and in Croatia,but unclear after Kosovo, Serbia war NATO did bombing in]
Looks like the sort of building the Superfriends would move in to.
Been there, very cool place.
Two words: Restore it.
No, Bulgarians hate this. WE would rather destroy it and use the materials for something else.
Luckily, it is currently being restored to original Soviet specifications.
@@goshu7009 You aren't representative of all Bulgarians, even if you are one. Unfortunately for you, this monument is currently being restored to original Soviet specifications regardless.
@@goshu7009 you are spitting fax
@@nochance1013 Nah. Just uninformed falsehoods.
Looks so cool
They should turn it into a night club called. Close Encounters.
Please stop putting a red border around your thumbnails. It’s hard to tell when you do that if the video has already been viewed. Thanks.
I was there as a young boy, holding my grandfathers hand during a political rally shortly after the reform. Circa 1992. What a waste of a beutiful building in the name of ideology.
"These trees are sacred... Old dream."
Wait, is the photo of the parking gharage from hannover, Germany? I know that place, lol.
A great piddy that this building serves no porpouse. The Roman's created their water works centuries ago. Now Roman's society doesn't exzist. Yet the aquafure still works like it did when made in Roman's time.