The House of the Bulgarian Communist Party, Buzludza

I spotted this place on a list of the best abandoned places in the world online. When I told Eva about it she said it was not far from her Bulgarian home town, so on our summer trip we decided to go and do some urban exploring.

It sits on top of Buzludza mountain looking like a UFO landed from space

There is a way of getting inside, and from researching on other websites it seems its meant to be a secret so i'm not going to reveal how its done. I couldn't get in myself as i'm to tall and didn't have the strength in my arms to pull myself in due to once braking my arms. But Eva could get in and this is what she saw....

I am not entirely sure what the place was used for but I am guessing they had meetings there and people conducted speeches in the middle of the arena. I do know it was built on a spot where a person of importance was killed in a battle. There are no plans to restore the place because of the cost involved and there is no love from some people for the communist history of the country.

I took a piece home with me, a corner of a letter which had fallen from the wall on the outside. I wanted to take the whole letter but it was way so heavy I could not move it, and wouldn't of fitted in my suitcase. Here it is in our kitchen in Essex....

Two Holy Days at the Rila Monastery

During my second ever trip to Bulgaria this summer we visited the Rila Monastery with which is built in the Mountains about an hour or so drive from Sofia. It is thought it was built by or for for St John Rila and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We stayed in a nearby hotel but it is apparently possible to stay in the Monastery itself.

This is the rock above the cave where St John of Rila lived as a hermit in the nearby mountains and prayed for 17 years, he most probably would of sat there looking out over the trees. By the end of it all he could perform miracles and animals would approach him as his friend.

To get to the rock you have to crawl through a hole out of the cave and if you can do it you apparently have no sins. I found it pretty tough having to crawl up bending my long legs, I must of done something nearly wrong to find it such a struggle.

This is a picture of inside a little church next to the cave where St John Rilla was at one time buried. No Photos Allowed !!!! Lucky I went up through the hole before I took the picture, or i could be still stuck in there!