Interviewed for the project by Mihail Kondov.
Varna, 2014.
Translation by Mihail Kondov.
Can you talk a little about the process by which the Varna monument came to be?
The first thing that happened was for a decision to be made – for the creation of a monument to the Soviet Army. A national contest was then announced. In such a contest, all architects and engineers are eligible to take part. There is a special jury assigned by the Central Committee in Sofia; the institution that evaluated the quality of project proposals.
There was a particular mania back then to build enormous monuments. A lot of large monuments were built in the 1980s… the monuments in Sofia, Dobrich as well as Shumen. In those times, the political element had a more important role than pure artistic merit. The jury was comprised of proven specialists, architects and engineers, and its job was to find projects with the right balance. There was a first, second and third prize in the contest, as well as monetary prizes… and of course, the winner was burdened with the task to make it happen. I think there were about 10 different projects entered into the contest in Varna – I can’t remember exactly, but it was ours that was chosen.
I was very young at the time – I must have been around 36 years old when we started. It took us a full year before we submitted our project before the committee. We considered a multitude of plans, as it was a tremendous undertaking… you can probably tell by the size of the monument. From there we began a long procedure aimed at eliminating potential errors and clarifying everything down to the last detail: measurements, location and everything else. It took us five years to complete it – up until 1978. The monument was to be opened on 7th November, commemorating [Russia’s] October Revolution. Unfortunately, there was an accident though, a nearby bridge collapsed and about 30 or 40 people lost their lives. The municipality delayed the opening of the monument to allow the people some time to grieve.
The monument illustrates a bird watching over the hill. That is why the base is so narrow, while the wings are spread wide. There was an eternal flame in front, fuelled by underground diesel pipes. The fire erupted from a sculpted rock – it was arguably the most beautiful element [of the complex]. There were large bronze letters, now all taken away. Dozens of kilograms of bronze per letter, all stolen. The main door alone weighed three tons.
The monument was especially impressive at night. It was illuminated, at a great cost, and music was played all around it. There was a library and a bookshop under the main stairs leading up to the monument, but all that is destroyed now. The front of the monument portrayed Bulgarian women on the left side, greeting the liberating Russian soldiers on the right. Each individual statue weighs about 25 tons. That was the theme of this monument – Welcoming the Soldiers.