Darmon Richter

Mount Buzludzha Bulgaria

The House-Monument of the Bulgarian Communist Party was opened 90 years later in 1981, to commemorate both the 1878 liberation from Turkish rule, and the 1944 victory against Hitler’s fascist domination of the country. It was also to serve as headquarters for the Bulgarian Communist Party, who were keen to associate themselves with the nation’s historic heroes. Construction of the striking monument cost in excess of 16,000,000 Bulgarian Levs - that’s almost £7,000,000. The majority of this money came in the form of suggested donations, collected from the Bulgarian people by state officials. There are more than 150 Soviet monuments scattered across the country, but Buzludzha is by far the largest - and the most extravagant - of them all. 

Darmon Richter is a freelance writer and photographer; an experienced urban explorer and self-confessed dark tourist.  Richter’s interest in unusual and offbeat locales has taken him from the ghost cities of Inner Mongolia to the hell gardens of Southeast Asia; from the frozen conflict zones of the former USSR, to vodou temples in the Caribbean. 
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