WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?

1

min read

A- A+

read

For many years aficionados of period military hardware and Cold War history have found Bulgaria a paradise as abandoned war machines, installations, barracks, shelters and even Air Force silos are scattered all over the country.

Often, they can be visited without any restrictions. But Bulgaria has another type of military installations that predate the Warsaw Pact barracks and border outposts. Remember: before becoming the most loyal satellite of the USSR this country was a Nazi ally. Along the whole of the Black Sea coast there is at least a dozen of German bunkers, facing east, and still standing where the German engineers and troops erected them at the beginning of the Second World War. Most are in various stages of dereliction – as much as a concrete bunker can decay – but some, including the one pictured here, have been "spruced up" to avoid being referred to as eyesores by local and visitors alike.

Where in Bulgaria are you?

Email your answers to editorial@vagabond.bg and you can win a copy of Hidden Treasures of Bulgaria 2

Issue 167-168

Commenting rules

Commenting on www.vagabond.bg

Vagabond Media Ltd requires you to submit a valid email to comment on www.vagabond.bg to secure that you are not a bot or a spammer. Learn more on how the company manages your personal information on our Privacy Policy. By filling the comment form you declare that you will not use www.vagabond.bg for the purpose of violating the laws of the Republic of Bulgaria. When commenting on www.vagabond.bg please observe some simple rules. You must avoid sexually explicit language and racist, vulgar, religiously intolerant or obscene comments aiming to insult Vagabond Media Ltd, other companies, countries, nationalities, confessions or authors of postings and/or other comments. Do not post spam. Write in English. Unsolicited commercial messages, obscene postings and personal attacks will be removed without notice. The comments will be moderated and may take some time to appear on www.vagabond.bg.

0 comments

Add new comment

Your name

Email

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.

Homepage

Notify me when new comments are posted

All comments

Replies to my comment

Discover More

WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
Still, this country does boast a number of small isles one of which is even permanently inhabited.

WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
It was supposed to commemorate a series of 19th century battles between Russian and Ottoman forces that led to the restoration of Bulgaria's independence. As such, every Bulgarian school kid knows it as they are taken on obligatory bus tours of the area.

WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
During the centuries the natural fortification provided by the rocks was used for a military installation by whoever happened to be in power.

WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
Through the centuries, Bulgaria has changed the location of its capital city at least a dozen times.

WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
High hills were deemed a particularly appropriate location as they used both Socialist Realism and the power of nature to assert the invincible authority of the Party and the working classes.

WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
A few yards from the muddy waters a small village house stands. This is where Vanga, the blind clairvoyant and one of Bulgaria's best-known 20th century phenomena, used to live.

WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
He discovered he could find virtually no information relating to it. In fact, he could find a lot more about the Nile's journey through Africa than he could about this river's meanders through southeastern Europe.

WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
But behind the trinket souvenir stands and the overpriced tavernas it holds many centuries of history, a charming old town and perhaps the biggest concentration of medieval churches in Bulgaria.

WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
Every Bulgarian knows it used to be the capital of the medieval kingdom of the Bulgarians just before the Ottomans invaded, in the late 14th century.

WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
It was in fact paid for by a Turk who bought out hay from the locals only to sell it back to them at a significant profit.

WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
Held every year on the same date, 3 June, in a village deep in the Strandzha in southeastern Bulgaria, the walking-on-fire is the culmination of several weeks of preparations accompanied by minor and major performances by locals i

WHERE IN BULGARIA ARE YOU?
Those with an interest in cultural heritage and history will inevitably relate it to its multitude of ancient monuments related to the Thracians, ancient tribes who lived in these lands before the Bulgarian state was founded in th