Buzludzha, Bulgarie, Oct 2 (AFP/APP):Nestled in Bulgaria’s central Balkan Mountains, an international team of art experts and architects is hard at work trying to preserve one of the country’s most striking monuments, a communist-era “flying saucer” perched on a hillside. The monument on Buzludzha Peak was dedicated to the glory of communism but since the collapse of that regime, it has fallen into disrepair. An operation is now underway to save its striking series of mosaics as a debate rages on about the site’s long-term future. “It’s a race against time,” said architect Dora Ivanova, who launched the campaign to save the monument. “We have to act fast because there won’t be any mosaics left if we wait for a plan” from the authorities, she told AFP. Erected in 1981 at an altitude of 1,400 metres (4,600 feet), the monument comprises a circle in concrete and steel alongside two 70-metre-high pillars dominated by a red star. It contained no fewer than 937 square metres of mosaics, a third of which have already been lost. Among the panels are depictions of the entry of the Red Army in September 1944 as well as glorifications of workers, peasants and the role of … Continue reading Rescue operation for Bulgaria’s communist-era ‘flying saucer’