In the center of Sofia, despite the protests, the demolition of the monument "1300 years of Bulgaria" by sculptor Valentin Starchev began. Dismantling was allowed at the beginning of 2016 by the Supreme Administrative Court of the country. He ruled that Starchev's copyright applies only to bronze figures that are planned to be transferred to the Museum of the History of Sofia, while the concrete structures belong to the city, since they stand on municipal land. The decision was made in court, since the desire of the city authorities to demolish the monument caused a lot of protests: among the supporters of its preservation was the then Minister of Culture of Bulgaria Vezhdi Rashidov.
According to the official version, the monument, opened in 1981 at the National Palace of Culture and now dilapidated, is being removed due to the reconstruction of the territory surrounding the palace. The reason for the reconstruction itself is Bulgaria's presidency in the European Union, which will begin on January 1, 2018.
Valentin Starchev argues that the cost of dismantling the monument is comparable to the amount required for its restoration. He, like many others, believes that the authorities have decided to get rid of the monument to
political, "revanchist" motives. The composition, which combines elements of deconstructivism and brutalism, is a vivid example of the socialist art of Bulgaria. The defenders of the building united in the NGO Transformatori, collected signatures against the demolition, and organized a “human chain” action. Their website is save1300.com.
Supporters of the demolition of "1300 years of Bulgaria" say in response that the huge monument in the center of Sofia has never enjoyed the love of the townspeople (a work that is bold in form is often called "ugly"). The complexity of the situation is added by the fact of the demolition of the previous monument at this place -
a neoclassical memorial to the soldiers of the First and Sixth Infantry Regiments - participants in the Balkan and First World Wars (1934) - for the construction of Starchev's work. The idea of restoring the first monument to replace "1300 years of Bulgaria" is being discussed in society.
