Bulgaria Inside

One of Plovdiv’s hills, Bounardzhik has surprisingly gained international fame. A favorite song in Russia recounts about a soviet soldier of stone standing on top of a mountain in far off Bulgaria. His name is Aliosha. In snow and rainstorms Aliosha remembers the leaden storm of the war and all fallen young men, who unlike him remain unknown. The Bulgarian mountain is Bounardzhik.

Bounardzhik stands just 108 m tall and is the second highest Plovdiv hill. Even today you will see the stone figure of Aliosha standing there. It can be seen practically from any point in Plovdiv. Aliosha’s monument appeared in the 50s to commemorate the courage for all soviet soldiers that had fallen during various European battles.

Aliosha is a Russian nickname used to address people named Alexei. The monument quickly gained this name, which became increasingly popular when referring to the stone figure. It traveled through borders – in the 70s Murmansk residents started calling their monument honoring Russian soldiers Aliosha.

The affective nickname probably helped the new 11-m high monument gain the affection of Plovdiv residents. Even today they look at Aliosha with love rather than with resentment that usually applies to Soviet domination symbols. Aliosha is widely accepted as one of Plovdiv’s symbols.

Still, in the beginning of the 90s, one of Plovdiv’s mayors attempted to put through a decision for the dismantling of the memorial. The proposal provoked heated debates, some activists even set up a 24-hour guard at the hill top to protect Aliosha. In 1996, the case was taken to Supreme Court. The court ruled out that Aliosha is a memorial honoring soldiers who participated in World War II battles and such was protected by both Bulgarian and international law.

Bounardzhik also houses an older monument that led to no heated debated. Today it is left in the Aliosha’s shadow. This monument is dedicated to Russian tsar Alexander II and the army that liberated Plovdiv from Ottoman rule on January 4 1879.

In 1881 the unveiling of the memorial involved the foresting of Bounardzhik. Unlike today, in Ottoman times, Plovdiv’s hills were poorly forested. Today, Bounardzhik is a park, crossed by a multitude of alleys, stone-steps and paths.

Ideological debates remain in the background for most regular Bounardzhik visitors. The hill is attractive with its quietness and aloofness. Elderly Plovdiv residents and visitors exercise in the vicinities of the hill each morning. At sunset couples in love come to take a look at the beautiful landscape together. The hill also presents view of the picturesque and magnificent Rhodopes.