Monuments from different eras
These are some more of the photos I took on Friday. I guess I would have got better quality if it wasn't a gloomy rainy day (and crazy enthusiast me taking photos in the rain), but I had to go to that part of town anyway, which doesn't happen often, so I tried to take full advantage of it.
And yes, bgoberon , that's your favourite park where the rain caught us when you came to visit last summer. :)
But I digress. I wanted to post the monuments in the park, and their history that is sometimes intertwined with the park's history. So here you are:
The Second World War memorial to the Soviet army. This one isn't considered exactly a communist monument, but I have a vague childhood memory that it served as one of the all-communist-holiday monuments in town (this is the very beginning of the park, and I used to live right on the other side of the street).
Zoomed in as best I could: "Glory and all-national gratitude to the Soviet warriors-liberators". (Is there such a word "all-national"? I can't think of a better translation.)
Now we come to the... what do I call it... war of the memorials?
What you see below is a 1990's reconstruction of the original memorial arc to Metropolitan* Metodiy (Methodius), the person who created this park, and a monument to him (entirely original, of 1996). The communist rulers decided to name the park after Lenin and put up his monument in the park. They desroyed the original memorial arc to Metropolitan Metodiy at the same time (I don't know when exactly). The only explanation I can think of is that 1. they didn't want the actual creator of the park and unofficial saint of Stara Zagora to be competition to Lenin and 2. maybe they thought that a memorial to an eminent clergyman of a comparatively recent past was an offence to their atheism. (EDIT: I've ruled out other possibilities). After the end of the communist era, the monument to Lenin was removed, and I don't know what happened to it. I can't find any photos of it online, and I don't think we have paper photos at home.
A closer view of the arc. No, it's not Russian, LOL. I guess it was meant to be either Old Church Slavonic or just archaic Bulgarian. It says "Praise to Metropolitan Metodiy". And yes, the second "o" in the second word is already broken in half. So much for the quality of the early 90's.
A closer view at the monument. The Metropolitan holds his sceptre in his right hand (to your left :P) and some coniferous sapling in his left one, which isn't clearly visible against the background of the actual tree. Here is a slightly better photo.
*The supreme clerical, judicial and administrative power for the whole domain of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is exercised by the Holy Synod, which includes the Patriarch and the diocesan prelates, who are called metropolitans. (Wikipedia on the Bulgarian Orthodox Church)
And yes, bgoberon , that's your favourite park where the rain caught us when you came to visit last summer. :)
But I digress. I wanted to post the monuments in the park, and their history that is sometimes intertwined with the park's history. So here you are:
The Second World War memorial to the Soviet army. This one isn't considered exactly a communist monument, but I have a vague childhood memory that it served as one of the all-communist-holiday monuments in town (this is the very beginning of the park, and I used to live right on the other side of the street).
Zoomed in as best I could: "Glory and all-national gratitude to the Soviet warriors-liberators". (Is there such a word "all-national"? I can't think of a better translation.)
Now we come to the... what do I call it... war of the memorials?
What you see below is a 1990's reconstruction of the original memorial arc to Metropolitan* Metodiy (Methodius), the person who created this park, and a monument to him (entirely original, of 1996). The communist rulers decided to name the park after Lenin and put up his monument in the park. They desroyed the original memorial arc to Metropolitan Metodiy at the same time (I don't know when exactly). The only explanation I can think of is that 1. they didn't want the actual creator of the park and unofficial saint of Stara Zagora to be competition to Lenin and 2. maybe they thought that a memorial to an eminent clergyman of a comparatively recent past was an offence to their atheism. (EDIT: I've ruled out other possibilities). After the end of the communist era, the monument to Lenin was removed, and I don't know what happened to it. I can't find any photos of it online, and I don't think we have paper photos at home.
A closer view of the arc. No, it's not Russian, LOL. I guess it was meant to be either Old Church Slavonic or just archaic Bulgarian. It says "Praise to Metropolitan Metodiy". And yes, the second "o" in the second word is already broken in half. So much for the quality of the early 90's.
A closer view at the monument. The Metropolitan holds his sceptre in his right hand (to your left :P) and some coniferous sapling in his left one, which isn't clearly visible against the background of the actual tree. Here is a slightly better photo.
*The supreme clerical, judicial and administrative power for the whole domain of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is exercised by the Holy Synod, which includes the Patriarch and the diocesan prelates, who are called metropolitans. (Wikipedia on the Bulgarian Orthodox Church)