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Slide item 1

View on Dimitrovgrad - Bulgaria’s first socialist industrial town.

Photo: Municipality of Dimitrovgrad Archive

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Conceptual design of the ideal socialist town: a synthesis of European modernism and the “Stalinist “architectural style

Photo: Municipality of Dimitrovgrad Archive

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Bulgaria Boulevard, town centre. Enthusiastic brigades built the town in the spirit of communism.

Photo: Municipality of Dimitrovgrad Archive

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Town centre (1952-1956): In the Poetry Square, modernism and socialist classicism merge

Photo: ATRIUM Archive

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Town centre (1952-1956). The Blagoev Boulevard was used for communist parades.

Photo: ATRIUM Archive

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Town hall (1967) inspired by rationalist architecture

Photo: ATRIUM Archive

Slide item 7

The ceramic composition of the town hall tells Bulgaria’s history.

Photo: ATRIUM Archive

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Modern housing for the masses: Residential house of the “Third March” residential complex

Photo: Municipality of Dimitrovgrad Archive

Slide item 9

The former Trade Union House of Culture “Himik” dominates the square of the residential complex.

Photo: Municipality of Dimitrovgrad Archive

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Proletarian upbringing and propaganda: a sculpture of a worker and a peasant woman on top of the House of Culture.

Photo: Municipality of Dimitrovgrad Archive

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Memorial Park “Penyo Penev”: the monument to the socialist poet Penyo Penev

Photo: ATRIUM Archive

Slide item 12

Innovative park art inspired by the world exhibition of park art held in Italy in 1961.

Photo: ATRIUM Archive

Dimitrovgrad, Bulgaria

Between modernism and Stalinist architecture

Dimitrovgrad is a key witness for the era of socialism in Bulgaria. It was the first socialist industrial town. Modernism and the “Stalinist" architectural style merge into a unique example of an ideal socialist city.

Building a new town

On 2 September 1947, the Communist government officially announced that a new town, Dimitrovgrad, was to be built and organized brigades for this purpose. The construction and expansion of the town continued intensively for several years. The main practical reason behind the new town was to create a modern industrial centre, although there was also a major ideological reason behind its construction.

Socialist propaganda

The construction of Dimitrovgrad was intended to be one of the biggest state successes during the 1950s, and thus a key component of the socialist propaganda. Enthusiastic brigades built the town centre in the spirit of communism - an act which was glorified by the communist party.

Monumentality and functional zoning

The aim of the designers was to create an urban centre with a monumental and powerful architectural image. They combined urban planning and the architectural ideas of European modernism with “socialist classicism” imposed by the Soviet Union. According to the concept of functional zoning, the “garden city” of Dimitrovgrad is divided into a town centre, residential complexes (such as the “Third of March” Complex), park areas (such as the “Penyo Penev” Memorial Park) and an industrial zone.

Dimitrovgrad today

Today, the small town is an open-air museum of the 1950s: unique architecture and examples of socialist park creation bear witness to the socialist period in Bulgaria. Only recently, the Bulgarian state granted a fund for the restoration of the façades in the town centre. As one of the greenest cities in Bulgaria, Dimitrovgrad offers three large parks with lakes, rare species of trees and flowers, sculptures, gazebos and fountains.

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