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Violeta Periklieva, Ivaylo Markov
of the biggest military bases in the socialist period, whose purpose was to protect
the south border or to advance in case of need against northern Greece, the idea
to relate it to King Samuel is understandable. It is also understandable that in
contradiction to the tendency of self-victimization the image of Samuel on this
monument has a heroic rather than a dramatic character. In this case the artistic
representation had the aim of raising the military spirit of the soldiers in the base.
The culmination of state cultural policy of the period for constructing the cul¬
tural memory of King Samuel and the Battle of Kleidion found its visual expres¬
sion through the building of the memorial park “Samuel’s Fortress” in the locality
of Kufalnitsa. The memorial-park was inaugurated in 1982. The event was related
to the celebration of 1,300 years since the establishment of the First Bulgarian
Kingdom” and represented one of the best examples of the striving of the state
authorities to remove all traces of forced “Macedonisation” and for creating a sense
of patriotism and national pride. It is no accident that some of the first people in
the state were present at the inauguration and the local people flocked to the park.
At the same time, keeping in mind that until the beginning of the 1990s the region
was accessible only with the so-called safe-conduct pass (otkrit list),'' there were
hardly any visitors to Samuel’s Fortress from other parts of Bulgaria. Thus, it’s obvi¬
ous that the park-museum was created for the local people and it was part of the
cultural policy of the state for “re-Bulgarization” of the region.
The focal point of “Samuel’s Fortress” is the museum, the monument of King
Samuel and four pylons. The museum is situated at the foot of a hill, which repre¬
sents the main part of a fortification system located in the Gorge of Kleidion. Be¬
hind the museum, there are four concrete pylons rising from the top of the hill and
marking the ruins of a medieval tower. The pylons form a watchtower from which
visitors can see the entire park from above. For the building of the museum in the
memorial park “Samuel’s Fortress”, the sculptor Boris Gondov made nine bronze
reliefs with images of Samuel’s warriors. Gondov is also the author of the bronze
monument of King Samuel positioned in front of the museum (Fig. 9). The artistic
interpretation of the events related to King Samuel and the Battle of Kleidion in
Gondov’s works emphasizes their tragic nature—Samuel’s soldiers are represented
in their suffering as blind men, and Samuel himself, heartbroken by the sight,
5 In the 1970s Bulgaria began preparations for the celebration of the 1,300-year anniversary of the estab¬
lishment of the First Bulgarian Kingdom (861). A State Working Committee 1300 was established which
was later renamed the National Co-ordinating Commission 1300 Years of Bulgaria. The president of the
Commission, Todor Zhivkov’s daughter Lyudmila Zhivkova, had the idea to celebrate the anniversary
with a series of cultural events held throughout the year 1981. During the next several years, Bulgaria was
engaged in hectic preparations. There were historical movies shot, various exhibitions made, and imposing
monuments built.
"During the socialist period in Bulgaria the bordering regions with Greece, Turkey, and Yugoslavia
belonged to the so-called border zone which was accessible only with special permission in the form of
a document called otkrit list issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.