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578 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 cultural memory of King Samuel and the Battle of Kleidion found its visual expression 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 obvious 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 represents the main part of a fortification system located in the Gorge of Kleidion. Behind 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 establishment 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.
