Bulgaria is one of the countries in Europe that sees the largest emigration of its population. In 1990, there were around 9 million inhabitants. Today, the figure is around 6.5 million.
This also means that there must of course be areas in Bulgaria that are hit harder than others. People are also generally moving more towards the cities today. When I was reading about this I happened to come across a wikipedia page that listed cities in Bulgaria that had been declared completely abandoned. And one of these was Sredna (Средна).
Sredna is located just outside the town of Gotse Delchev (Гоце Делчев), which is a larger and very nice town right between Pirin and the Rhodope Mountains in Bulgaria. In 2008, the Ministry of Gotse Delchev chose to close two towns in the area - one is Sredna. The water and electricity supply was turned off and the area legally abandoned.
I had deliberately not researched too much about the place in order to be surprised by what came, so I later found out that residents of the area still use the place for gatherings. The church is also constantly maintained and used.
Sredna is located about 1.5 km outside Gotse Delchev. The only way to get there is a more or less dilapidated dirt road up a mountainside. I had decided to leave my rental car in Gotse Delchev and walk the 1.5 km to Sredna. Partly because rental cars are not normally allowed to be used for off-road driving - and this was perhaps right on the limit - and partly because it could be a great experience to go and enjoy nature.
I think it was a very sensible decision, as you would probably be able to get the car with you, but the road was washed away in several places and in really bad shape. However, people had tried to repair it as seen in the picture below, with a layer of concrete across the road or with half-sized stones, which thin rental car tires will probably have a bit of a hard time with.
Even though I probably think I'm in pretty good shape considering that I'm now a middle-aged man, sometimes you should still prepare your fights carefully. Walking up a mountain in 30+ degree baking sunshine at 2pm in the afternoon makes you sweat to that extent on your well-smeared, sunscreen-filled forehead. The forehead and the rest of the head changed to an almost fiery red colour. And also due to poor planning (ie I forgot my water bottle in the car) my only source of refreshment was a half-lukewarm bottle of Fanta Exotic.
I may also be making it sound worse than it is. However, the trip only took about 35 minutes with a few well-deserved breaks along the way. In addition, I also had room to try to be a little artistic, but I don't really know if I succeeded. Judge for yourself (maybe turn it upside down):
Suddenly I could see buildings behind all the trees and I got a very eerie feeling. I'm not quite sure why. Perhaps because there is something indeterminate about something that has be abandoned. Maybe because I've been dreaming about this moment for the past 6 months. Maybe because I didn't quite know what to expect. Is the town abandoned or does someone still live? Maybe some suspicious existences. I have met a few of them here in Bulgaria. And also say hello to a couple of Bulgarian dogs. Mostly cute. Mostly. Had it been night and not broad daylight, I might have turned around and hurried down the mountain to the nearest inn and had a cold Kamenitsa. As gamers would say - "Achievement to be unlocked": Visit Sredna at midnight.
I move quietly closer and come to the first house, which from the outside looks surprisingly inhabited. There hangs a fairly well-preserved Bulgarian flag and the terrace looks well-kept and I think I can see from the pictures afterwards that a window was open. In addition, a string of lights hangs on the wall. For something that should have been abandoned 16 years ago, it looks almost too nice. Also compared to what else I'm going to see.
But there are no people to be found. It is all empty and abandoned.
I move a little further in and come across the first house a little more than I expected. Barricaded and with shutters for the windows and creepers, which are about to take over the entire facade. Here, at least, there is no doubt that the house is abandoned.
I move up what looks like the main street with more or less dilapidated houses until I come to a house with an outbuilding with a red entrance door. It has some covering in the form of iron posts and fine vines grow over it. Here, too, I again have doubts as to whether anyone lives here. It looks almost too nice and not in 16 year old decay. I can see from the side building that there is only junk and try to take a picture. It didn't really work out, but did get a picture of me and my red chameleon color. On the other side, there is also a grill and a table, which also do not give the impression of having been abandoned 16 years ago. But as I said, it may well be used by people who come here for various occasions. As I said, I found out afterwards that the area was still used for gatherings.
Further through town I come across this house which has completely collapsed, but with an obituary still hanging on the door. These obituaries contain information about deceased persons and details of their funeral or memorial services and are widely used in Bulgaria.
Finally I come to the church and the open space in front of the church, which just consists of a grassy field. Opposite the church is an open building with tables and chairs and space for perhaps 50 people. At the time, I did not know that the church and the square were in use and was very surprised at how well maintained it all looked. Unfortunately I was not inside the church. That can be saved for the challenge of visiting Sredna at night - and the church at the same time (insert scary emoji here).
On the way back I took a few more pictures of the very dilapidated houses. Some of them would have looked really nice in their time with fantastic stone setting, which I absolutely love.
I was not inside the houses. It would be possible through the windows of some and in others houses where the wall had collapsed. I was maybe a little afraid that they would burst into flames around me, but took pictures through a window and sneaked around them a bit and looked in. Most of them still had a padlock on the door, despite the fact that they had collapsed behind it.
There is something beautiful about nature mixing and uniting the beautiful old houses with the green plants.
While I was in my own thoughts and taking pictures, I could hear people in the distance. Since Sredna is located high on the mountain, I would think that it is easy to hear people from a long distance. In the surrounding area, I know that there are also fields where fruit was grown. But I could also hear a dog barking very loudly and furiously very close. It almost sounded like it was coming from the first fairly well kept house that I came across on my way in. So for a moment I froze, but also thought that it (7-9-13) was hopefully locked up. When I got back to the house the barking had thankfully stopped and there was no sign of dogs around. I don't know how exciting it would have been to meet a wild dog out here. However, I avoided that scary meeting this time.
The trip back was pretty easy. It had become cloudy and the temperature had also dropped to tolerable degrees. In addition, it also went downhill and I enjoyed the trip much more than uphill. And enjoy the insanely good view of the mountains and the town of Gotse Delchev. And on top of that, with a dash of Fanta Exotic to spare.
Something that might take the tension a little out of the equation was that there was 4G data and talk on the whole trip, so the city was not completely outside the country's law and order either. In addition, I strongly regret not having taken video, but I'm in a period where it's mostly about pictures, so I didn't think much about it until after the trip.
All in all, I think it was exciting and can easily recommend going to slightly odd places. And there are plenty of them in Bulgaria.
Danish version
(which I wrote first)
Bulgarien er et af de lande i Europa, som ser den største udvandring af deres befolkning. I 1990 var der omkring 9 millioner indbyggere. I dag er tallet omkring 6,5 million.
Det betyder også at der jo selvfølgelig må være områder i Bulgarien som er hårdere ramt end andre. Folk flytter generelt også mere mod byerne i dag. Da jeg læste om dette faldt jeg ved et tilfælde en wikipedia-side som listede byer i Bulgarien, som var erklæret helt forladt. Og én af disse var Sredna (Средна).
Sredna ligger lige uden for byen Gotse Delchev (Гоце Делчев), som er en større og meget flot by lige mellem Pirin og Rhodope-bjergene i Bulgarien. I 2008 valgte ministeriet i Gotse Delchev at lukke to byer i området - den ene er Sredna. Vand- og elforsyningen blev nedtaget og området forladt rent juridisk.
Jeg havde med vilje ikke undersøgt alt for meget om stedet for at blive overrasket over hvad der kom, så jeg fandt ud af efterfølgende at beboere i området i stadigt at anvender stedet til sammenkomster. Kirken bliver også stadigt vedligeholdt og anvendt.
Sredna ligger omkring 1,5 km uden for Gotse Delchev. Den eneste måde at komme dertil er en mere eller mindre forfalden grusvej op ad en bjergside. Jeg havde besluttet mig for at efterlade min lejebil i Gotse Delchev og gå de 1,5 km til Sredna. Dels fordi lejebiler normalt ikke må bruges til offroad-kørsel - og det her var måske lige på grænsen - og dels fordi det kunne være en flot oplevelse at gå og nyde naturen.
Jeg tror det var en meget fornuftig beslutning, da man nok med hiv og sving ville kunne få bilen med, men vejen var flere steder regnet væk og i virkelig dårlig forfatning. Dog havde folk forsøgt at reparere den som på nedenstående billede, med et lag beton hen over vejen eller med halvstore sten, som tynde lejebildæk nok vil have det lidt stramt med.
Selvom jeg nok selv synes, at jeg er i nogenlunde form med tanke på at jeg efterhånden er en halvgammel mand, så bør man nogle gange alligevel forberede sine kampe med omhu. At gå op ad et bjerg i 30+ grader bagende solskin kl 14 om eftermiddagen giver i den grad sved på den dog velindsmurte solcremesfyldte pande. Panden og resten af hovedet overgik til en nærmest ildrød kulør, som ville gøre enhver tidligere Post Danmark-medarbejder Postnordblå af misundelse. Og ydermere på grund af dårlig planlægning (dvs at jeg havde glemt min vandflaske i bilen) så var min eneste kilde til noget læskende en halvlunken flaske Fanta Exotic.
Jeg får det muligvis også til at lyde værre end det er. Turen tog dog kun omkring 35 minutter med et par velfortjente pauser undervejs. Derudover havde jeg også plads til at forsøge at være lidt kunstnerisk, men jeg ved ikke rigtigt om det lykkedes. Døm selv (måske vend billedet på hovedet):
Pludseligt kunne jeg se bygninger inde bag alle træerne og jeg fik et sug i maven. Jeg er ikke helt klar over hvorfor. Måske fordi der er noget ubestemt over noget som burde være forladt. Måske fordi jeg har drømt om dette øjeblik de sidste 6 måneder. Måske fordi at jeg jo ikke helt vidste hvad jeg kunne forvente. Er byen forladt eller bor der alligevel nogen? Måske nogle suspekte eksistenser. Dem har jeg alligevel mødt et par stykker af her i Bulgarien. Og desuden hilst på et par bulgarske hunde. For det meste søde. Havde det været nat og ikke højlys dag, så var jeg måske vendt rundt og skyndt mig ned ad bjerget til den nærmeste beværtning og fået en kold Kamenitsa. Som gamere ville sige - "Achievement to be unlocked": Besøg Sredna ved midnatstide.
Jeg bevæger mig stille og roligt nærmere og kommer til det første hus som fra ydersiden ser overraskende beboet ud. Der hænger et nogenlunde velbevaret bulgarsk flag og terassen ser velplejet ud og jeg mener at kunne se på billederne bagefter, at et vindue stod åbent. Derudover hænger der en lyskæde på væggen. Af noget som skulle være forladt for 16 år siden, så ser det næsten for pænt ud. Også sammenlignet med hvad jeg ellers kommer til at se.
Men der er ingen mennesker at finde. Det hele er tomt og forladt.
Jeg bevæger mig lidt længere ind og støder på det første hus lidt mere som jeg havde forventet. Barrikaderet og med skodder for vinduerne og slyngplanter, som er ved at overtage hele facaden. Her er man i hvert fald ikke i tvivl om at huset er forladt.
Jeg bevæger mig op i det som ligner hovedgaden med mere eller mindre faldefærdige huse indtil, at jeg kommer til et hus med en sidebygning med en rød entredør. Det har lidt overdækning i form af jernstolper og fine vinranker gror henover. Også her bliver jeg helt i tvivl om der bor nogen. Det ser næsten for pænt ud og ikke i 16 år gammelt forfald. Jeg kan se ind af sidebygningen at der kun er skrammel og forsøger at tage et billede ind. Det lykkedes ikke rigtigt, men fik dog et billede af mig og min røde kamæleonfarve. På den anden side står også en grill og et bord, som heller ikke giver udtryk af at være forladt for 16 år siden. Men som sagt kan det godt være brugt af folk som kommer hertil til forskellige lejligheder. Jeg fandt som sagt ud af bagefter at området blev stadigt benyttet til sammenkomster.
Videre gennem byen støder jeg på dette hus som er helt brast sammen, men dog med en nekrolog stadigt hængende på døren. Disse nekrologer indeholder oplysninger om afdøde personer og detaljer om deres begravelse eller mindehøjtideligheder og er meget udbredt i Bulgarien.
Endelig kommer jeg til kirken og den åbne plads foran kirken, som bare består af en græsmark. Overfor kirken er en åben bygning med borde og stole og plads til måske 50 mennesker. På det tidspunkt vidste jeg ikke at kirken og pladsen var i brug og undrede mig meget over hvor velholdt det hele så ud. Jeg var desværre ikke inde i kirken. Det kan gemmes til udfordringen med at besøge Sredna om natten - og kirken på samme tid (indsæt scary emoji her).
På vejen tilbage tog jeg lidt flere billeder af de meget forfaldne huse. Nogle af dem ville have stået rigtigt flot i sin tid med fantastisk flot stensætning, som jeg er helt vild med.
Jeg var ikke direkte inde i nogle af husene. Det ville være muligt gennem vinduerne på nogle og andre der hvor muren var faldet sammen. Jeg var måske lidt bange for at de ville brase sammen omkring mig, men tog billeder gennem et vindue og luskede lidt rundt om dem og kiggede ind. De fleste var stadigt med hængelås på døren, på trods af at de var faldet sammen bagved.
Der er noget smukt ved at naturen blander sig og forener de flotte gamle huse med de grønne planter.
Mens jeg stod i mine egne tanker og tog billeder, så kunne jeg høre folk i det fjerne. Da Sredna ligger højt på bjerget, så vil jeg tro at det er nemt at høre folk på lang afstand. I området omkring ved jeg, at der også er marker, hvor der blev dyrket frugter. Men jeg kunne også høre en hund gø meget højt og hidsigt meget tæt på. Det lød næsten som om, at det kom fra det første ret velholdte hus, som jeg stødte på, på vej ind. Så et øjeblik stivnede jeg, men tænkte også at den (7-9-13) forhåbentligt var spærret inde. Da jeg nåede tilbage til huset havde gøeriet heldigvis lagt sig, og der var ikke noget der tydede på, at der var hunde omkring. Jeg ved ikke hvor spændende det ville have været at møde en vild hund herude. Det slap jeg dog for denne gang.
Turen tilbage gik ret nemt. Det var blevet overskyet og temperaturen var også faldet til tålelige grader. Derudover gik det jo også nedad bakke og jeg fik nydt turen meget mere end opad. Og nydt den vanvittige gode udsigt over bjergene og byen Gotse Delchev. Og oven i købet med en sjat Fanta Exotic til overs.
Noget der måske kan tage spændingen lidt ud af ligningen var at der var 4G data og tale på hele turen, så helt uden for lands lov og ret lå byen dog heller ikke. Derudover ærgrer jeg mig kraftigt over ikke at have taget video, men jeg er inde i en periode, hvor det mest er billeder det handler om, så jeg tænkte ikke så meget over det før efter turen.
Alt i alt synes jeg at det var spændende og kan sagtens anbefale at tage lidt skæve steder hen. Og dem er der masser af i Bulgarien.
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