Buildings disappear

Buildings disappear every day in the country. Old, beautiful buildings, cultural monuments.
And here in action, for some help, only photography can come in, which cannot help with anything actually, it can only preserve the memory... the image.

I took these first photos precisely to illustrate this - two identical buildings, of the same age, in the same style, once surely belonging to the same owner, nowadays with a semi-clear future. One has already been renovated. The man who owns it has had the money, luckily, to do it, he's come up with a purpose for the building, luckily he's decided that that purpose will be successful, bringing in some profit.

The other one is not clear. The person who owns it today may not be the same owner, the person who owns it may not have enough money, it may be owned by many people scattered in different parts of the world and so the inheritance cannot be arranged and decide what to do with it... it can be registered as a cultural monument and completely confuse the plans of big investors and builders who want to seize this place, raze it to the ground, build a mall in its place, a hotel, or an expensive apartment building...

There are so many scenarios, and above all, plans for how money can be made from a building that I, as an ordinary citizen who has never owned anything, cannot even imagine.
But now, writing this, I realize that perhaps precisely because I never had a home and always wanted one, architecture and buildings appeal to me so much. But that's another topic.

So, buildings disappear often in a country like Bulgaria. Bulgaria had a period of rise after it was freed from Ottoman rule. Surprisingly, there were quite a few rich people in the country then. How and why they got rich and how they seem to have suddenly appeared is another matter. History is pretty fuzzy anyway and a lot of things get mixed up and presented in different ways to serve one or another people, parties or governments, as I've told you before that is my opinion. Because really, I never thought about this matter, how we were 5 centuries under slavery, but suddenly it turned out that there are so many rich people in this country. You have to walk in a city like Burgas, for example, Varna, all those houses from the past... and Plovdiv, of course. It is the most talked about on TV, because it seems that is where the most buildings of this kind disappear, are set on fire, as is the usual practice, declared dangerous and immediately demolished, regardless of whether they are on the lists of cultural values, cultural monuments. But what are any lists in the municipality, any sanctions or laws? Who obeys laws in this country? The investor had other plans.

Personally, I have photographed many such buildings. Some of them are gone. Others are waiting to self-destruct. Third... I don't know how many of the ones I photographed still exist.
But imagine this precedent. In fact, until today I thought it was a precedent - a building, a cultural monument, demolished illegally, was ordered to be restored. 🤭 This is really something! In the lawlessness of today.
I always, always think of this story of the engraver Remacle Le Loup from the early 18th century, from whose drawings so many ruined castles, monasteries and churches were restored in the lands of today's Belgium.
Imagine what kind of builders there were back then if they did this from a drawing!
Can this be done nowadays by photos too? Well, the facade maybe, since modern times have so much documentation for every single building. Perhaps. Or let's hope that it the case.

But I said I thought of it as a precedent. Actually, it's not. Like I said, a lot of buildings disappear, but maybe not all of them make a fuss. Some just disappear silently. For others, the media are called, cases are scheduled, fines are imposed.
This year there was news of one such dilapidated building to be restored. But it turned out that in 2020 there was the same case in the same city - Plovdiv.
Too bad the media is not consistent, they very often do not follow the developments of the cases they have covered.
Now I really want to know if this old building, a cultural monument, illegally demolished in 2020, has already been restored. 4 years is a decent amount of time for that. I wish I knew because I don't believe it could happen. And I'm sure there are many such cases, not only these. But as I said in a comment recently, the facts from "the valley of destruction without war" are like that.

Anyway, I didn't have a chance to take many pictures that day in this city, Plovdiv. We very rarely go there, that was last year and I was there for medical reasons. It was raining and I hadn't even thought to take a camera with me, I only took pictures with my phone. And every miss to take a photo could mean every single building could never be seen again, lol.
The last two pictures are just to supplement the post. The first is of a mystical building that, although in a recognizable style, I couldn't figure out exactly what it was until today. I only discovered this today - it used to be a mosque in the 19th century.
The second one is located in the park in front of the Museum of Natural Sciences and I have no explanation for it either. This time really none.

Thank you for your time! Copyright:	@soulsdetour
	Soul's Detour is a project started by me years ago when I had a blog about historical and not so popular tourist destinations in Eastern Belgium, West Germany and Luxembourg. Nowadays, this blog no longer exists, but I'm still here - passionate about architecture, art and mysteries and eager to share my discoveries and point of view with you.

Personally, I am a sensitive soul with a strong sense of justice.
Traveling and photography are my greatest passions.
Sounds trivial to you?
No, it's not trivial. Because I still love to travel to not so famous destinations.🗺️
Of course, the current situation does not allow me to do this, but I still find a way to satisfy my hunger for knowledge, new places, beauty and art.
Sometimes you can find the most amazing things even in the backyard of your house.😊🧐🧭|