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Arkutino  
Bulgaria

Reports1
First reportMarch 4 2021
by suburbX



School for the Gifted
by suburbX on March 4 2021 17:03 hr CE(S)T   Shortlink to this report: [ https://urbx.be/gkhg ]

Finding out the location
  easy
Access
  very easy
Safety
  very safe
Risk of being seen
  low
General condition of the place
  bad
Traces of vandalism
  many
Good place for taking pictures?
  good
Did you see other people?
  none or very few


Visit date    October 30 2019 at 11 hr
Visit duration    1 hour

We parked at the Arkutino Family Resort and followed the walking path to the left with the beach to our right. We Passed a small house on the left and continued walking until we noticed an overgrown dirt road on the left. We walked up the road past a small gate house and there were the large concrete structures of the school.

From there on it was very easy, since the building was never finished it had no windows. All rooms are very accessible and the building structre itself is in a good condition. Not so much to find there, but an interesting visit.

Only for the view on the ocean, you should go there. It's super!

About:
HUNDREDS OF FEET ABOVE THE PICTURESQUE Black Sea coastline, the structural skeletons of an unfinished socialist dream protrude from the greenery.

In the 1970s Lyudmila Todorova Zhivkova, daughter of Bulgaria’s socialist leader, was at the forefront of numerous projects aimed at promoting Bulgarian culture worldwide. The most ambitious of these initiatives was an arts education center in Arkutino, which would house gifted children from countries around the world.

Lyudmila died unexpectedly in 1981. Her father, Prime Minister Todor Zhivkov, set out to honor her wish. He began construction on the massive complex in 1985, which was to contain an auditorium, classrooms, and rehearsal spaces. Summer programs where world class musicians would host workshops would draw the most talented students to the seaside resort.

But in 1989, as the Soviet Bloc was crumbling the project was abruptly halted. Despite various attempts to revive the arts center or repurpose it, the Arkutino school remains unfinished and abandoned to this day. The names of construction workers can still be seen on the unfinished cement walls of the complex, along with the date that project was abandoned.

The beach at Arkutino remains popular although the abandoned building looms just beyond the shore. The views from the roof of the buildings provide a beautiful panorama of the water below, and a beachside hotel called the Arkutino Family Resort now neighbors the unfinished school.

  Text and photos are by suburbX. Click here to see suburbX's profile and other reports.

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