This is the former headquarters of the Bulgarian communist party, abandoned since the fall of the iron curtain in 1989.

It stands on an isolated mountain top in the middle of Bulgaria, chosen for its sentimental significance, the site of historic battles, and marks the site where the forerunners of the Bulgarian Communist Party gathered for the first time in 1891.

The interior of the building is still covered in the original communist mosaics, including a huge gold ‘hammer and sickle’ - and the communist motto in Cyrillic letters - emblazoned across the ceiling of the main auditorium.

In 2016, I travelled 250kms, from the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, with the sole purpose of photographing this famous, but rapidly decaying monument to eastern Europe’s communist past.