Georgi Dimitrov Mausoleum

The white marble mausoleum was built in 1949 to contain the embalmed body of the first leader of Communist Bulgaria, Georgi Dimitrov (1882–1949); construction beginning immediately after the news of Dimitrov's death. It was completed in just six days, the time it took Dimitrov's body to be returned to Sofia from the USSR. Dimitrov's body remained in the mausoleum until August 1990, when Dimitrov's remains were cremated and the ashes buried in Central Sofia Cemetery.

The mausoleum itself was destroyed by Prime Minister Ivan Kostov's UDF government in 1999 after a heated nationwide debate. The prime minister and his party claimed that retaining the mausoleum was inappropriate following the fall of Communism in 1989 because it represented Bulgaria's repressive past. Even within the government there was opposition to destroying the building, and an opinion poll revealed that two-thirds of the population opposed the demolition. Proposals were made to turn the mausoleum into a museum or art gallery because it contributed to the unique atmosphere of the capital city.

In August 1999, the government made four attempts to demolish the building. The first three failed because they relied on a single powerful explosion. The building did not budge after the first two attempts and tilted only slightly after the third. The fourth (and successful) attempt was carried out using a series of consecutive, less powerful explosions. The Bulgarian Land Force's National Guards Unit formerly performed public duties at the now destroyed mausoleum.

• Lenin's Mausoleum

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Georgi Dimitrov Mausoleum.

• "Communist bastion finally crumbles". BBC News. 1999-08-27. Retrieved 2006-06-12.
• Video of third unsuccessful destruction attempt
• "Bulgarians & Bulgaria" (in Bulgarian). Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria. Archived from the original on 2006-09-07. Retrieved 2006-06-12.