Elimination of the Ottoman Material Cultural Heritage in Bulgaria (1878-1908)
Abstract
The foundation of independent nation-states in the Balkans caused a deep break with and rejection of the Ottoman past and elimination of the Ottoman legacy. The elimination of the Ottoman legacy was considered as a precondition of the Europeanization in the process of construction a purely national identity and consolidation of the nation state in Bulgaria. Thus, Bulgarian modernization turned into “de-Ottomanization” movement from its beginning. However, the elimination of the Ottoman legacy was not merely an issue of modernization, but was a necessity inspired by religious fanaticism, nationalism and nation state model. Bulgarian intellectuals and statesmen considered the Ottoman rule as a period of slavery and tyranny in which the Christian Bulgarian culture was oppressed and its development was hindered. This perception gave rise to despising and demonizing of the Ottoman period and of the Turks and other Muslim peoples, institutions, traditions and religious or secular monuments associated with Ottoman rule. No longer was there a place for Oriental elements in the Bulgarian identity. Therefore, the nascent Bulgarian state tried to eliminate Turkish, Islamic and Oriental influences that penetrated into the political, administrative, social, economic, cultural, religious and demographic spheres. In this context, Ottoman material cultural heritage was put on the top of the agenda among the undesired elements of the past. As a result, numerous Ottoman monuments were demolished in the name of modernization of the cities. The destruction of the Ottoman monuments in Bulgaria started during the Ottoman-Russian War of 1877-1878 and continued through the period under examination notwithstanding the Berlin Agreement. In spite of the efforts and protests of the Sublime Porte and of the Ottoman commissaries, a large amount of mosques, masjids, minarets, madrasas, public baths, cemeteries, dervish lodges, tombs, inns, caravansaries and other buildings reminding the Ottoman past were destroyed by the Bulgarian municipalities under the pretext of rebuilding and planning of the cities. In fact, the destruction of Ottoman monuments was the result of a deliberate policy of the Bulgarian governments to emphasize the Christian Bulgarian character of the country. The mosques were the primary target of the religious fanaticism and nationalism. Thus, while most of the mosques in the cities were demolished, some others were converted into the churches, museums, schools, hospitals, printing-houses, warehouses, arsenals etc. in this period. For example, there were 44 mosques in Sofia before the war, but only one of them was spared. In conclusion, the most radical changes occurred in appearance, in physical structure and in architecture of the cities in the post-Ottoman Bulgaria.
Keywords: Ottoman legacy, Bulgaria, Sofia, Ottoman monuments, cultural heritage, elimination.