A golden hoard, skyscraper and more: what SPbGASU students saw in practice in the course of internship Bulgaria
During the internship in Bulgaria, SPbGASU students and gained invaluable professional experience got acquainted with the culture of the country
In the course of a sightseeing tour of Sofia, students visited the Saint Alexander Nevsky Memorial Cathedral, the Rotunda of St. George, the Saint Sophia Church (dating to the 4th century), the Russian Church (built in 1907 – 1914, officially known as the Church of St Nicholas the Miracle-Maker), the Ancient Fortress of Serdika and other memorials. Bulgarian students said that some parts of the fortress of Serdika had been dug up until recently. In particular, the Roman amphitheater of the 2nd – 3rd AD was discovered quite accidentally in 2004, during the construction of the Arena di Serdica Boutique Hotel.
The next introductory visit was to the Tsankov Kamk dam. This concrete dam with a height of 130.5 m and an arc length of 345 m was completed in 2010. This hydroelectric power station is intended to cover the peak loads of the electrical system in the event of an emergency failure in larger power plants.
Quite impressive was the small town of Panagyurishte with a population of 16 thousand people, located in a picturesque mountainous area. It turned out that the inhabitants of Panagyurishte are experiencing serious problems due to the shortage of drinking water. The dam on the Luda Yana River, the construction of which was resumed in 2016 and continues up to the present, will solve this problem. The trainees studied the structure of the dam and examined the spillway.
In Panagyurishte, the students visited the History Museum, which was founded in 1943. The museum's exposition includes several thematic sections: archaeological, ethnographic, of modern history and the natural environment, and a section dedicated to the history of Bulgarian lands in the 1500s – 1900s.
The archeology section contains objects found during excavations in the territory of Panagyurishte. Particular attention is paid to the gold hoard found in 1949 by the Deikov brothers. It consists of 9 vessels of gold with a total weight of about 6 kg, scientists date them to 4th – 3rd BC. The treasure is permanently kept in the Museum of Sofia, with the exception of traveling to various exhibits around the world.
The Bulgarian side prepared an interesting excursion to the Sky Fort skyscraper. This is an office building that currently is under construction. The project provides for a building of 202.22 m height and after completion of the construction it will be the tallest building in Bulgaria.
The internship at the UACEG was a great opportunity for SPbGASU students to see the technology of building constructions and structures in the area with warm climate and high seismic activity. The trainees got acquainted with the culture of the country, and also received invaluable professional experience.
Text: Associate Professor, Department of Architectural and Engineering Constructions
V. N. Yelistratov
✔ Read more about the summer practice of students from UACEG (Sofia, Bulgaria) at SPbSASU in news of August 21, 2019
