The village of Staro Zhelezre in Bulgaria, where almost all the walls of the houses are turned by artists into canvas, causes great interest among tourists.
as part of a project implemented with the consent of the villagers, politicians, movie stars and cartoon heroes are depicted on the walls of village houses.
Artists performed frescoes with images of such personalities as Fidel Castro, Indira Gandhi, Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, Vladimir Putin, Vladimir Zelensky, Victor Orban, Boris Yeltsin, Boris Johnson, Leonid Brezhnev. You can also see side by side of photographs of the Bulgarian politicians Todor Zhivkov, Boyko Borisov and the former king of Bulgaria Simeon Saxen-Koburg.
The paintings also appear popular movie heroes, here you can find images of Karl Marx, The Beatles, Freddy Mercury, Alfred Hitchcock, Bridget Bardot, Adriano Celentano and Alena Delona.
Artists also convey various messages with the help of cartoon characters on the walls, such as Kung Fu Panda, Fred Fintone from the “Stone Age”, the Mayan bee and beauty from “Beauty and the Beast>.
– Over 10 years, Star Zhelezar has turned into a center of attraction for tourists
The artist Ventsislav Piryankov, who was born in this village and living in Poland, together with his wife Katarina brings his students in Staro Zhelezar every year and teaches lessons of applied art.
“For 10 years, we made Star Zhelezar the center of attraction. Our village has become famous,” he says.
According to Piryankov, support in this case is provided by both local authorities and villagers.
In 1934, the name of the village of Demirjieler in the city of Hisar in the south of Bulgaria was changed in Staro Zhelezar.