Plenty of Vacancy
To finish up for the last day of vacation - something a little different and what I think might be a first for me - a post in the Urban Exploration community.
It was a beach day for the last full day in Croatia before flying out tomorrow evening, and we decided to walk for 30 or 40 minutes to another beach named Kupari - the home of the abandoned hotels. These hotels were frequented by the Yugoslav military elite and had space for thousands of people. 1600 in the hotel and 4000 more in the camping area. They were built in the 60s through to the 80s before the wars, which lasted a decade from 1991 through to 2001 - making them very much within living memory.
During the wars, they were heavily damaged, but even after, the Croatian military used them until they were eventually abandoned, slowly being further destroyed by vandals, squatters and now, overgrown by nature itself.
They are massive buildings and I have never walked through anything like this before. I could have spent a day or two, but only had an our or two whilst my wife and daughter were swimming at the local beach, which these overlook. It was not enough, but I made a mad dash through, hoping to see what I could, capture what I could, and avoid falling down elevator shafts, stairs breaking away after being bombed, or cutting myself on the tons of shattered glass that piled everywhere.
The buildings were both beautiful and filled with sadness, where bullet holes from strafing fire would have targeted the places where people would have been sitting, eating, checking guests in. The rooms were of course trashed, but you can see that once upon a time, they would have been considered luxurious to many, though the styles have obviously dated heavily since they were built.
There was also a bit of a strange juxtaposition, as the beach outside is filled with tourists and locals alike, but these buildings just a stone's throw away, are empty, dark and imposing. I noted a couple of tourists wandering through some of the closer buildings, but none in the inner parts, or higher floors. It is not a place for kids of course, and good shoes are recommended, as though it isn't an overly difficult explore, there is a lot of junk. There is likely a lot of asbestos too, but falling down several floors over the edge of crumbling stairs is likely the bigger danger.
It was very sunny outside and around 30C, so it was nice to be in the shade a little, because there wasn't much of that on offer at the beach. There also wasn't much of anything else around there, which is strange for a tourist beach area, but I am guessing that it isn't the "go-to" place for most tourists, and the locals bring their own.
Wandering around for about an hour, it was interesting to try and imagine what was what and where, with it being relatively easy to tell the rooms, but the larger areas like the foyers and dining were so barren, they could have been anything. I am unsure why they have kept these buildings at all, other than historical significance perhaps, because it really is in a very good location. However, it is a demolish job, not a rebuild for these - there is far too much damage.
Even in the shade, it was sweaty work in the heat and I had cleverly not taken any water with me, so I was running out of energy pretty fast, yet pushed on as far as I could before getting back to the family vacation part, and a dip into the cool clear waters. You will see from some of the shots how it overlooks the beach and it is a bit of a surreal experience to look down at people playing in the water, from blasted out windows and missing walls.
I will leave it hear for now and let the next thirsty or so images speak for me instead. I took many more, but editing on the phone takes a lot of time to transfer and adjust even slightly, so I will post another when I get back home and will add them in a better sequence, to tell a clearer story. Hopefully though, these give a perspective of a past that is close enough for most around here to remember.
What did you think of those?
Taraz
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Wow!
A post worthy of stacking up against that of the world famous @slobberchops!
These abandoned places fascinate me. Especially knowing how much they must have cost to build, and the fact that the current state probably has very little to do with the vision the creators must have had.
Some of those staircases look pretty shady and even the promise of free candy couldn’t get me up there for a closer look.
This would almost be rural exploration with its location away from town. Glad you made it out safe and looking forward to the full story after you return!
I am not great with heights, but braved many of them, just in case there was something at the top. FOMO! :D
Can you imagine an architect drawing it this way?
That place really is gutted. I can imagine it was quite lovely during it's haydays though. What an amazing view.
That one image with the bullet holes really punched me in the chest. Great photos, they show the massive contrast between the idyllic beach vacation spot and the derelict hotel perfectly. Glad you didn't fall through any stairs.
Looks like one of the scary places featured in horror movies. They are creepily beautiful 😍.
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Great photos. Looks like the perfect setting for some horror story. At the same time, I can see what you mean when you write "and filled with sadness". I think that sadness is amplified because this place isn't filled with all the typical junk that we normally see on these urbanx photos. Instead it has a feeling of a place that was abandoned unwillingly.
Something with torture...
It is a strange place. Look out from the window and it is crystal clear waters and lush green - inside - desolation.
I love seeing this through your amazing photos, but that's the only way that I will ever see them!
It isn't a sightseeing attraction for everyone! :)
Think J and the kids and I would have been over, under, round and through this either before or after the beach, but the advantage of having older kids that are interested in shenanigans XD
Not a bad photo haul for the amount of time, though looking at the beam propping up the ceiling (if that's what it was doing and not just put there by some enterprising rascals) and the wonderfully safe spindly staircase up you probably would have wanted longer to safely explore the upper floors, can't imagine that dropping through from higher up would be anyone's idea of fun XD
You would have had a ball. So much to see there and explore. Some was easy reach, some was a little hairy - but all was fun :)
The beam and the ceiling was actually a bedframe on end. Not as scary as it looks :) And yeah - some of the staircases.... :D
Bedframe casually leaning up against the roof but not propping it up is definitely much less scary! XD
Sadly that looks like the Croatia and Bosnia that I remember. Death and destruction amongst beauty.
Did you happen to find the candy the vandals were directing everyone to?😀
Yep. It isn't the prettiest, but also beautiful in its own way. I spent a few days in Belgrade before Covid and got to talk with a group of about 25 people from each of the countries. It was a very interesting conversation!
Don't accept candy from strangers ;)
Urban decay always fills me with some sadness.
But at the same time, it is interesting to see how nature takes it back.
What a dilapidated place to be sitting on such a nice waterfront. That's what war brings, lots of destruction... Nice exploration and thank goodness you didn't run across any unexploded munitions!
It was a really strange contrast with the people laughing and playing on the beach, with this overlooking them. I wonder if there are any munitions left there?
If there was shelling at some point (mortars) chances are there is somewhere, fortunately you didn't find any!
Some pictures gives the view of horror movie just like written dead there on wall, some others also seems like horrible
The "DEAD" one is one of my favorite pics. :)
This is a @slobberchops post :)
I need to catch up on your vacation posts.
It is.., though I have vowed to do no Urbex next week (in Gran Canaria).
I was channeling my inner Slob! :D
And I have some catching up to do as well :)
Your hotel looks great! 🤣
You should have seen breakfast...
Haha...Couldn't have been worse than McDonalds.
Remember that food we made back in the day? We called it mush. I'm thinking your breakfasts were like that. Lol.
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Each picture presented speaks words both heard and unheard. War is no joke and the gravity of what its leaves is beyond spoken words.
Thanks for taking us on this journey and I agree that the hotel is massively built.
Glad you enjoyed the images. Made me think more about what the locals have been through - not so long ago.
It did the same with me. Thanks for sharing.
amazing snaps. i love abandoned buildings
Me too. In another life, I think I would have done more urbex.
I hope you're not doing a naked explore, it looks that way in your one selfie... people could get scared 😀
I was mostly naked. Sneakers and swimmers... And a Lowepro Sling, worn like bondage wear.
All happy starts end with sadness as they say. Each house tells a story of family, a man or maybe a woman owning a place, and with time eventually everything fades. So much so, that new generation can't even keep up with the change.
One of the things I like about old houses, is that many people have had an affect on them in some way. They evolve.
I have seen such buildings also in Belgrade. They should remain for the duration to represent those times for the new generations so that they will be aware of past and how bad the war was/is.
@slobberchops likes this post :)
Some of the buildings in the center of Belgrade look like this and they haven't been bombed! :D
Gorbachev and Elizabeth Taylor vacationed there in the 1980s.
I am guessing they weren't there together though :)
:)
photos are really great aren't some place scary?.
Some are scary, in that they are dangerous.
Yeah but they are really cool.
Wow look at you go! That's definitely some @slobberchops level stuff there. He doesn't usually include photos of himself in his posts though! This looks like it was a really interesting explore!
It was fun. I haven't done any urbex for a few years, so it was pretty amazing to do some in another country :)
Great pics... I'm interested in the free candy!