Abandoned: Italy

Italy is a beautiful country and is home to some beautiful abandoned places.

In May/June 2015 I went on a tour of Italy to photograph some abandoned places. Basically in four days we managed to visit 27 locations. From abandoned hospitals to deserted villas there was so much to see. The first full day was spent driving around Lake Maggoire, surrounded by tree filled mountains, it was a beautiful start to the trip. We finally end our day in Vercelli.

The next day we head further South taking in a hospital, a theatre and a number of abandoned villas and finish our day in Turin, we end up in a hotel that is basically in the middle of the ghetto, large blocks of residential flats with a lot of activity.

A big day today, Manincomio Di R. A beautiful asylum which was a major goal of the trip. It all goes wrong and a guardian knows why we are there, "no photo, no photo". We were only walking past. This is a major setback and there was a few expletives said to ourselves as we walked on. Not to be deterred we wonder around to the other side of this large abandoned asylum and manage to find another access point and we are quickly inside. It was clearly worth the perseverance and spent a number of hours enjoying this beautiful building. We leave a happy bunch and probably more expletives were said as we left here, this time in joy. We finally take a long drive up in to the mountains to visit an abandoned college which houses a beautiful modern chapel. After some time here another long drive to the coast to my personal main goal of the trip, Ospedale Psichiatrico Di Q. A beautiful asylum with the finest stone staircase. After some climbing one of us managed to gain access and let the rest of us in easily. It was early evening by now and the light was perfect, the building was perfect, the whole day could not of gone better. We even grabbed a few shots of the entrance to the live asylum on the same sight. We leave the coast and head up into the mountains for a final night in Italy.

We wake up at the crack of dawn to make the most of our final day, it doesn't start well we are locked in the village. What the hell, everyone is still in bed. We are left with one option, sound the horn and wake up the whole village. Finally we are set free and on our way to a monastery then a small sanatorium in the mountains and finally Palace Casino, a popular abandoned mansion set in beautiful parklands. We arrive back to the car and choose a random hospital on the sat nav. It turns out to be mostly a live site but one building is left abandoned. Luckily it houses a beautiful staircase and a few random bits left behind. We have no idea where it even was but it was a pleasant surprise to finish off the trip.

Big thanks to Justin from As The Light Slowly Fades and Masa of Masa Kores Photography for an awesome few days.

So I made this as it turns out two years later I have just returned from another trip to Italy. Its strange how it has worked out to be exactly two years later.

Below are all the locations visited on this trip in 2015 go check some of them out. Just to whet the appetite of the new locations I recently visited.

Thanks for looking let me know your views below.

Abandoned: The Lights Are On But Nobody's Home.

It can be quite surprising the amount of abandoned places that are still left connected to a source of electricity.

These sites certainly leave some unanswered questions. Who is paying the bills? Well sadly for hospitals, educational properties or any other site funded by the government, quite possibly you and I. I have a couple of theories on industrial sites. One is if the power is still running it's not going to be so easy to steal from. It isn't advised to rip out live copper cable and could the thieves be sure if they did try to turn it off. Also these sites will eventually be stripped and it will not be a safe working environment in a poorly lit space. Then we have mothballed sites, where the cost to restart the whole factory is far more than keeping it alive a blast furnace is a prime example of this practice.  

 Here is a selection of places I have visited where the lights are still on but nobody is home. 

QEII Hospital UK

Twin Morgues Belgium

Haus Der Offiziere

Heavy Metal Belgium

Blue Power Station Belgium

RAE Bedford

British Celanese

The Old Blind School

Mundesley TB Hospital

Thanks for looking, all the images and their titles link you back to the original article if any of them capture your interest. Let me know your views on this article below.

Abandoned Balconies

The view from abandonment. Many abandoned buildings are set in beautiful locations with stunning vista's.  Some more grand than others. 

No more morning coffees, romantic dinners while watching the setting sun. No more watching the sunrise with a glass of wine after a crazy night out. These balconies lie empty and restless.  

Beelitz Mens Pavillion:

A large amount of balconies can be found here as it was built as a sanatorium and air baths were considered the best form of treatment for tuberculosis.

Mundesley TB Hospital:

The view of this stunning building from a balcony of this old sanatorium. A very interesting building which is certainly out of place in Norfolk UK

Doctor Anna's House

The balcony which leads from the bedroom at a large doctors house in Germany. I can imagine the doctor and his wife having breakfast here in the morning before the days work.

 Villa La B:

The million euro view from an abandoned villa in Switzerland. The perfect view to wake up to before a hard days exploring in the sun.

 

Beelitz Hospital:

Another balcony on the huge Beelitz site. This building is around a mile away from the building posted above.

House Of Wheelchairs:

The stunning forest view from an abandoned care home in Germany.

Pensionnat Catholique:

The view of the chapel on a balcony of a large abandoned school in France.

Sanatorium D'Aincourt:

The balcony of an abandoned sanatorium  in France set in a beautiful forest.

Thanks a lot for looking. As always the images and titles link back to the original articles. So if anywhere grabs your interest feel free to click away.

Hope you enjoyed, let me know what you think.

Abandoned: Bathroom Chronicles

A selection of abandoned bathrooms from various locations I have visited.

I often overlook bathrooms and toilets in abandoned locations, however sometimes they do catch my eye.

From private baths with no more bubbles, to restaurant toilets with no more chatter. Full on decay to the grandest sinks there is quite a variety that can be found here.  

Hotel Des Thermes

The vibrant bathroom in an abandoned hotel in France.

Chateau De Bois

The exquisite ladies bathroom in an abandoned upper class restaurant in Belgium.

House Of Wheelchairs

Crazy colour scheme in this abandoned care home in Germany.

Buxton Crescent

The grimey mens toilets in an abandoned spa house in England.

Salve Mater

The bathroom of an abandoned hospital in Belgium.

Chateau Des Faisans

The bathroom in an abandoned chateau in France.

Dr Pepito

Posh looking soaps found in the bathroom of a doctors house in Belgium.

Chateau Venetia

A Bathroom in an abandoned hotel in Belgium.

Thanks for looking. As always the images and titles link back to the original location article. So if anywhere grabs your interest click away and have a look around.

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More Abandoned One Shot Wonders

Welcome to another instalment of one shot wonders. Sadly I collected up another selection of fails or locations that I have not been particularly inspired by. I guess this could also be considered a small selection of leads for those who are interested in seeing inside some of these buildings.

An abandoned courthouse in Devizes, Wiltshire. Sadly the grand exterior is slightly deceiving and there is not much to be seen inside. I did not even try and find access to have a look around.

When arriving at Devizes I needed to check where the courthouse actually was so I pulled in to a car park to have a look on my phone. What a stroke of luck to pull up at an abandoned council office. The offices consist of an older manor house rear right and a larger more modern building which you can see in the foreground. Sadly after a good look around I had no luck with gaining any access.

Not only were the council offices abandoned, there was also this beautiful manor house at the entrance to the council offices car park. Once again no luck on gaining access. For a small town Devizes certainly has some potential.

While on my way to purchase my new camera I noticed a couple of interesting looking spots. This abandoned waterworks was the second one I had seen. I made sure my return journey took the same route so I could check them out. What a stroke of luck to get an abandoned building to shoot after twenty minutes of getting my new camera. The Riverdale works in Hampton is in the process of being renovated to residential flats. When I was younger I was always in awe of the waterworks and their grand facades. Shame I was too late to see inside here.

The first place I spotted on route to collect my new camera was this abandoned police station in Sunbury on Thames. Once again I had no luck gaining access but it had been a long day and I wasn't too fussed about getting inside.

I had seen this building a few months before and the art-deco frontage caught my eye. I was unaware it was actually abandoned until I drove past again to see it surrounded in hoarding. As you can see access would of been easy, sadly there is no way I can scale tall hoarding on my own with all my gear so all I managed to get was this over the wooden wall shot.

The grand Curzon Street railway station in Birmingham has eluded me a couple of times now. Having been out of use since 1966 it is planned to be used again from 2026 as the Birmingham terminus for High Speed 2.

The stunning gothic façade of Donaldsons School in Edinburgh. Sadly a little bit late on this one as the redevelopment of turning it into flats was in full swing. We chose to blow it out after a look around and spotting PIRs and cameras surrounding the building. The rear is possibly more impressive but I will save that for next time.

A small abandoned chapel in Norfolk. I have passed by here a couple of times and never had any luck gaining access. Maybe one day my luck will change.

Hidden at the rear of an abandoned garage just outside Kings Lynn I found this car. The roof collapsed on it and it has certainly made its last journey.

Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoyed. If you enjoyed this you may like my first instalment of One Shot Wonders.

Abandoned: Dial Porn

So First of all I must apologise if the title has brought you here in search of filthy phone calls or obscene text messaging. However if you like some close up photos of dials in abandoned buildings this is the place for you.

Abandoned Power Station in Luxembourg. Demolition was in progress when we visited here.

A large dial found at the remains of an abandoned blast furnace in Luxembourg

The dials in a turbine hall of an abandoned power plant in France.

A plethora of dial in this power plants control room. Even the power was still on here!

A small dialwhich is part of a stunning vintage turbine found in a restored power plant in Belgium.

The moveable dials to a power station of an abandoned wind tunnel site in the UK.

The PH meter found in an abandoned mortuary in the UK.

Some dials found in an abandoned hospital in the UK. I have no idea what they were for.

Thanks for looking. As always the images and text link back to the original articles, so if anything catches your interest go take a look.

Abandoned: When Nature Takes Over

Abandoned places are often overgrown.

More often outside than in. However on the odd occasion it does appear or work its way inside.

Usually creeping in through window frames or broken panes.

Sometimes though you find the less ordinary. From mould or fungi, a lone sprout and even full on plant life. 

Here is a selection of my favourite shots where nature has taken over. 

Monastere Antionette

A large amount of mould growing on the windowsill in this abandoned Belgian monastery.

Fort De La Chartreuse

 A serious amount of overgrowth in this derelict fort in Belgium.

British Celanese

A lone sprout in a warehouse of a large unused factory in the UK.

Fenland Farmhouse

Overgrowth creeping in to this bedroom in an abandoned UK farmhouse.

Krampnitz Kaserne

Moss on the floor and even the ceiling in this derelict military barracks in Germany.

Derby Royal Infirmary

An injection of green as plant life creeps in through the window of this abandoned UK hospital.

Denbigh Asylum

A grass carpet covers the floor of this room in a derelict asylum in Wales.

RAF West Raynham:

The fine overgrowth here seems like an alien lifeform spreading across the room in this bedroom of an abandoned RAF base in the UK.

Berkyn Manor

Vines spreading over the rustic kitchen sink in this abandoned Manor house in the UK.

Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoyed this selection of images. As always the images and titles are links back to the full location reports. If anywhere catches your eye feel free to check out the full reports.

Abandoned: 16mm F2.4 Urbex Bokeh

The Urbex photography scene is predominantly big wide epic shots with front to back sharpness, a bit of blur makes a break from the norm.

Around Christmas 2013 I bought a Samsung NX1100 CSM. It was quite a bargain and nice and small. The idea of it was an every day camera. Much easier than carrying round an SLR. Later inthe year I got a 16mm 2.4 lens for it and I love it. Really straight lines and beautiful soft bokeh.

It is great for a first post of a new location, a small tease of what its really like due to the shallow DOF and a lot of the image being out of focus.

Here is a small selection of images I have taken with this lens/camera combo.  

 Swithland Reservoir :

Hotel Des Thermes: 

Chateau Venetia: 

Church Of Decay:

Blue Christ Church:

Old Mortuary Chapel: 

Beelitz Bath House: 

Krankenhaus Blue Theatre:

Holy Nurse: 

Prison 11:

Haus Der Offizier:

Et Phone Home:

Usine Cellatex: 

Chateau D'ah

Maze Of Stairs: 

Thanks for looking as always the images and their titles are links back to the original report. So if any of the images leave you intrigued feel free to check out the rest of the location.

 I hope you enjoyed as part two is well underway.

Abandoned: The Last Song

While on my travels of abandoned places I sometimes find pianos and organs forgotten and left to rot. Musical instruments are always beautiful and it is such a shame they get left and forgotten.

Notre Dame College:

A grand piano left in an abandoned college. Shortly after this visit the college was demolished. I wander if the piano was saved.

Beelitz Mens Pavillion:

An upright piano found in an abandoned hospital. Due to the popular use of his location. I believe this was added at a later date as a prop.

Church Of The Raven: 

Various books lay on top of an organ overlooking an abandoned church.

Beelitz Bath House:

A grand piano used as a prop for a short film is now left in this abandoned hospital.

Holy Nurse:

The organ left in an abandoned hospital chapel.

St Michael's:

The ceiling lays on this small organ in a burnt out church.

Dr Anna's:

The grand piano left in an abandoned doctors home in Germany.

Berkyn Manor:

An upright piano left in a large abandoned manor house in the UK.

Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoyed. If any location leaves you intrigued feel free to check the full set of the location by clicking the titles or images.

Reflections Of The Past

Quite often you find nice reflections in abandoned buildings. Here are a selection of a few favourites I have taken while on my travels in search of abandoned buildings.

 

 

Battersea Power Station:  

After dodging workmen I finally found my way to the rooftop. Main idea was to enjoy the view of the city of London. I turned round to see a better view. The moment the image came up on the LCD I smiled. Certainly one of my favourite shots.

Hotel Des Thermes:

I Spotted the reflection of the ceiling and thought it looked rather nice. I wanted to get as much reflection as possible, so I ended up with the camera sitting in the pool of water on the ground.

Salve Mater: 

A slightly more discreet reflection here in a bathroom at Salve mater. I think its cool how they are different colours.

Infinity Reservoir: 

Well any shot here is bound to have a reflection. Can't be missing this awesome underground location out though.

Chateau Lumiere: 

An early morning selfie in the beautiful Chateau Lumiere. My partner in crime decided to try and catch some ZZZzzs so I hade the whole place to myself as the sun rose. I lined up this shot and figured it was perfect for me to sit on the stairs.  

Severalls:

A perfect time to visit this large abandoned asylum in Essex. Just as the snow had thawed we arrived to find the floors covered in water creating lots of great reflections in the corridors.

The Carvern:

What can I say about this location? One of the most amazing car graveyards you could ever see. Such a pleasure to go here and such a fun day out.

Church Of The Raven:

Well I noticed the reflections on the altar and that was it. I placed the camera on it and shot in nearly every direction possible!!

Swithland Reservoir: 

The main reason for this visit was to go underground in the main reservoir. However the surroundings are quite pleaasent too. I found the central spot and rested my camera on the ledge of the filtration bed.

Thanks for looking all the titles and images link back to the full set of each location if any of them grab your interest.

Abandoned: The One Shot Wonders

Urbex isn't always easy. Sometimes access is denied, time runs out, places are lame or you just can't find any thing you want to shoot. Instead of forgetting about theses abandoned locations I thought I would add them here. 

So I bring to you the one shot wonders.  

Cardington Sheds:

Access denied at these sheds just outside Bedford. You don't realise the size of them until you are standing next to them. The one on the right is a film studio where many blockbuster movies have been made. The one on the left is now undergoing renovations.

Chateau Congo 

Not really a lot to see at this abandoned chateau in Belgium. It was in a terrible state. There really is something special about this room though.

Random Belgian House 

An abandoned house in Belgium. Spotted in passing popped in looked about grabbed one shot and was on our way again.

Abandoned Telescope 

This was quite a large site but access was quite restricted. Finding this at the top of the stairs more than made up for the limited access.

Tree Chapel

This is a proper old ruin in Norfolk UK. I love how the tree is growing in the middle.

Abandoned UK Manor House

A large manor house in the UK. Has been left abandoned for some time now. Sadly no access was to be found here.

Abandoned School UK

Not much to be seen at this derelict school in the UK. Quite a bland shot in colour but I really like this mono conversion.

Abandoned Manor UK

I have paid a couple of visits to this small abandoned manor house as it is often on my way home at weekends. Never had any luck with access but the crazy overgrowth makes it well worth an external shot.

Hof Van L Belgium

Didn't seem like much to be seen at this abandoned convent in Belgium. I did rather like this chapel though.

A Roadside House UK

A small derelict house I spotted on the roadside.. Would of been a total waste of time but the timing with the light was just right for this shot. Which is a personal favourite.

Urbex: Is It Really Abandoned?

Throughout my travels I have seen many different types of abandoned locations.

Some of the locations I have visited are in stunning condition with little signs of decay and begs the question. Is It really abandoned?

Here is a selection of these pristine locations I have visited.

The Oshkosh Fire Truck:

Quite a strange find here. Hidden in a derelict airbase, which has certainly seen better days was this airport fire truck.

Terrys Of York:

The grand entrance to an abandoned UK chocolate factory. The only signs of abandonment in this room are dirty floors and a small amount of peeling paint on the ceiling. This room has a strange resemblance to the Titanic.

British Celanese: 

The top floor of a disused factory in England. Such a large site with varying levels of decay. 

Chateau JM:

A large abandoned chateau in Belgium. Left empty in stunning condition.  The only real signs of decay is the odd spot of peeling paint.

Church Of The Raven:

A beautiful clean abandoned church in Belgium. Apart from dirty floors, the odd crack in a wall and a few cobwebs its hard to tell this church is actually out of use.

Mundesley TB Hospital:

The reception of an abandoned UK hospital. The only real sign of decay here is peeling paint externally.  

Chateau De Bois:

A large abandoned restaurant in Belgium. Stunning features throughout here and no signs of decay.

Chateau De La Chapelle:

Throughout this abandoned chateau in Belgium there was very little sign of decay. Though I do believe it has been empty for some time now.

Pritzer Fac:

A large abandoned university complex in Belgium. Various levels of decay at this site but this building is still in stunning condition.

Haus Der Offiziere: 

The large theatre in an abandoned military base in Germany. The only real sign of neglect is water stains on the ceiling. Throughout this large site there was only small signs of decay.

Derby Royal Infirmary:

This was a very popular location in the UK and it was quite a while until I visited here. The place was quite trashed and had a few nice features. I was quite surprised to find this small consultation room still in good condition.

The Appeel Of Abandonment

One of the draws of abandoned sights has to be the peeling paint.  Also wall paper can peel in a pleasing way too.  

Here we have a selection of the best peel I have seen in abandoned locations. 

British Celanese:

Awesome peeling paint in this abandoned factory. Accompanied with the sign I feel it makes a nice simple composition. 

War Memorial Hospital:

Its crazy how the peel stops here in a perfectly straight line in this abandoned hospital.

RAF Raynham:

Severe peel from the ceiling at this Decaying RAF base. I love how its coated the floor too.

Chateau Des Faisans:

A grimey look here from the wallpaper in this empty French Chateau.

Monastere Antionette: 

The walls are almost fifty percent stripped in this derelict Belgian  Monastery. 

St Johns Hospital:

Really chunky peeling paint in this derelict UK hospital.

The Ark:

From what I remember the only room here with much decay.

Beelitz Main Pavillion:

So much peeling paint in this abandoned hospital. It was hard to choose which image to use.

House Of Wheelchairs:

Really like the peel in this German care home. Its like the ceiling is alive.

Chateau Venetia:

The out of focus peeling paint makes a nice texture in this abandoned hotel in Belgium.

Sheffield Post Office: 

Paint that peeled off the walls lines this helical staircase.

Before The Urban Explorer

My Journey Into Urban Exploration

Hello. I guess its about time I introduced myself.

I am Scott and just turned 38 years of age.

Just before my 30th birthday at Christmas I got my first DSLR.  I would just take photos of random stuff but liked the idea of wildlife photography. It doesn't really work that well with a kit lens.

A year later I got a 70-300 lens thinking I could take photos of deer and birds etc. Well it wasn't easy and the lens was quite soft on distant subjects, however it had a macro function which was good enough for butterflies and larger insects and shooting close up it was considerably sharper.

This was quite accessible as I had a river and small woods nearby.

One day while visiting family I went out for a walk with my camera. There was one plan. Do not shoot any insects etc today. I was taking photos of various subjects and not feeling any of the results. I spotted an old overgrown railway bridge, as I looked down the tracks I could see a tunnel. I knew it was the old test track, so it should be safe to take a wander. I really enjoyed myself in here and came back with pleasing results. This was my first urban exploration with a camera.

A few days later I went for another walk to see what else I could find. I discovered this substation and my lens could just fit through the gap in the palisade.

Around this area and near the tunnels I found a few interesting subjects to photograph.

Well it was time to go back home and shoot macro again. I now owned a lensbaby which worked well with macro filters and had a nice dreamy feel to it.

Through the winter I began to experiment indoors. Here is shot of myself, one exposure and a strobe fired manually through a pringles tube.

Another experiment was with a fibre optic lamp which did result in some interesting images.

It turned out to be a regular visit to the tunnels while I was visiting my nearby family. I was informed of a local abandoned hospital in the town so I thought I would take a look. My images were not so good from here but it was still a fun experience.

I acquired an old Olympus OM 65-200 f4 lens which through varying adaptors and extension tubes I managed to fit it onto my Nikon. With this set up I managed to get my first decent in flight shot. I didn't just get one in focus, I remember struggling to choose which image to actually use.

 I love this combination. A reasonable working length, good sharpness and beautiful bokeh. It has a clean dreamy feel to it.

Sometimes results were unpredictable but always pleasing, this image of a dragonfly has a very painted feel to it.

Not too long after getting used to the OM lens set up I lost my inspiration for my photography due to changes in personal circumstances. It was probably 18 months to 2 years before I started taking photos again.

This is when my passion for urban exploring started and passion for photography returned.