When I first saw pictures of the beautiful old buildings in the region of Abkhazia in 2014, I was immediately enchanted. The architecture design and the beautiful nature surrounding the ancient ruins were an aesthetic dream for me.
At that time, I did not know what my visit in 2019 would trigger in me.
After my entry over the Enguri river, it was easy to see that the wounds of the war were still wide agape. Beautiful houses were everywhere and their remains were slowly recaptured by nature.
Although I already know such scenarios from my visits to Croatia and Bosnia, it is still moving, as each abandoned building changed human history forever.
But like all my travels, I wanted to maintain my objectivity and enjoy my time here as I have done in Georgia before.
The Abkhazians were very hospitable people even though we were very often seen suspiciously. Anyway, I was either taking pictures or eating.
The feeling in the amazing buildings and abandoned places was often very difficult for me to classify. On the one hand, my passion is the decay and the architecture, and many of the places were very impressive. On the other hand, it made me sad because this region is a real pearl, whose gloss fades.
The more it is important to me to record all this in this project because even if the shine fades, a beautiful woman remains a beautiful woman.
As a stranger like me who does not know all the exact historical background of the conflict, it is even harder for me to really understand everything after my visit. I have heard many opinions and experienced a high level of hospitality and friendliness on both sides.
I really hope that both sides will find a good solution for both sides one day. Although you can build a physical boundary, each one can open the boundaries in the hearts.
In any case, my trip has ensured that the Georgians and Abkhazians have a big place in my heart. I hope that my pictures, even if the motives show destruction, will take the viewer on a journey through a good past.
What has happened can no longer be changed, only the way to the future is what counts. And how we shape it is up to us.
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Delay Ii
An incredibly beautiful old train station in the mountain region.
This is Tsar era, not sovet. This was build before the revolution and closed and abandoned in the sovet period.
The Storm Is Over
View from a balcony of an abandoned sanatorium.
The Black Sea Dreams
The jaw-dropping view from the huge balcony of a former sanatorium.
Administration
The area was once famous for its excellent tea. Now the factories are abandoned. This is the administration building of one of them.
might look like an town-hall building. they were a very healthy nation, but with a grandoar embedded in their blood
Delay I
One of many beautiful abandoned train stations in Abkhazia.
The Choice
The impressive staircase of an abandoned house of culture which was built for the train workers of the town.
Palms And Ruins
An abandoned pulmonary sanatorium which was built by a landlord for his wife. It has 365 rooms. One for every day.
Royal
This old sanatorium was really built with attention to detail.
it is said, to restore is not worth the cost, therefore most incredible buildings are destroyed, sad !!!
Jungle Palace
A palace in town which was transformed into a small Angor wat now.
Intense
The ceiling in the old theater of Gagra shows what beautiful architecture was present in the region.
They loved color and made a lovely difference, as well as the gorgeous ceilings !!!
Delay Iv
Another station in Gagra, which nature is slowly recapturing.
Escape
This was the entrance hall of a former sanatorium on a hill near the black sea coast.
Delay Iii
The abandoned central station of Sukhumi.
Colors Of Decay
I found this room especially beautiful because of its architecture and the colors of the decay.
I especially love arches. doorways, and windows, these days you seldom see any, too many square designs !!!
Pre Chai Latte
An abandoned café with truly unique architecture near the beach promenade.
I just love the composition of this and of all these photos. Really nice.
Shine On
The huge staircase in the old pulmonary sanatorium of Prince Smetsky (built 1913).
With the world running out of antibiotics, tuberculosis, which was the number one killer up until the 1940s, is once again gaining ground. The BCG vaccine was first used on humans in 1921 in France, but it was not until after World War II that BCG received widespread acceptance. Streptomycin, isolated in 1944, was the first effective antibiotic against tuberculosis. To any anti-vaxxers reading this: I would not be writing this unless I had wilfully let doctors poison me. It almost killed me, and that is how come I am still here. Make fewer children, but take proper care of the ones you have!
Shades
The former ministry building is now totally fallen to ruin and full of injection needles and trash.
Until you zoom in on what looks like a used condom in the left side 😆
Load More Replies...Isobel Davies I was thinking the exact same thing. It looks like a portrait.
Exile
The plane of former Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze at the former airport of Sukhumi.
I'm Alone
A former mountain town that used to be populated by miners and their families. After the war, the mines were closed and abandoned. A few isolated people still live there.
Hakan
Abandoned Turkish freighter in an Abkhazian harbor.
Brutalism
The huge abandoned Hotel of a former sports complex.
Free Seats
Another house of culture which has fallen into a ruin.
I dunno why but this looks like it could be called like "War in theatre" I know someone could come up with a better name, but the way the wall in the back is damaged, making it look somewhat outta focus looks screenish to me. As if you were sitting in this hall and the projection screen just decayed before your eyes and burned from the middle to the outside. As a metaphor for all the s**t that is just crashing and burning in the world right now.
Only 7 pictures are from soviet union. The rest are building build in 18 to early 20 century, before the revolution. The sovet building are the ones looking like square boxes in this collection.
Thanks. I wondered about that. Some of them were to beautiful to have been built by a committee.
Load More Replies...Lovely selection. Such a waste however of so much effort to build, only to abandon.
It would have been helpful to let us know where this is in the first paragraph instead of as an aside about Georgia in the 6th one. I am no slouch when it comes to geography but I had to look it up: Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a de facto state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which views the region as an autonomous republic. It lies on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, south of the Greater Caucasus mountains in northwestern Georgia.
Ah, thank you Stannous. I will confess I first read it as Azkhaban
Load More Replies...Heartbreaking. So much beauty, so much craftsmanship and now it's all falling apart.
Architects should visit these to copy the designs so they can be recreated with modern internals. Present day orchestras play old music, these buildings should live again.
Interesting, sad to see the remnants whatever the cause, I admire the author, and his dedication !!!
Lovely photos. I always get the feeling that crumbling old buildings are a lot like old, dignified people. The stories they could tell! Here is another photographer of the same vein: https://www.jameskerwin.uk/photography-adventure-blog/tag/abkhazia
It's sad that we don't get buildings like that anymore. Today, its all cookie cutter boredom at best and an offense to the eyes and good mood at worst.
Beautiful photos , yet saddening. So many beautiful places built and left abandoned.
So is everything in Abkhazia broken? Sounds like a perfect anti-tourism ad.
How sad progress is. We abandon places of such beauty for structures of stone and glass that are the same as every other structure. All straight lines and featureless....
is it progress or is it poverty due to falling out of the soviet union's funding tranche?
Load More Replies...Tinfien, this is b******t and we are reporting you. Also, hamba usathane ngiyethemba uzokunika abantwana.
Load More Replies...Only 7 pictures are from soviet union. The rest are building build in 18 to early 20 century, before the revolution. The sovet building are the ones looking like square boxes in this collection.
Thanks. I wondered about that. Some of them were to beautiful to have been built by a committee.
Load More Replies...Lovely selection. Such a waste however of so much effort to build, only to abandon.
It would have been helpful to let us know where this is in the first paragraph instead of as an aside about Georgia in the 6th one. I am no slouch when it comes to geography but I had to look it up: Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a de facto state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which views the region as an autonomous republic. It lies on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, south of the Greater Caucasus mountains in northwestern Georgia.
Ah, thank you Stannous. I will confess I first read it as Azkhaban
Load More Replies...Heartbreaking. So much beauty, so much craftsmanship and now it's all falling apart.
Architects should visit these to copy the designs so they can be recreated with modern internals. Present day orchestras play old music, these buildings should live again.
Interesting, sad to see the remnants whatever the cause, I admire the author, and his dedication !!!
Lovely photos. I always get the feeling that crumbling old buildings are a lot like old, dignified people. The stories they could tell! Here is another photographer of the same vein: https://www.jameskerwin.uk/photography-adventure-blog/tag/abkhazia
It's sad that we don't get buildings like that anymore. Today, its all cookie cutter boredom at best and an offense to the eyes and good mood at worst.
Beautiful photos , yet saddening. So many beautiful places built and left abandoned.
So is everything in Abkhazia broken? Sounds like a perfect anti-tourism ad.
How sad progress is. We abandon places of such beauty for structures of stone and glass that are the same as every other structure. All straight lines and featureless....
is it progress or is it poverty due to falling out of the soviet union's funding tranche?
Load More Replies...Tinfien, this is b******t and we are reporting you. Also, hamba usathane ngiyethemba uzokunika abantwana.
Load More Replies...