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Samson

@sam_ssson

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Sanatorium Imereti, built in 1961 in tskaltubo, Georgia. It was once a Soviet spa resort with over 300 beds, landscaped gardens, and striking Stalinist architecture. After the fall of the USSR, it fell into decline, and at one point housed displaced people from the Russian conflicts in Abkhazia. Now abandoned, its crumbling staircases, arches, and pillars remind us of an era now far gone. In 2021, the former sanatorium was granted cultural heritage status, and redevelopment plans have been rumored but have yet to begin… #abandoned #photography #abandonedplaces #urbex #explore #urbanexploration #urbanexploring #georgia #stalin #brutalist #architecture #history #bando taken in წყალტუბო/Tskaltubo by @sam_ssson
26
a year ago
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Sanatorium Medea in Tskaltubo, Georgia 🇬🇪 Built in the 1950s, its original purpose was a luxurious Stalinist resort for Soviet soldiers. Following the fall of the Soviet Union, the building was repurposed to house those displaced from the Georgia/Abkhazia conflicts. - - - #abandoned #explore #photography #urbanexploring #urbex #travelphotography #tskaltubo #abandonedphotography #urbanphotography taken in წყალტუბო/Tskaltubo by @sam_ssson
36
a year ago
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The ghost town of Fossa is a rare site where 13th-century Renaissance walls are built on top of 1st-century Roman foundations. The village was constructed from the salvaged limestone of the ancient Roman city of Aveia, creating a unique architectural overlap of Roman engineering and Medieval masonry. After surviving centuries of rough history, the evolution of Fossa was frozen by an earthquake in 2009, leaving a remarkable portrait of resilience and fragility behind. #abandoned #urbanexploring #photography #abandonedplaces #urbanexploration taken in Italy by @sam_ssson
49
7 months ago
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memories from exploring the midwest. - - - #photography #explore #midwest #abandoned taken in Midwest, USA by @sam_ssson
21
10 months ago
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chasing views, fresh fruit, and historic trains in Costa Rica 🇨🇷 1. Day and night in the valleys of the osa peninsula 2. Abandoned Locomotive No. 82, stored in working order in an engine shed when the line closed and in theory could still be steamed and operated, used in the banana trade 3. The beach caves of playa ventana 4. Dr Carlos Duran tuberculosis sanatorium, founded to treat the doctors own daughter in 1918, closed in 1973 from volcano damage 5. “El Miro”, a long abandoned mansion overlooking the beaches of Jàco 6. A historic electric train car kept clean and repainted by locals, involved in the agricultural trade 7. Hike to two of countless waterfalls of Costa Rica 8. The unfinished “sonesta one” resort, which ran out of funding before construction was complete 9. A local mountain man from Denmark showing around his garden where he sustains, growing all of his food 10. Locomotive 84, used in 1934 by the United Fruit Company in the banana trade 11. Looking above and below hiking in the cloud forest 12. Abandoned Costa Rica themed coast guard boats and a dog chillin’ with a Costa Rican themed bike 13. A mini train car hidden in a small local village #abandoned #costarica #photography #explore #urbanexploration taken in Costa Rica by @sam_ssson
43
5 months ago
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A night spent amongst Cold War era metal giants… These satellite dishes were part of NATO’s “ACE High”network, a troposcatter system with 82 stations, stretching all the way from Norway to Turkey. This Italian station served as a relay station, bouncing signals off earth’s atmosphere to keep NATO’s communications backbone connected. One of the coldest nights of sleep I’ve ever had, hammocked to one of the massive dishes. But easily also one of the most unforgettable nights too. Grateful to have shared this wild memory with @warden.wanders and @thelukeexplores - - - #photography #abandoned #urbanexploration #explore taken in Italy by @sam_ssson
52
8 months ago
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The first radio-optical telescope in the world now sits abandoned in the mountains of Armenia... remaining a constant reminder of fallen historic ambition. Constructed by the Soviet Union between 1975 and 1985, the Orgov Radio-Optical Telescope (ROT-54/2.6) was one of the most impressive scientific instruments of its time. Led by USSR award-winning Armenian physicist Paris Herouni, the project aimed to merge optical and radio astronomy into a single facility. The telescope was designed to study deep space phenomena including quasars, pulsars, solar activity, and the faint glow of the Big Bang, which potentially offers a glimpse into the universe’s earliest moments. The telescope’s 54-meter dish, made of finely machined aluminum panels, achieved accuracy of just 0.1 millimeters, a level of precision unmatched by any other telescope at the time. Adjacent to the radio dish was an equally ambitious second phase: a 2.6-meter optical telescope enclosed in a massive glass dome designed to observe the universe using visible light. But this part of the project was never completed. The structure remains as skeletal dome of glass and rusted steel, never equipped with its primary mirror. The vision of a fully functioning radio-optical hybrid telescope, decades ahead of its time, never reached its full potential... Within minutes of the telescopes’ first live test, it successfully detected radio emissions from a distant galaxy, providing early proof of its effectiveness and scientific potential. Yet its operational life would be astoundingly brief. By the early 1990s, the Soviet Union had begun to unravel. Armenia, a newly independent nation, was plunged into war and a severe economic crisis. The country faced energy shortages and national priorities shifted overnight, completely desolating the funding for astrophysical research. The telescope was consequently shut down and has never operated since. This scientific behemoth now remains abandoned, pointed at the stars, and still awaiting a possible second life… #abandoned #explore #photography #armenia #history taken in Armenia by @sam_ssson
31
a year ago
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ghosts of the renaissance, painted in red. - - - #photography #abandoned #explore #urbandecay #urbanexplorer taken in Piedmont, Italy by @sam_ssson
33
8 months ago
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Built in the late 1970s and completed around 1984 by architect Ioseb Zaalishvili, the Mountain Valley Sanatorium (often referred to as Sanatorium Borjomi) was designed as a massive Soviet health resort in Georgia, originally intended to host up to 2,000 guests seeking the therapeutic benefits of the region’s famous mineral springs. The huge structure features dormitories and intricate Soviet mosaics tucked into a steep, pine-forested valley. The state of the building ultimately represented only a fraction of the ambitious original master plan. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the outbreak of the 1992 war in Abkhazia, the facility lost its steady stream of state-funded vacationers and transitioned from a bustling wellness retreat into a makeshift shelter for internally displaced refugees, who resided in the decaying building for nearly three decades. Today, the heavily weathered complex stands largely abandoned, serving as a striking architectural reminder of the Soviet era and the unique history of Georgia 🇬🇪 #explore #photography #abandoned #abandonedworld #urbex taken in საქართველო/georgia by @sam_ssson
32
6 months ago
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if these walls could talk, they’d pour you a glass of wine first... 📸 a hand painted palace, somewhere in 🇮🇹 - - - #abandoned #explore #abandonedplaces #urbex #urbanexploring #photography #abandonedworld #bando #photographer #italy #abandonedphotography #exploring taken in Italia by @sam_ssson
23
a year ago
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The crumbling, vine-choked remains of an abandoned Italian “Manicomio” or insane asylum. These asylums were originally designed to isolate individuals deemed “unfit” or “dangerous” by society, at a time when medical understanding of mental health was still in its infancy. Over the decades, institutional philosophies transitioned toward a “moral treatment” approach, which prioritized compassion, fresh air, and active engagement with the natural world. This shift in care is reflected in the architecture of this manicomio, with vaulted ceilings and the now-wild, lush courtyards, reflecting a historic shift to heal through beauty, light, and compassion. #abandoned #photography #explore #italy #abandonedworld taken in Italy by @sam_ssson
52
7 months ago
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Sanatorium Metallurgist was completed in 1957 and is a textbook example of Stalinist neoclassicism. The architecture here is one of a kind, blending grandiose pillars, arches, and marble with traditional Georgian stone carvings and floral motifs. Metallurgist served as far more than a sanatorium; it was Tskaltubo’s entertainment hub. A marble concert hall, greenhouse style dining hall, and advanced medical care were all offered in the building beyond simple sanatorium baths. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the conflict of Abkhazia in the early 90s, displaced people began to inhabit the building. Today it still has several friendly occupants, and the building sits in absolutely remarkable condition when compared to its sanatorium siblings in the same town. #photography #abandoned #explore #abandoned #abandonedworld taken in წყალტუბო/Tskaltubo by @sam_ssson
62
7 months ago
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