Words & photography: Andy Garside
As we travel around Europe we witness the most beautiful, natural sites. From alpine peaks to unspoilt coastlines. But, there’s a certain beauty to be found in abandoned spaces that are slowly being reclaimed by nature. As we were back in north Croatia early this spring I had to take a detour to this well known ‘urban exploration’ spot – Haludovo Palace Hotel located on the island of Krk.
Originally built in the early 1970s by Bob Guccione, the founder of Penthouse Magazine, it was considered one of the most luxurious destinations in what was then Yugoslavia, but tourism was hit hard when war broke out in the ‘90s and by the time Croatia had got back on its feet the building had already laid empty for years.
As far as urbex sites go it’s an easy find and an easy get in, no tall fences, security or barbed wire to navigate. But, there is a lot of broken glass and tiles underfoot and many of the handrails have been destroyed.
The windows were removed from the building in recent years to make it less of a fire risk which has encouraged the beautiful plant life to take hold even more. It’s a real shame that the place has been vandalised so much though, almost every surface now has graffiti on it. I much prefer to see a place left as it was and slowly turn back to nature.
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