Jó reggelt, szevasztok…
…. this is gonna be something you don’t see every day, that’s for sure.
If you are reading my blog you probably already know few things I love: beaches, nightlights, Spain – and everything that is Spanish. Alejandro? Hi.
Well, there’s one more thing… Spooky places 👻 boo.
I grew up in a small town in Hungary called Kiskunlacháza. If you just casually driving through it you will see that it has absolutely nothing special there – but me.
If you dig a little deeper though, you will find out that there’s an abandoned Soviet ghost town nearby… where you must never go, son.
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The Soviet Army occupied Hungary in 1945 and stayed there temporary… for 46 years.
– Well technically the Soviets liberated Hungary from the Nazi occupation, but still, it wasn’t a pleasant stay. Although I don’t want to talk about stuff like what they did or did not do, and how they treated the Hungarians during these years. And certainly, I do not want to open arguments about this in the comments section under this post. This post is all about the pictures. If you are interested in historical facts too then feel free to google it. You can find tons of articles on this topic. –
Roughly 150.000 soviet citizen – soldiers and their families – arrived to Hungary. They built their own towns with airports, prisons, flats, schools, public baths, theatres… everything, for real… And they left all these things behind in 1991.
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A Kiskunlacházi szovjet laktanya – Дневники Чернобыля
The area next to my hometown was completely closed from the public for years, so it is pretty well preserved, not been destroyed by homeless and vandalism. It’s still not fully opened which is a good idea since some of the buildings are dangerous, but every now and then they are organizing some set tours for groups. You can actually ask for permission and maybe if you are lucky you can go inside for a private tour aswell. They shot many movies in this ghost town such as: Shot through the heart – 1998, In the Land of Blood and Honey – 2012, Chernobyl Diaries – 2012 and Die Hard 5 – 2013.
So I ended up in one of those set tours I mentioned with my mum who was a little girl during the Soviet occupation and my friend joined us. It was a very spontaneous thing. I never really thought about this place before that day, since it was something you can’t / won’t and don’t even want to talk about. I was scrolling through Facebook and saw a note saying the Ghost town will be opened this and that day whatever time, feel free to come for a tour. So we did. Mum said she will just drop us off, and she doesn’t want to stay, but when we parked the car next to the gate she broke the silence and said she wants to see everything.
I remember I saw a documentary series called Life After People, I loved it. It’s about what would happen if suddenly all the population would disappear. How would the animals react, the buildings, what would stay what would get destroyed in like a million years? Spoiler: basically nature and the environment would slowly take everything back. Of course, 27 years is not like thousands, and this place wasn’t completely abandoned because of the movies and the tours and everything I mentioned before… But you can already notice the process that’s been mentioned in the TV series.
Like the tiles on the restaurant terrace… fully covered with soil
It was a crazy experience, and of course, it had to happen on a rainy, foggy day to make it even spookier. Horror movies usually starting with places like this one, and it never ends well… Also, if you notice a ghost figure in any of my pictures please let me know asap…
Few random shots from the area
… And then it was time to discover the buildings
… Still gives me the chills
The biggest building that’s fully open for a visit is the theatre
Standing ovation … Just so you can guess the measures
My favorite picture and a popular scene from Chernobyl Diaries
In ’91 the soldiers and their families had to leave Hungary. Some say they could only take a few suitcases, and the flats got robbed later on. Others claim that they took everything – and more – that wasn’t nailed to the floor.
… Jó éjszakát, szevasztok!
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The World Through My Glasses 
I am much impressed by your journey. It is fascinating to me, since as an American I only heard about the Iron Curtain through history and the news. Your photos are well-chosen and well-framed. I love photographing derelict buildings. Thanks for sharing this…Peace be with you…
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Grim, gaunt and ghosty indeed! What an extraordinary slice of history frozen in time. Great pics full of atmosphere. What did your mother think and feel about this expedition?
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The spookiest picture is the one of the crayon rabbit through the broken window. It’s a sign of life, departed life.
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great post..Always wanted to visit Hungary..Love ghost towns..We have a lot here in the US that are amazing as well..
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When I lived in Karaganda, Kazakhstan there was an abandoned ghost town nearby of a vacated factory and about 191 empty apartment buildings, movie theatre, parks and stores. I experienced some of the same strange feelings you must have sensed walking around such a place. Incidentally the place I visited was called RTI near Saran village- you can see it on Google maps. Great post thanks!
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This is very interesting, You are a very skilled blogger.
I have joined your feed and look forward to seeking more of your fantastic post.
Also, I’ve shared your website in my social networks!
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Like!! Great article post.Really thank you! Really Cool.
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