Minas de São Domingos, Portugal

The mines of São Domingos are a treat for the urban exploration lover. There are endless spots to find and explore, and nevertheless the nearby village, which is an interesting example of urban development as a support for mining activity. There, you will find rows of similar houses, prepared for the workers. Besides, if you have the time, a trip to Pomarão is advisable. This other village was connected to the mines by a railway, which would carry the mineral. There, the cargo would be moved to ships, which would navigate down the river all the way to the ocean, and then, to England.

To make a long story short, this region was known for mineral extraction since Roman times. But the mine as you will find it was founded in 1857, and the exploration was conceded to the English company Mason and Barry. Activity was terminated in 1966. For further information (Portuguese only) about the mine, visit this link. A short Wikipedia article in English can be found here.

 

I’ve been in these places endless times, but ironically I never collected a proper number of good shots. The area of the mines is enormous and I can’t point you specific places. It’s all interesting! It’s like a film location for shooting a post-apocalyptic movie, Mad Max like. Provided coordinates are just a starting point for exploration:  37° 40.178′N   7° 29.758′W. If you plan to visit, don’t hesitate to write and ask for any details you might need.

19th Century Power Plant in Vila Real

I came to this place during a visit to a friend of mine in northern Portugal. Actually, I spent the whole day cruising in Vila Real, and found it an attractive and lovely town. But the focus in this article is about the abandoned power plant, the first of its kind in the country, which allowed Vila Real to be the first town in Portugal to have electricity, back in the last decade of the 19th Century.

The access to the facility is pretty easy. Just park your car at  41° 17.586′N   7° 44.491′W (in case you get lost, ask the locals for “Meia Laranja”). Once there, if you are facing the valley, you will notice a small old house to your left. Walk around it and you will see the narrow path leading down. It’s basically impossible to lose the track.

It took me a long time to explore, not because the place is huge but mostly because it’s so interesting and full of subjects for photography. Now a bit of history: Vila Real was the first Portuguese city with public electricity network as soon as the end of 19th century. In 1894, the first water power plant, constructed by Emilio Biel on Corgo river at Poço do Aguerinho, started the production of electricity for the public netwrok. In 1926, being replaced by another power plant, this power plant was transformed into leather processing factory by Jose Pires Granjo with most of the machinery left in the place. The factory worked until 1950.

Actually, if you are attentive, you will clearly observe the two eras on the small complex of buildings, as well as the different machinery.

Hahn USAF Air Base, Germany

My thoughts were floating and somehow it came to my mind: I never presented in this blog my first urbex adevnture, the beginning! And I did have some pictures of it! Well, yeah. It was in 2007. October. I was in my way for a trip to Bratislava and Wien, which would end in Prague where I was establishing myself. So it was a big moment, an important journey. I was flying with Ryanair, with a scale in the small aiport of Frankfurt-Hahn.

It happens this airport, before it started to being used by Ryanair, was an important American Air Base, playing a major role during the Cold War. From Wikipedia:

“Hahn Air Base was a frontline NATO facility in Germany for over 40 years during the Cold War (former ICAO EDAH, now EDFH as Frankfurt-Hahn Airport). It is located 10 km (6.2 mi) from the town of Kirchberg and 20 km (12 mi) from the town of Simmern, and 2 km from the tiny village of Hahn in the Rhein-Hunsrück district of Rhineland-Palatinate in west-central Germany.

It was the home of the United States Air Force 50th Fighter Wing (in various designations) for most of those years as part of the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE). It was one of several USAFE bases in Germany (Zweibrucken Air Base, Ramstein, Sembach, Bitburg, Spangdahlem, and Rhein-Main) all within 100 km (62 mi) of each other. Beyond their location in the heart of US troop concentrations, these air bases were well situated to reach all locations within Europe and the Mediterranean region.

At the end of the Cold War, Hahn Air Base supported more than 13,000 people and three squadrons of F-16 tactical fighters. When the Cold War threat of an invasion of West Germany subsided, the United States was left with a huge excess capacity of expensive airfields in Europe.

As a result, the 50th TFW was inactivated in 1991 after 35 years at Hahn. The 496th TFS was inactivated on 15 May; The 313th TFS on 1 July, and the 10th TFS on 30 September. The 50th Tactical Fighter Wing was inactivated on 30 September 1991. On 30 January 1992 the 50th was activated as the 50th Space Wing at Falcon (later, Schriever) AFB, Colorado.

On 30 September 1993, most of Hahn Air Base was returned to civil German authorities but USAFE retained a small portion as a communications site.

The German government decided to turn the former NATO airfield into a civil airport. One of the main investors in the development of the new Frankfurt-Hahn Airport was Fraport AG, which primarily runs Frankfurt International Airport, the aim being to reduce the amount of traffic using that airport.

The faculty and police training school of the Rheinland-Pfalz State Police were combined at a new joint facility located at the air base’s former housing area in 1996.”

Further info at the Wikipedia Article.

Well, and there I was, with a full day ahead of me, nothing to do. So why not explore the nearby facilities. So I walked. And walked. Eventually I found hangars, abandoned. The old checkpoints reminded me of the famous Berlin’s Checkpoint Charlie. I saw the barracks, the squadrons headquarters and assorted structures related with military activity. I can’t remember the details anymore, but it was a cool day, although a bit cold and damp. All of it carrying my full cargo (remember, I was moving to Prague….).

Now, the best bit was the bunker. Yes, an underground bunker I found. Explorable. A wreck but by then no graffiti.  It was awkward. Exploring former Soviet bases it’s common. Now, it’s not every day that you ave a change to to the same with their counterparts, an American base. And as it was the best, the coordinates I am providing are for it: N 49° 56.963 E 007° 17.317

Be aware that it might be tricky to find the right access. Most of the area is fenced and eventually guarded. Ironically I almost ran intro troubles when I was exiting as I passed in front of a trailer with two civilian guards who got nervous, seeing me leaving the area from where I was not suppose to come from. Fortunately  they couldn’t speak English so I played the dumb tourist role and kept walking as they yelled at me.

 

 

Hotel Golfinho, Lagos, Portugal

This place used to be a flamboyant hotel. I can tell! I spend part of my Summer vacations in the nearby camping site and it was hard to have e  good night sleep: all night long there was people coming in and out of the hotel, in a constant, non-stop party. That was 30 years ago.

I don’t know when the hotel was shut down, but just a couple years ago I remember seeing some promotion there. Really cheap stuff. One could tell they were having bad times. Then I guess the current economic situation finally killed the “Golfinho”.

A few weeks ago I spent a day wandering around in Lagos and that’s when I found out about the current situation of this hotel. By then I saw and entering spot but I was tired, running out of time to catch the returning train and I was not in the mood for Urbex after a day hiking on the cliffs and on the marvelous beaches of this region.

This week I had to return to this area, in a business trip, and between meetings I found myself nearby. Again, I was short on time (actually I arrived 40 minutes later to the afternoon meeting on account of this little adventure).  But now I was really in the mood! I couldn’t let go the change to explore this structure.

There was a motorbike parked near the gate and I new from that moment I would have some company. I was only hoping I could stay away of the other fellow, which I thought would be easy considering the size of the building. But it wasn’t. I saw his reflection, walking on the first floor, when I was taking pictures of the reception. That was the only sight I had of him but made me more cautious. I will never know if the man was an introduder, like me, looking for some booty, or if he was a security dude. When I finally left the motorbike wasn’t there so perhaps he left because he felt my presence or… just left…. or… it wasn’t his bike.

Anyway, because of him I couldn’t use the main stairs. So I took the emergency stairs, going up from the flank of the building. I guess most of the floors look pretty much the same. At least that’s the impression I got from the outside. So I entered the 3rd floor (if the fellow was still on the 1st floor he wouldn’t hear my steps there).

After exploring the floor I went down and found the coolest feature: the club! I entered the DJ boot and enjoyed the huge window glass which would allow people in the club to look at the others who were swimming in the pool. I mean, an underwater window.

The building is for sale. It actually has a huge board announcing its availability. So we never know when the someone will make it harder to visit. But considering the economic situation I guess it will take some time. A bit of agility is necessary to enter the premises.

Entering Spot

 

Wine packing facility, Pedroso, Portugal

 

There isn’t much to say about this place. It’s abandoned. It used to be a wine packing facility. It is located close to the place of a friend of mine where I was staying when I did this exploration. It’s easy to get in. It’s interesting, in my humble opinion.

 

 

Just drive there. Directly off the main road there is the security check house. That’s where you can park your car and enter the premises. From there to the first building is a short stroll of about 200 meters. There you will find what I believe used to be the main storage building, for packed wine. Outside, the best bit: about 25 wine silos, now empty. Try the echo there. It’s awesome.

 

 

There are several smaller buildings in the area, but of small interest. No harm to explore them too though. I loved to find on the floor labels of well known brands of wine, some of them amongst my favorites. Obviously they were being packed here.

 

Entering spot at  41° 4.702′N   8° 31.815′W

Dom Policije Vranjače, Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina

As we know, Sarajevo is a little paradise for urban exploration. The scars of the war which devastated the city in the early 90′s are still visible and many buildings which were destroyed are still there. During my visit I was hosted by a friend in the surrounding hills, namely in Trebevic, which was one of the fire positions used by the Serbs during the long siege of Sarajevo.

I was devastated when I learned that the guide I had pick to take me in a “war tour” was not available for any of the four days I stayed in Sarajevo. Well, in the end it didn’t made such a difference as I managed to visit a few impressive locations. Of course, in usual conditions I wouldn’t hire a guide but then there were two factors here:

1) I don’t like to poke around when there are land mines involved. Somehow I fancy ending my days with two legs in they rightly places. And mines are still a threat in Bosnia, even around Sarajevo.

2) My GPS died one me during this trip and I lost all the data I had gathered, namely trail heads and all waypoints  for urbex.

 

Well, it was a good surprise to find that one of the hottest spots in the list was a few hundred meters from my place in Sarajevo. I had no hopes to visit this police club, which saw plenty of action during the war. And then, there it was, 5 min walking from home. Wow!

So I went there one morning. The dog of my friend escorted me there. Literally speaking as obviously she felt responsible for my safety as a guest, and, being a small animal, didn’t hesitate to attack three wild dogs which were in the grounds of this building. Amazing! The sweet dog showed me around, waited patiently when I wanted to observe something in detail… it was the perfect companion.

Now, attached to the Police club, there is an old Turkish fort, or at least its remainings. Sadly I can’t find any information about the fort, and actually, not much regarding the police club. I’m not even sure it was a police club. That’s what I read online, but then my host told me it was a high security prison for political prisoners.  Never mind. Whatever it was, it hold a bunch of fire during the war. Being a strong structure – bunker like – it didn’t collapse, but a high number of direct hits is visible, not to mention all the holes from light weapons. A great spot with awesome views over Sarajevo and lots of stories to tell.

Here, these are the coordinates: 43º  50.613 18º 24.793.

It’s possible to walk from the center. It’s quite a walk, as all the way is extremely steep. I made it almost every day, but it’s not pleasant. Plus, the streets are a bit puzzling. Taking a taxi might be the best options, especially being them so cheap. Expect to pay no more than 2 Eur from downtown to this place.

Vrmac Fortress, Kotor, Montenegro

This post starts with sad words: I just found out the folder with the pictures of one of my best days traveling through the Western Balkans just vanished. And this place was what made such day so bright! This means the included pictures aren’t so good and diverse as I would like, being taken from the post of my traveling blog.

I found this fortress while walking on a hiking trail which departs from the nearby town of Kotor. The fortress is currently abandoned and it can therefore be thoroughly explored. There is a single entrance spot, the window next to the main gate, which had its iron grid taken.

Kotor, then Cattaro, was a part of the Dalmatian province of the Austrian, and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until the end of WWI. It was an important naval port with strong fortifications.

In the ground floor there are basically dormitories and storage rooms; then, on the first floor, the gun emplacements. I don’t know what kind of guns used to be there but I counted 6 or 7 emplacements, with some plates from Skoda factories. Last floor, which is basically an attic, has several machine-guns emplacements and an exit to the roof. All of this is in perfect conditions and can be explored, as I said.

There are rumors that the whole place was bought but so far no word regarding future plans. I guess I have to rush and return there for another set of amazing pictures. I can’t live with the idea of my pictographic loss!