TimeOut

While browsing what was around within a day trip distance with my daughter, she found one that she termed ‘upside down Burj Khalifa’ and decided she’d be up for accompanying me on a daughter / daddy day trip there. 

While the weather forecast didn’t promise gleaming sunshine, a cloudy day in January sounded good enough, even took the drone 😉

The monument has suffered quite a bit from 1990, with first being used as a base during the wars in the early 1990s and then vandalized subsequently - the message of the liberation fight during WW2 not having been as appealing during those years 🤷🏻‍♂️

Still, it was quite an interesting feat of architecture and building, with a concrete core and metal cladding, to better reflect the surrounding landscape. The latter was made in Sweden and cost almost as much as the whole construction effort (31bln Yugoslav dinars versus 34 bln).

While there have been some attempts to restore it in the 2010s, with the daughter of the original architect, and even a joint proclamation by the then ruling Croat and Serbian parties, nothing of substance materialized, unfortunately. 

So back to the visit. The drive to the location is largely uneventful all the way to Karlovac (highway) and for those visiting the Croatian coast prior to the 90s, the next several km are familiar, too - the old main trunk road from Zagreb to the coast, before the highway was constructed. Then you veer off to the South on small country roads, which even in this weather were good fun. 

The parking lot - built for a multitude of school buses - is spacious, and was empty (subsequently a Dutch couple arrived, also curious about the monument). The original concept had the visitor’s center and the food offerings sited away from the main monument and placed lower in the hill, so as not to take away from the drama of the monument itself. 

The ascent towards the monument adds a certain drama, especially in the fog, which turned out to be a feature of the day, unfortunately 🤷🏻‍♂️

The grounds of the monument are also a crypt / tomb, with 4200 of the over 34.000 victims from the area burried there. 

The weeping willow added to the menace of the abandoned place in the fog…

And then out of a sudden, you see the first glimpse of the monument proper ahead. 

The fog never clears completely (will add a picture of what it looks like when not hidden in fog at the end) but you do have moments, when more is visible. 

It appears some of the expensive Swedish metal cladding was nicked for other purposes over time 🤷🏻‍♂️

The main entrance was closed, unlike what was propagated on Google Maps, getting us to go around the building, to see it from more perspectives. 

I did attempt getting the drone up but the fog was so intense that there was little point, and it made the drone so wet that it wanted to come down quite soon. Oh well - next time…

While the main entrance was closed, there was a service entrance through the basement still open. The upper part of the monument historically held an exhibition of the liberation movement, while the larger, subterranean part was used for events and had a cinema style room, too. Not much is left of that. 

Looking up, this is where one finally wants to go…

While the interior is completely dilapidated, the concrete construction is solid 45 years on, so moving inside - while a tad creepy (at least was for my daughter) - is perfectly safe. 

We jointly decided to not take the elevators this time 😂

The place has become a go to for graffiti art, some of it better, some worse. 

With a local twist, of course (at least Filip will understand) 😉

The rooftop terrace used to be the most popular part during the 10 years of regular operation in the 1980s, due to the fantastic views. 



Sadly the fog didn’t allow us to see much beyond the limits of the building itself 🤷🏻‍♂️

The psychedelic demented chipmunk (my daughter’s words) was the final straw for her, saying it’s time to say our goodbyes in an accelerated fashion and leave 😉

Discovered another staircase on the way down…

And the reason why waiting for the elevators would not have been a fruitful endeavor 😉

I was sure there would be at least one of these…

So, the trip was not quite the fount of fantastic photography (not that I could do it irrespective of the weather) but it was a very interesting experience even so. Goes to show how quickly man made things decay and how the view of history and the importance of certain eras can change practically overnight…

Now you see it…

And then it’s gone, a faint outline of what went on before at best. 

A nice drive on the way back…

And some ‘Bortherhood and Unity’ cuisine to finish off the trip…

Hope you enjoyed the little episode. And here a picture of what we were initially thinking we would see:

Picture from: Holamon.cat

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