Land of the Lost - Issue No. 006: Abandoned Yugoslavian Monuments That Look Like They're From The Future

I haven't blogged about abandoned naval ships, cities or highways, since August of last year, and yet it's one of my most admired segments.  

I definitely need to make "Land of the Lost" a regular series on my blog.  

The structures you see above, to the side and below are abandoned monuments in Yugoslavia that were commissioned by former Yugoslavian President Josip Broz Tito.  Most of these monuments were made during the 1960s and 70s to commemorate WWII battles and concentration camps.  

I found the images rather captivating.  For one, most of the sculptures look futuristic in nature, you wouldn't think they were made 40-50 years ago. On the other hand, their physical condition makes them even more stunning and beautiful.


After reading through several online sources, these monuments attracted millions of visitors per year, and after the Republic dissolved in the 1990s, "they were completely abandoned, and their symbolic meanings were forever lost." [source]

"During the 60s’ and 70s’ former president of Yugoslavia, Tito wanted to show the world the strength and con­fi­dence of the Social­ist Repub­lic by having sculptors and architects building those (very futuristic) monuments com­mem­o­rat­ing the Sec­ond World War. This series entitled Spomenik was photographed by Jan Kempenaers. Today these sculp­tures now in ruins are located in Croa­tia, Ser­bia, Slove­nia and Bosnia."  [source]

8 more stunning images after the jump...