forgotten towns abkhazia

Photographing Forgotten Towns in Abkhazia

Earlier this year, I wrote about my experience photographing an abandoned airport in Abkhazia. In this blog I would like to take you with me on my journey photographing several abandoned towns (mining settlements) in unfortunately one of the poorest regions in Abkhazia. Visiting forgotten towns in Abkhazia such as Polyana, Akarmara, Jantuha and Tkvarcheli was a surreal experience.

Abkhazia

Abkhazia doesn’t ‘exist’ for everyone. Meaning, it is a de facto state and only partly recognised republic. In 1999, Abkhazia declared independence from Georgia. 5 Countries in the world (members of the United Nations; Russia, Syria, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Nauru) recognise Abkhazia. All other countries (also United Nations members) consider Abkhazia legally to be a part of Georgia. Abkhazia is located between Georgia and Russia and has around 250.000 inhabitants.

During and after the civil war in the 90’s of the 20th century, a lot of people fled their homes. Many of these people, which are Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), are housed in the city of Tskaltubo, Georgia. Check out my article ‘22 Photos show Decaying Buildings of ex-Soviet Spa Resort‘ (which is also published here) to read more about this city and take a glance at the buildings they live in.

forgotten towns abkhazia
Abandoned Train Station in Tkvarcheli, Abkhazia

Forgotten Towns in Abkhazia

forgotten towns abkhazia
Abandoned Buildings in Valley

One of the bigger towns I visited is Tkvarcheli, which is situated near the river Ghalidzga. The train station above is part of a railway that is connecting the town to Ochamchire, a city in Abkhazia near the coast of the Black Sea. Clearly, this train station is not functioning anymore yet still considered as a ‘strategic point’ thus residents keep an eye out for people taking photos of it.

The main industry of the area has always been coal mining. However, the Soviet mines are now all closed and coal is quarried solely by an Abkhazian / Turkish company (using the open pit method).

In the 1980’s, Tkvarcheli used to have a population of 40.000 people. However, at this moment there are only around 5.000 people left. Slowly turning the town into a ghost town. Big apartment blocks with multiple stories are inhabited by only a handful of families.

forgotten towns abkhazia
Cows in Front of Derelict Building
forgotten towns abkhazia
Left Behind

Other towns I visited are considerably smaller and even less to none people live in them. The once busy mining towns with the most amazing Soviet architecture, are now all falling into disrepair. Nature is reclaiming the area with forgotten towns and the buildings that still stand are being dismantled by residents for whatever material they can use. For years there have been talks about restoring the glory to the towns and turn it into a ‘resort’. However, since this would be a very expensive project and Abkhazia is in a complicated situation, it is most likely not going to happen anytime soon.

On the internet, people warn about traveling to this area of Abkhazia. There are multiple reports of robbery and aggressiveness. However, I did not experience such thing at all. I must say that while traveling through these towns I was accompanied by a local which might have helped. Most of the time though, I was walking around alone or with my two friends I traveled with, after we were dropped off. When photographing in these towns multiple kids were playing around and one of them even joined me. There was no way for me to communicate with her because of the language barrier, but hand gestures and smiling does get you a long way.

Below you can find more images that I’ve taken while walking around in the forgotten towns in Abkhazia.

forgotten towns abkhazia
Star-shaped Building
forgotten towns abkhazia
Reflection
forgotten towns abkhazia
Garage
forgotten towns abkhazia
Detail
forgotten towns abkhazia
Building Block
forgotten towns abkhazia
View through Window
forgotten towns abkhazia
Small Room
forgotten towns abkhazia
Apartments
forgotten towns abkhazia
Pig on the Street
forgotten towns abkhazia
Car Remnants
forgotten towns abkhazia
Dining Room
forgotten towns abkhazia
Books
forgotten towns abkhazia
Room with Sofa
forgotten towns abkhazia
Apartments
forgotten towns abkhazia
Basketball Court
forgotten towns abkhazia
Beautiful Ceiling
forgotten towns abkhazia
Exterior
forgotten towns abkhazia
Train Bridge

 

 

4 Comments

Join the discussion and tell us your opinion.

samerreply
October 16, 2019 at 11:14 am

I was there last August, it was amazing to see so many beautiful things, one is a statue of an animal to show the traditional respect of Abkhaz to nature, there was a big issue following an incident where someone kicked a dog while trying to enter a shop. Then the pure spring water in street drinking fountains that requires a water sommelier to explain how everything, from milk to meat, tastes better than anywhere else. Then the sweet seawater, if you swim you would question why it is not that salty. That was my second visit, and next year will see me there too.

Roman Robroekreply
October 22, 2019 at 9:39 pm
– In reply to: samer

Thanks for sharing!

I Photographed Abandoned Buildings in Abkhazia – by Roman Robroekreply
August 11, 2021 at 4:01 pm

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August 14, 2021 at 3:31 pm

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