Romanian Urban Explorer Captured An Abandoned Crematorium And Found Human Remains

Portal

Photographer Cristian Lipovan (previously) is fascinated by abandoned places, devoting his time to urban exploring – seeking out intriguing and long-forgotten churches, schools and houses and documenting how they look after the people have all moved on.

According to Cristian: “It’s been a long time since the thought of exploring this crematorium made its way into my curious mind. Still, every time I tried to enter, all sorts of difficulties prevented me from doing so. This time, though, I got lucky. I found a way to get inside.

This crematorium is definitely one of the top 10 buildings I have explored. I don’t know how to describe it. Sinister? Lonely? For me, it was at least interesting. I leave it to you to discover what emotions the series of photos convey.”

More: Cristian Lipovan, Instagram, Facebook h/t: boredpanda

“I only took a few steps into this sleeping building to be greeted by the suffocating scent that almost made my heart beat out of my chest but also increased my curiosity. There were urns with ashes everywhere, abandoned, their past wiped out, their memory forgotten. I stepped into the funeral home, where all religious services took place. The bodies used to be lowered through a slit into the basement, where the ovens were silently waiting.”

House of ashes

The family

The library of souls

“I also went down the stairs, as I was inquisitive about what secrets were kept in that room. Inside, the smell was stronger, heavier. The walls were dark and chipped, a sign of decay, of rotten misery. I would say that not so many people would like to see themselves inside such a place. Pushed by curiosity, I found myself in front of a lonely black door. Hidden behind it was a room sheltering coffins, crosses, and urns, which, in their turn, were supposed to shelter the last remaining image of a memory.

Along the way, I discovered several rooms, all of them dominated by darkness. Some stairs led somewhere under the ovens. I hardly gathered the courage to go down. Darkness is all there was. I lit my flashlight, and all around me were spider webs, like curtains drawn after the show. No one has been down there for a long, long time. At first, I saw all sorts of strange objects lying around and even more coffins, but then, as I looked deeper, hidden behind an oven, were remains of human bones. That moment was the hardest to bear.”

Ash factory

The remains of human bones