What if your neighbor was a cement plant? A sad story about abandoned residential buildings

When a cement plant is built next to your home, you have two choices - leave immediately or try to live with the dirty air and leave once you realize you are ruining your own health and the health of your loved ones.

This is a sad story of the families who lived happily here when the government of the then socialist Bulgaria decided to build a huge cement plant. It is possible that the people who lived here were workers at the factory who were given housing near their workplace, but whatever the background the outcome is clear.

In fact, the site is more than perfect for a cement plant, as it is located on the banks of the Maritza River, from which the plant draws water, and a railway line has been built next to it, which supplies raw materials and transports manufactured goods.

The buildings in today's story are located in an outlying district of Dimitrovgrad, in southeastern Bulgaria, known in the past for the industrial production of chemical fertilizers and cement.

I've driven by these buildings many times but never had a reason to stop. The road connects the town with the nearby villages. The atmosphere here is gloomy even in sunny weather like today. I've been wanting to come and see the buildings from the inside for a while now, and after discovering the Urban Exploration community, I gathered my courage, kitted up, grabbed my camera, and here I am.

I had to act fast and be careful because these buildings are privately owned, despite the apparent disinterest of their owners. I parked the car half a mile away so as not to arouse any suspicion, as cars usually never stop here. Police actually rarely visit the area due to the lack of occupants, but I was still on the lookout for car noise.

From the outside, the buildings look like they were bombed. It is obvious that no human has set foot here for a long time.

The windows are missing, the roof is totally destroyed, the paths to the building are covered with grass and bushes.

The electricity cables disappeared long ago.

The plaster on the exterior walls crumbles under the pressure of time and bad weather.

When entering an abandoned building you have to be very careful and cautious as it is full of all sorts of sharp and rusty objects. For this reason, it's a good idea to be equipped with high hard-soled shoes and gloves are a must. If you enter unventilated areas a face mask is a must due to the dust and high humidity.

There are no doors, the corridors are barely passable and full of construction materials and rubbish.

The missing roof leads to the building's faster destruction. It is likely that the roof construction has been stolen or has collapsed due to a lack of maintenance.

Remnants of wallpapers and paint can still be seen on the walls, but they look as if burnt after a fire.

It is interesting that some rooms are missing the ceiling and you can see up to the walls and windows upstairs. For some reason, someone once broke the slabs between the floors. I have no idea why. Probably whoever did this wanted to take the rebar off the concrete and sell it as scrap. I just don't see any other reason to carry out such complicated, hard and pointless labor.

It is noticeable that homeless people have entered and lived here as mattresses, clothes, and shoes are seen on the ground. Every time I entered another room I feared I might see a corpse of a person or animal, and after each lack of such finds, I was reassured.

Aside from the construction waste, some of the more interesting items such as shoes, clothes, an old broken radio, and an electronic game are also visible on the ground. From its design, I believe it was left here more than 10 years ago.

And the wind passing by the missing windows made the lighter objects on the ground move, which increased my adrenaline and made my heart beat fast. I actually started to like this feeling :)

The presence of personal belongings is a reminder that here lived people with their joys and sufferings, dreams and hopes, who hardly ever thought they would go this way and leave their home to its own devices and ruin.

After about an hour in the buildings, I decided to end my adventure for today and go back once more to explore the basements, which probably hide more interesting secrets.

I hope you enjoyed today's adventure in these abandoned buildings. The exact location is pinned in Pinmapple and you can find it in the @pinmapple's comment at the end of the post.

Stay safe and never stop exploring the world around you.

Yours,
George

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