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Hotel Belvedere, A Five-Star Bombshell

9/29/2011

1 Comment

 
In the late 80s a striking hotel was built, jetting 17 stories above the water and situated only a few kilos outside of Dubrovnik. Hotel Belvedere was a five star oasis, boasting gorgeous views of the Aegean and Dubrovnik for the wealthy who could afford it.

Just two years after opening,, Hotel Belvedair was bombed in the civil war. The structure is still standing,, all of its luxury trapped in time with blown out windows and rooms filled with remnants of an extravagant past.

Being one of the most talked about and mysterious landmarks in Dubrovnik, Ruud and I decided to take a look for ourselves.

Approaching the hotel, we were filled with excitement and anticipation of what we might find. It's not everyday that you get to explore a bombed building left untouched.

Entering the hotel was like taking a step back into that fateful day in 1991. It was as if time merely stopped when the rest of the world kept moving. There were cassette tapes scattered on the floor, trays with wine glasses still standing upright, restaurant menus, the "HB" branded clothes the waiters wore and even a guest list of rooms rented out on  the final day of Belvedair's existence.

It was exhilarating to be peering around this historical timepiece, but also very eerie.  To think that all of the artifacts we saw had been laying in the same place for 20 years was strange. It really made the hotel come alive, seeing the rooms, restaurant, nightclub and pool. It was as if all these fragments of a broken past creating a story for us to experience.


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The view from Belvedere
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Blown out windows
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This nightclub has seen better nights...
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1 Comment

    “Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.”
    –Cesare Pavese

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