Urbex-scape Ep. 1: Elisabetheu
My serious urbex adventures started when O. took me along to see a bunch of things he’d already seen. It wasn’t my first time exploring abandoned places, but it surely was about to be a heck of a ride.
That day, we decided to visit Elisabetheu Asylum and its synagogue, a monument for the Jewish community. This building was the first hospital and nursing home built by Queen Elisabeth of Romania, in a historical neighborhood, with a lovely architecture. The old Jewish Asylum for Elderly People Elisabetheu was unveiled in 1906 by the Queen herself. Nowadays, this massive construction, dominating the Romulus and Ion Filibiliu streets, has been forgotten and left to decay.
The place is also formerly known as the Hospital for Labor Capacity Expertise (Spital de Expertiza a Capacitatii de Munca) during the communist era.
As we entered the abandoned building, we now discovered the shell of a former dignified edifice, with a stench that welcomed us from the entrance. Filth and garbage, used syringes, old clothes and shoes, you name it. The place looked like a cheap bazaar raided by a Russian army in rage.
After seeing a tiny part of the asylum, we found a way towards the interior garden, where the timid shape of the former synagogue was emerging from behind trees and vegetation. Apparently, there was a fire back in January this year not many talked about and the synagogue lost even more of its old timer beauty. We visited the place a while ago, in September, so that means we caught it post-fire.
The asylum is absolutely huge. I lost track of time exploring all its corridors, in and out. I wanted to give facts and figures about this place, but little information is available on the Internet so I will expand my research on this topic to find out more. However, I caught a glimpse of an old cadastral plan from 1984, where the building is marked in green. Believe me, this place is impressive!
Below, random things I felt like photographing, as they seemed like notes from the past, left behind like some kind of standing proof that people once used this place.
Until I have some more information and in-depth stories into Elisabetheu, I’ll leave you here, wondering and dreaming, with other pictures from this amazing adventure.
See you soon, with another amazing place from our first urbex adventure in the current formula!
