Bunkers

Karosta, which literally means Naval Port, is a district located in the northern part of the coastal city of Liepaja, Latvia. During the Soviet era, this part of the city was a closed military town and a base of the Soviet Navy. The access to this territory was forbidden even to the residents of Liepaja. After the final end of the USSR, Latvia again became an independent state. The port and the base were abandoned because the troops moved to Russia. That led some of the houses and apartments to be left abandoned too. A majority of the buildings in Karosta, especially the storehouses and the bunkers, are empty and decaying.

Now this picturesque neighborhood on the shore of the Baltic Sea in western Latvia looks like a real ghost town. Although it is not completely deserted, there are many buildings which have been completely empty for years. The mixture of characteristic apartment blocks from the Soviet era and structures from the Tsarists era is quite unique and gives Karosta a uniquely charming appearance. The Orthodox church and Karosta prison, which operates as a museum, are probably the most impressive structures from the buildings that are still in use.