Some of you might have wondered, why there are so few photos taken during winter, even though it’s so long in Finland.
I hate winters.
It’s cold, it’s dark, its usually too dark for photography. Where I lived previously, the sun usually was properly up only between 11 am and 3 pm. Besides I don’t fancy going out. I work daily, and like to spend my free time inside in woolen socks drinking red wine.
In my job there is a mandatory week long winter holiday, which must be given to employees in addition to the summer holiday. Or it is mandatory unless your history is similar to mine.
Between 2012 and 2019 I was working on almost 80 temporary contracts for the same news company. Every time the holiday season began, I was working. And whenever my contract ended, my holidays were paid out.
I got my first paid summer holiday in 2018 and second in 2019. I changed company in 2019 and the date of the start of my contract actually allowed me to take four days off. I spent them on a writing retreat in Lapland.
In the autumn of 2020 I finally secured a permanent contract with my current employer. I again earned some days of winter holiday and decided to go check interesting locations in towns I rarely visit.
And here we have a beauty!
Someone has tried to enter lately. Keep in mind that this is late March. There’s still this much snow in some parts of Finland.
If you’ve followed my blog closely, you probably know already, what this place is.
This, of course, is a municipal home built in 1929. In the 1950’s it became a mental asylum.
It was much needed, but it took more than a decade, before an alliance of municipalities was founded and the new main hospital was built in 1967.
The area of land is for sale. The anticipation is, that they will demolish the newer hospital and preserve the older one.
The balconies aren’t very old. After 1986 the hospital only treated mentally ill seniors, but hospital use ended in 1996. The town bought the area back and started an ordinary hospital, which closed down in 2017. The buildings have been empty since.
So let’s go around to see if I can find a way in.
But first let’s take another look at this beauty.
There had been other visitors, but none would be very successful. Windows were intact, the electric locks were on and the camera surveillance probably worked, too. Even air conditioning was still on, even if the building had been closed for four years. They were actively trying to keep it in shape for a resale.
The rear end of the building included a large, fenced area, so I really had to make a long tour around it. I could have climbed the fence, but I’m pretty stiff these days.
Welcome to the other side.
The small building to the left probably has housed the power station and other important functions.
As you can see, the sun was shining from the clear sky and the shadows were pretty rough.
It looks like somebody has even been skiing on the back yard of the hospital. At least there was a bicycle path around it.
The back side of the hospital was pretty similar to the front side except for one strange feature. All the balconies were either on this side of the building or the ends. There were none on the front side facing South, but there were some on this side facing North. A very unusual feature, as this side stays dark for most of the year.
The alley between the hospital and the maintenance building. Notice the difference of light on this side with the balconies.
The auxiliary building’s facade.
So no entrance this time. Let’s return later.