In the early 20th century, when the railroad between the towns of Lieksa and Nurmes was being built, a deposit of molybdenum was found. They started extracting the ore and ferrying it to Germany to make steel, but as there was no way to process the ore, the business was unsuccessful and ended in 1916.Continue reading “Mätäsvaara Mining Village”
Category Archives: Adventures
Children Of Bodom
Oh, wait. So we are at some outdoor athletics place now? Yes, it looks very nice. But why are you here? You photograph abandoned places, don’t you? Okay, something tragic has happened here, but what? That up front is Lake Bodom. And yes, it’s exactly the Lake Bodom, which the Children of Bodom band hasContinue reading “Children Of Bodom”
Ivan’s Island
So I and my summer Volvo have ended up on a narrow and very bad dirt road. And when I say the road was bad, it was bad. The brake pads on one of the back wheels were loose, and the poor thing was making an awful noise in all the dents of the road.Continue reading “Ivan’s Island”
Bad At Predicting The Future
Welcome to another small village, where the local grocery store has closed for good. There it is and it’s clearly abandoned. I did a walkaround, but there was no way in. The store belonged to one of the largest chains in Finland. All the stores in the chain have names of their own. This oneContinue reading “Bad At Predicting The Future”
The Riddle Of The Station
I went on along the Eastern border and reached a municipality called Rautjärvi. The place is rather small, and the biggest thing there is a large cardboard factory. The municipality’s veins are highway number 6 and the Karelian railroad track, which go directly through it. The current Rautjärvi Municipality was formed in 1973, when theContinue reading “The Riddle Of The Station”
Ruins From My Past
I went on from the tavern, found the next ruin and stopped to take a photo of it. I sat for quite some time in my car watching Google maps trying to figure out what had been on that spot. It was a simple log cabin, not much more special than the ones I stayedContinue reading “Ruins From My Past”
The Tavern
When I was working in the Southeast, I developed a good working relationship with an eccentric photographer in our paper. During our visit to a small municipality called Luumäki, we started discussing a small tavern in a small village called Jurvala close to the centre. Back in 2011 the place was an absolute blast fromContinue reading “The Tavern”
My Urbex Dream
In 2011, when I was still taking my first baby steps as an urban explorer, I spent the summer working in Southeastern Finland. That was when I found an old dairy plant mostly abandoned near a large highway. Back then the place was in some use. The yard was clean, there were trailers and stuff,Continue reading “My Urbex Dream”
Out Of Gas And Everything Else Too
Wait a second, this doesn’t seem like a gravel pit despite the sign saying so. Oh no, the gravel pit is further at the back. This thing is something completely different. Despite the welcome signs, I don’t think I’m a welcome visitor. And I don’t think the security company has existed since 2016. It doesn’tContinue reading “Out Of Gas And Everything Else Too”
A Chinese Affair Part XI
Finally, after a two hour long adventure, I reached the last stages of this crazy old mental asylum partly turned into a Chinese day spa. At this stage it turned out, that ward one was indeed some kind of a spa of its own. I had already found a jacuzzi, and the tiled floors hinted,Continue reading “A Chinese Affair Part XI”