Ruins – the Casle and the Convent

Posted on 30 de Oct de 2025 Posted in Monuments, Ruin, TravelTagged Analog, B&W, Castle, Film, photo, Ruin, Square format2 Comments

The small caste of Torres Vedras, not far from Lisbon, was well worth the visit. On the top of a hill, with a nice view to the town and surronding área. It was built in the XII century, replacing a primitive muslim fortress. The buildings inside the castle do not exist anymore, and the walls were subjected to several destructions and reconstructions – including the damages caused by the great 1755 eartquake . A great part of the walls are still well preserved

The Penafirme Convent was built in the XVI century, not far from the sea. It was destroyed by the 1755 earthquake and the ensuing tsunami. The surviving monks were displaced inland, to a new convent that still exists. The ruins of the old convent are abandoned, half covered by sand. Some arches and windows still exist, as well as the thick walls.

Ruins – the Radioactive Hotel

Posted on 20 de Mar de 202520 de Mar de 2025 Posted in Monuments, Ruin, TravelTagged Analog, Black and White, Film, Hotel, photo, Portugal, Radioactivity, Ruin, Spa2 Comments

This Hotel & Spa was built at the beginning of the last century. The strongly radioactive local spring waters were believed to have healing powers and. they were used as a drink, in immersion baths and in colon irrigations (there were reports of patients having repeated enemas up to a total of 35 liters of radioactive water ).

After WW II the dangers of radioactivity became widely known , the Hotel lost his clients and ceased the “therapeutic” activities. The owners went bankrupt, the premises were sold , several entrepreneurs bought and sold the building , furniture, plumbing and tiles were stolen, until it reached the present state of ruin and decay

As expected, rumors of the place being haunted, sightings of strange lights at night and reports of noises and voices are now a part of the local beliefs. However, it is usual to find there some visitors and the place looks peacefully quiet.

I went there to make some photos. The radioactivity, if it exists at the surface, was not strong enough to fog my negatives…

A view of the Hotel

Getting closer

One wall still remains

Some remains of the floor

And a door

A fireplace is still there

This Hotel & Spa was built with expensive materials and was aimed at wealthy gests from Portugal and from nearby Spain. It is very sad to see its present state.

Posted on 21 de May de 202421 de May de 2024 Posted in Sem categoriaTagged Analog, Daylight, Film, photo, Ruin, StonesLeave a comment

“Our ruins will never be so beautiful as the ruins left by our ancestors”. I don’t know the author of this statement but there is some truth in it. But we won’t be here long enough to confirm it.

Ruins are fascinating – they open a vast field for the imagination and they show that some things take longer to be destroyed than they took to be built. Below are the ruins of a sanatorium, from a century ago. It was never completed, and now those stones remain in a field of wild weeds.