Kupari: Croatia’s resort town in ruins

JUST a stone’s throw away from one of the most popular holiday destinations in the world lies a hotel graveyard, left abandoned for decades.

JUST a short drive up the road from the ornate old stone buildings and white limestone streets that have earned Dubrovnik, Croatia, a place in our hearts and on our television screens lies a seaside village that bears the scars of the country’s dark past.

While the coastline of the Adriatic Sea still shimmers in the sun, and its beaches are still frequented by locals, the rest of the resort town lies in ruins.

Its crumbling buildings have been left to decay for decades; a dramatic fall from grace from the grand hotels they once were.

Kupari was once an exclusive holiday resort frequented by thousands of Yugoslavia’s military elite and their families in its heyday. Its five extravagant hotels had enough room for some 2000 guests at a time and a nearby campsite could hold over 4000 more.

Abandoned hotel in former Tourist Complex of Kupari village, Croatia

Abandoned hotel in former Tourist Complex of Kupari village, Croatia

The holiday village first opened to tourists in 1919, when a Czech investor built the Grand Hotel on the shoreline. Back then, Croatia was a part of the newly formed Kingdom of Yugoslavia. But in 1960, Josip Broz Tito, the country’s former supreme military commander and president, decided that Kupari was the perfect place to send army officers on holiday. The remaining hotels and resort area were built over the next two decades.

Kupari became so busy and popular that The Dubrovnik Times has called it one of the “pioneers of Dubrovnik’s tourism industry”.

Kupari, Croatia- July 19, 2017 : Devastated coffee shop of an old ruined hotel Goricina in abandoned Yugoslavian military resort in Kupari, Croatia.

Kupari, Croatia- July 19, 2017 : The interior of an old ruined hotel Goricina in abandoned Yugoslavian military resort in Kupari, Croatia.

However, when the Croatian War of Independence broke out in 1991, the Yugoslav People’s Army destroyed the historic city.

Almost all of the valuables from the five hotels were looted and then phosphorous bombs were used to systematically burn the hotels, floor by floor, according to The Dubrovnik Times.

Kupari, Croatia - July 18, 2017 : A man standing in an abandoned old building of hotel Pelegrin with the view of the sea beach in Kupari, Croatia.

Kupari, Croatia- July 19, 2017 : Destroyed fireplace in an old ruined hotel Grand in abandoned Yugoslavian military resort in Kupari, Croatia.

The skeletons of this once opulent seaside resort town are now left as a ghostly reminder of a tragic past. Approximately a quarter of Croatia’s economy was destroyed as a result of the war and around 20,000 people were killed.

However, new life could be breathed into the stunning spot, with The Dubrovnik Times reporting that the former resort town has been purchased by an investment group which has plans to transform the area into a new five-star resort.