After driving through some staggeringly beautiful scenery in Montenegro from the border town in Bosnia of Hum. We arrived for lunch in Niksić. It wasn't somewhere I'd planned to do any exploring of the quasi legal kind. However after looking around for somewhere to eat that didn't require a torch to see through the cigarette smoke, I spotted a rather large Derp (Derelict Place). Having left the pregnant missus at an outdoor cafe, I nipped off for an hours explore.

The Niksić Complex was an idealistic dream for a cultural centre in the second largest city in Montenegro. However as is commonly the case with these things, the town ran out of cash after Jugoslavia disolved with Marshal Tito's death in the 1980s.

The centre's offical name is Dom Revoluclje (Home of Revolution). It was envisaged as an arts and cultural centre, an expressionistic, béton brut spaceship of a structure designed by Slovenian Marko Mušič in the 1970s. The revolutionary name was to commemorate the patriotic past of Jugoslavians against the Nazis, as well as to have space to mark the struggles of the past. The centre would also house a 1,200 seat theatre, a summer amphitheatre, cinema, conference halls, radio and television centres, library, education facilities, art studios, galleries, youth centre, national cuisine restaurant, lounges, retail and more. Construction began in 1976 with €25million investment in today's money. In 1989 as Jugoslavia collapsed into bitter civil wars, the money ran out. The centre along with other projects in former Jugoslavia were left to the elements. Dom Revoluclje is now home to drunks, druggies, the homeless and other assorted wildlife. - Information taken from this site, which includes more plans and images of the centre for those interested.

The access was rather straight forward, as the eagle eyed might spot in this picture.

On first entering the building, there was an air of foreboding. Carrying a large camera around didn't seem too bright. I opted against using my tripod so I could leg it if necessary.

The taggers had had a field day here. Light vents allow light in to kill some of the gloom.

Moving along, the main hall (the seated auditorium seen further down the page, is behind me) with a murky pit of green. Possibly full of shopping trollies, dead junkies or dead explorers!

A suspended raised section next to the auditorium room.

The various side exits lead mostly to dead ends. It took awhile of searching to find relevant stairwells. This one lead out to half way up the building. The blue safety glass was everywhere, as vandals had smashed the blue glass that used to envelop the building.

The mid roof, looking back at the main centre. The main auditorium sits under the sloped main roof. My goal now was to find the stairwell that lead to the very top, my hour of exploring time ticking down.

At the back of the auditorium, steel and it's shadows everywhere.

When I finally found the stairs to the highest point, the views were awesome.

A mould lawn had grown on the top floor. As I got up here, I passed a group of younger people slowly walking around the centre.

On the way back down. The once stage, and now green pool in the centre filling the orchestra pit, the auditorium seats below. The private boxes off to the right.

The furthest from where I entered and lowest section of the centre, numerous outlets would have been here. It reminded me a lot of the Barbican Centre, in London.

Time up, it was a good idea to find an exit. As a group of potential ne'er-do-wells strolled into the stage area, I looked around the lowest area of the place for a way out. This involved hopping over a hoarding. On the other side, no one cared.