Abandoned World

After a catastrophic forest fire, a Greek artist changed scorched tree trunks outside an old asylum right into this haunting sculpture garden.

JUST NORTH OF ATHENS, High Up On Mount Parnitha, a variety of haunting wooden sculptures stand outside the premises of a deserted insane asylum. The outside event unites the heartbreaking background of the mountaintop site.

The devastating impacts of tuberculosis and a disastrous forest fire.

In the early 20th century, consumption annihilated the population of Greece. The Parnitha Insane asylum was built in the 1930s to change a smaller facility that initially depended on the mountain. The sunshine and crisp hill air were thought to assist in recovery. By the 1940s as well as 50s, renovations in medication lowered the need for these type of facilities, and the asylum on Mount Parnitha closed down. Temporarily the building was repurposed, initially as a resort and afterwards as an educational facility, however it had befalled of use by the mid-80s and was abandoned.

In 2007, a collection of woodland fires burst out throughout Greece. One of those fires led to some 38,000 acres of burnt area on Mount Parnitha, consisting of the area around the Parnitha Insane asylum. Motivated by the background of the Parnitha Insane asylum, and the fire-scorched landscape Greek sculptor Spyridon Dassiotis chose the area opposite the enforcing facility to create the Park of Souls.

He offered “life” to dead tree trunks, carving 20 sculptures of individuals into the charred tree trunks that continued to be after the 2007 fire. aiming to express the feelings of the people in the sanatorium during the period of their arrest.