"Country of the Soul" (former MVO sanatorium) in Sukhumi. Part 2
While vacationing in Abkhazia, it's impossible not to notice abandoned buildings. There are many of them, and they're everywhere! These include large, once-well-built private homes abandoned by their former owners (mostly Georgians) who fled the 1992-1993 war, as well as government buildings damaged by shelling in those same distant years. Partially or completely looted, unheated structures with broken windows and doors are rapidly deteriorating. And it's truly heartbreaking to witness...
This former military sanatorium of the Moscow Military District (MVO) opened in Sukhumi in the early 1950s, during Stalin's reign. The MVO sanatorium was considered one of the best in the city. The peak of construction and expansion of the sanatorium occurred in the 1970s and 1980s, when several important modernist buildings were built on its grounds, including the Yubileiny Palace of Culture.
The Yubileiny Cultural Center opened in 1978, with an auditorium that could accommodate 650 people. An exhibition of Abkhazian artists' works was displayed on the ground floor of the Palace, while a photo exhibition dedicated to the nature and architecture of Abkhazia was located in the second-floor hall.
Later, another health resort—a RVSN (Strategic Missile Forces) sanatorium—was established next door to this sanatorium.
After years of devastation and neglect, funds were allocated, and the resort's intensive revival began. Today, it is the beautiful "Country of the Soul" complex, combining both sanatoriums and located near the city center. It is now accessible to anyone who can afford the cost of its rooms.
The sanatorium's luxurious location is its trump card—you literally step out of the main building and find yourself on a beautiful beach! A huge, magnificently decorated dining room with delicious cuisine, pristine mountain air (the mountains are right next door!), well-maintained paths and alleys with palm trees, fountains, and Soviet-era sculptures, unfortunately, are adjacent to buildings that have not yet been renovated. But what has already been restored after devastation and neglect is impressive!