Villa Rebar & The Catacombs
In the 1920s a hunting house was built in the foothills of mountain Medvednica.
10 years later, Zagreb city Coucil converted the house into an urban villa called "Vila Rebar".
The project was designed by Ivan Zemljak and it was also rebuilt during WWII. Around the villa, Ante Pavelić built a few bunkers and an underground shelter that connects everything though catacombs.
After WWII. the Villa served as a shelter for homeless children and a guesthouse for mountaineers and hunters.
photo: slenderman drawing inside the catacombs
photo: Vila Rebar during WWII
The first time I ever saw the villa with my own eyes was around 10 years ago. Ever since then I wanted to make a documentary or an article about the history of the villa and the catacombs.
Two days ago I was driving near by while helping my girlfriend make some photos for her colledge exam and we decided to visit the villa again.
photo: Villa Rebar today
photo: villa's gateway
The moment I stepped my foot inside the gate, I started noticing garbage, bottles, and moist. The marble stone which was once the floor is now barely visible. There is also an indication of fire in the past.
photo: inside Villa Rebar
photo: fire left it's mark
photo: inside Villa Rebar #2
photo: doorway to catacombs
There isn't much space inside and when I reached the entrance that's when it began to be interesting. Since I was there before, I knew the catacombs go aproximatly to a 100 meters through several tunnels, but this time I noticed something different...
There is a part of the Catacombs that was closed down with tons of concrete and stone and I've found two drilling holes, one was big enough to fit a cat but the problem is that there is so much debry inside that it would take probably months to fit a person.
Someone was trying to drill through the concrete to see what they sealed there and I don't blame them.
Inside the tunnels, the celing is low, there are bats flying inside and the halls are filled with sounds of sleeping mosquitos that started following my camera's light which was not a very nice thing considering their sheer numbers.
What is next for Vila Rebar? Will it lie in it's post apocaliptic looking grave for eternity, or will some rich corrupted politican buy it and turn it into an exclusive hotel?
Human curiosty is one of my many weaknesses and I am naturally drawn to and motivated to visit more places like this.
Best Regards,
Vermillion666