- This is where it all started...pictures from this place some two and a half year ago were the first ones I ever saw from abandoned place. This website is the result from the personal impact that the pictures made to me. There perhaps hasn't been or will be anything ever again that will affect me that much. So call this a pilgrim or whatever, no praises for this place will be ever enough, as I'm not now a very objective to talk about this place...

- We actually hadn't in advance planned to visit this place. Actually no plans had been made, I had just mentioned to Titch that some locations would be nice to see, but it's up to you to decide. Then on Sunday morning Titch asked me whether we wanted to see abandoned mine or a hospital, no names mentioned at this point. I said that the hospital might be a more interesting for us and after we arrived to the yard of this place I asked the name of the hospital...Le Valdor. The place that started all of this.

- The pictures that I saw from this place, have been taken some four and a half year ago. A lot has changed in the place since. The decay has gotten much worst, with the upper floors in a life threatening condition. More graffiti, destruction and mould, the building is closing it's final days of existence very fast. Sad thing as the architecture of this place is a really nice one, old I should say, but I assume that Central-Europe generally speaking contains so many old and architecturally valuable and beautiful buildings that one here or there, doesn't mean anything anymore. Also, coming from this Northern country, where nearly everything old has been destroyed some thirty for fifty years ago, you know how to appreciate these kind of buildings and places, as you just don't have any here. And soon, Le Valdor will be also gone, this was most likely one of the last chances for anyone to see the place.

- After we had climbed out from the building, a Belgian man stopped us and asked, that were we inside of the building. Our reply was, that we were photographing the great looking building. The man answered that it's good to photograph now, as most of the building will be gone soon. It turned out, that most of the building will be demolished in the January/February of 2005. Only the facade will be left to stand. I couldn't have chosen a better moment to visit Belgium and to choose "the hospital", over the mine...

UPDATE:

- The demolition of the Le Valdor hospital commenced in December 2005. In mid December, two of the wings were gone already from the hospital.

- The main entrance, which has seen people coming and going. This time the visitors were three Belgians and two Finns, equipped with cameras.

- The backside of the building is in a jungle condition, but still there's the trail that someone asked to follow...