Photos of Petrova Gora Monument
About Petrova Gora Monument
High on a forested ridge in central Croatia, the Petrova Gora Monument is a huge stacked tower of concrete and steel built to honor the wartime uprising of the people of Banija and Kordun. Vojin Bakić designed it from a series of his own abstract sculptures called Sliced Segments, and it opened in 1981. The whole exterior was originally covered in mirrored stainless steel. Most of that skin is gone now, stripped for scrap over the years now that the monument sits falling into disrepair. What's left is the concrete frame, with panels still fixed in patches across the upper curves. Grey ribs and bright metal, with forest surrounding the base as nature slowly reclaims the site. Make sure to walk the full circle around it before choosing where to set up because the shape changes completely from one side to the next. Head on it reads as a stack of slices, and in profile it turns into something far heavier. Get close for the texture where the cladding has peeled away, then back off to the edge of the clearing and put open sky behind it. There is access to the interior through the stripped panels and an amazing view from the roof but since the building hasn't been maintained in decades it may not be safe to explore too deeply inside. A road runs all the way to the top and if you follow the signs for the spomenik from Vojnić up through Radonja, you can park in front of the old visitor centre. The are other abandoned buildings in this area so give yourself extra time to explore the grounds after you are done shooting the monument. (Crevarska Strana, Karlovac County, Croatia)
