Courtesy Dimant
During the days of the Soviet Union, the Kremlin constructed hundreds of sanatoriums.
Courtesy Katja, Roman & Esther
Twenty-five years after the collapse of the USSR, many of these sanatoriums are still in use as health resorts, while others have been left to languish and ruin.
Courtesy Issy-Kul Sanatorium/Ayakat Tourism
"Sanatoriums were seen as showpieces that could display Soviet superiority to attitudes in the west, where holidays were a time to engage in pleasurable activities with a focus on material rather than spiritual gain," says writer Maryam Omidi, who launched a Kickstarter campaign to create a book documenting these monuments.
Courtesy of Sanatorium Alatau
Omidi is working with photographers Michal Solarski, Egor Rogalev, Dmitry Lookianov, René Fietzek, Claudine Doury and Olya Ivanova. They hope to travel to sanatoriums across the Soviet realm to create a visual ode to the best health spas still in use today.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by The Spaces, a digital publication exploring new ways to live and work.

Story highlights

During the days of the Soviet Union, the Kremlin constructed hundreds of sanatoriums

A team of photographers is looking to document the best remaining spas

CNN  — 

“During the days of Soviet Union, rest was seen as purposeful,” says writer Maryam Omidi. “The aim was to recover from working hard throughout the year so that you could return refreshed and productive.”

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To revive its tired workforce, the Kremlin constructed hundreds of sanatoriums across the country, where workers could spend their state-funded two week vacation relaxing.

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Twenty-five years after the collapse of the USSR, many of these sanatoriums are still in use as health resorts, while others have been left to languish and ruin. Omidi has launched a Kickstarter campaign to create a book documenting these monuments – and their afterlives.

She tells us more about the project:

In what ways were these buildings a playground for Soviet architects?

The Soviets were proud of their philosophy towards rest and leisure, believing it to be an integral part of socialism. As such, sanatoriums were seen as showpieces that could display Soviet superiority to attitudes in the west, where holidays were a time to engage in pleasurable activities with a focus on material rather than spiritual gain.

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This gave architects the green light to be as bold and ostentatious as they desired, regardless of cost. The range of styles coincides with architectural trends throughout the Soviet era, from Neo-classicism to Constructivism to Brutalism.

You’ve stayed at several sanatoriums yourself: did you partake in any of the more ‘unusual’ health treatments on offer?

The strangest treatment I’ve had is a carbon dioxide bath, which is apparently a ‘cure’ for everything from infertility to depression… It involved getting into a body-sized plastic bag which was then tightened around my neck and pumped up with carbon dioxide. This was at Ai Petri where they also had leech therapy, oxygen therapy and oxygen foam, which came in a tub and was eaten like ice-cream.

Head to The Spaces for more information about the USSR’s sanatoriums.