The Cold War was a difficult test for the USSR. But at the same time, the growing tension in international relations with America allowed the Soviet Union to make a giant industrial leap: technologies were developing at full speed, which, in turn, required material support. Monumental buildings of that time to this day tower as dead giants throughout the territory of the former Soviet Union. Secret underground bases, hundred-meter antennas, even your own hadron collider - these monuments of a bygone era can really hit anyone.
Oil stones
Perhaps one of the most amazing monuments of a bygone era. The village on stilts "Oil Rocks" was built in the east of Azerbaijan in 1949. This is a completely autonomous settlement, with all the infrastructure people need. Now, of course, there is no oil production here, but about 2 thousand people continue to call the "Oil Rocks" their home.
Station for the study of the ionosphere
Engineers of the Soviet Union developed the station according to the drawings of the American HAARP project located in Alaska. But our complex was distinguished by a truly Russian scale - the diameter of one parabolic antenna was as much as 25 meters. However, the station suffered a sad fate. In the mid-1980s, with the beginning of perestroika, glasnost, and general democratization, the study of the ionosphere faded into the background. After the collapse of the USSR, the station geographically belonged to the new state, Ukraine. Until we figured out what was what, most of the equipment was taken away by local residents simply for precious metals.
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Complex Proton
You hardly know that the Soviet Union tried to build its own Hadron Collider even before it became fashionable. In 1983, the construction of the Proton Research Institute in Protvino was already nearing completion: even the main ring of the Soviet collider was laid at a depth of 60 meters, the length of which exceeds 21 kilometers. Unfortunately, the dawn of perestroika caught the country of the Soviets by surprise and in the confusion that followed, the government was not up to some kind of physics.
Submarine base
In Soviet times, this place was designated on secret maps only as "object 825 GTS". It was here, not far from Balaklava, that the submarine base was located. The facility was built back in 1961 as part of a program to strengthen the country's anti-nuclear defense. You can get inside only through an adit or from the northern part of Mount Tavros, and both doors were carefully camouflaged and were waterproof. The territory of the base occupied as much as 5,100 square meters: its own hospital, its own bakery and even its own sports center. In the event of an attack on the country by a potential enemy, the entire population of Balaklava would easily be accommodated at the base, and the supplies would be enough for three whole years.
Chernobyl-2 station
In 1985 a monumental over-the-horizon radar station "Duga" was built. This structure was required to detect possible launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles. The antennas rise 150 meters high, and the entire area of the complex is as much as 160 kilometers. After the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the station had to be abandoned and today the object called "Chernobyl-2" remains only a bait for brave tourists.