Original subtitles

[narrator] A Florida ruin built on a dream to reach the stars.

The challenge was astronomical.

We were planning to visit another body in our solar system.

[narrator] An Indonesian community shattered by an unseen force.

Entire houses, livestock and vehicles were swallowed by debris.

[narrator] And a Bulgarian structure

that concealed an ulterior motive.

This place was hiding ambitious plans from the rest of the world.

[narrator] Decaying relics...

...ruins of lost worlds...

...sites haunted by the past...

...their secrets waiting to be revealed.

...their secrets waiting to be revealed.

Deep in the Florida Everglades is an industrial ruin

that competed in the greatest race humankind has ever witnessed.

[Nehemiah Mabry] These are normally built in the middle of nowhere

to keep them a secret,

but here, the land is so flat, it is hardly under the radar.

but here, the land is so flat, it is hardly under the radar.

[Jim Meigs] As you get closer, you can see these buildings

have been abandoned for a long time.

The roofs are mostly missing. There's debris everywhere.

[narrator] Where once, high-tech equipment filled the cavernous spaces,

today, only destruction remains.

[Jaega Wise] Inside, some of the buildings

are little more than empty warehouses

are little more than empty warehouses

with walls made of corrugated metal.

And in one section, you see an enormous circle,

sealed in concrete in the floor.

It seems to be hiding something important.

[Mabry] Beside the buildings is a long canal.

It's not clear what this is used for,

but presumably, it's connected to the buildings in some way.

[narrator] What links this overgrown waterway to the industrial remnants?

And what role did they together play

in one of America's greatest triumphs?

[Carolina Florez] I first found this place just digging

into different types of historical places in Miami.

And I decided to do a little bit of research on it.

[narrator] Carolina Florez first visited this location in 2020,

after learning about the secrets contained within.

[Florez] It's definitely got an aura of mystery to it,

especially because it's not really a place where you're supposed to go.

The rangers of the Everglades do not ever venture in this area,

so if you get lost, if something happens to you, you're on your own.

so if you get lost, if something happens to you, you're on your own.

[narrator] For Carolina, the risk is worth the reward.

[Florez] This site is incredibly important to world history,

and most people don't even know that it's here.

[narrator] Its story begins in the early 60s,

a time when America was striving to reach the final frontier.

We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things,

We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things,

not because they are easy, but because they are hard.

[Meigs] The challenge was astronomical, literally astronomical.

We were planning to have human beings leave our planet

and visit another body in our solar system.

But at this time in 1962, the US space program was in its infancy.

We only launched four people into space at this point

for relatively short-duration flights in the Mercury capsule

for relatively short-duration flights in the Mercury capsule

that only held a single astronaut.

If they were gonna send three astronauts,

a lunar lander and a return module to the Moon,

they were gonna need a bigger rocket than ever.

[narrator] Kennedy identified one of the ways

the monumental feat could be achieved,

the simultaneous development of liquid and solid fuel motors

to see which was the best for the job in hand.

to see which was the best for the job in hand.

[Meigs] He didn't have any idea whether this was really possible.

The people at NASA didn't know if it was possible.

It involved technologies that hadn't been built yet.

[narrator] California-based weapons maker, Aerojet,

took up the challenge, and in 1963, were awarded

a $3 million contract to develop solid fuel rocket motors.

[Meigs] So they started looking for a location to build their rocket engine

[Meigs] So they started looking for a location to build their rocket engine

that was close to Cape Canaveral.

At the same time, the town of Homestead

was looking to bring some developments to its area.

So Aerojet and Homestead came to agreement

that Aerojet would build a massive industrial facility

out in the swamps of the Everglades,

far enough away from the city so that no one would be hurt if something blew up.

[narrator] Within a year, the Aerojet-Dade Rocket Development Facility

[narrator] Within a year, the Aerojet-Dade Rocket Development Facility

was a hotbed of activity.

The company's greatest minds focused on creating

the biggest solid-fuel motor the world had ever seen.

[Florez] The solid rocket fuel in comparison to the liquid rocket fuel

was a lot more powerful and had a lot more thrust.

It was very volatile.

The chemicals are incredibly hazardous and dangerous to work with.

The chemicals are incredibly hazardous and dangerous to work with.

[Mabry] Solid rockets are like big fireworks.

You make this cake of explosive chemicals,

and then you light an end of it, and boom,

you get tons of thrust out of it.

This looks to be one of the labs for the Aerojet facility.

This could have been a white board that they used.

But they've got the very typical

fluorescent lights that they need for a laboratory.

So this area was obviously very important.

[Meigs] But Aerojet had a problem.

The rocket booster they were planning to build was gonna be 150 feet long,

packed full of rocket fuel and extremely heavy.

There was no way you could put that on a rail car or a truck.

[narrator] Aerojet needed to find another way

to get their giant rocket motor

to the Cape Canaveral shuttle launch site.

So the plan was to transport it by barge,

so they dug a canal over 15 miles long to the coast.

[Florez] When it was built, there was a lot of controversy.

When a canal is dug in the Everglades,

it completely cuts off the water flow,

since the Everglades is essentially a slow-moving river.

And so it's really bad for the environment,

but despite that, they decided to go ahead and build the canal.

[narrator] Now, the race was on for Aerojet to prove

their design should be chosen to take man to the Moon.

their design should be chosen to take man to the Moon.

[Wise] The question is did the biggest solid rocket fueled engine ever built

have any chance of actually working?

[narrator] In the Florida Everglades

are the remains of a rocket testing facility,

once at the heart of the race to put man on the Moon.

Aerojet's design was a 60-foot solid-fuel motor called the AJ-260.

But experimenting with a six-story rocket

of unprecedented power was no easy task.

of unprecedented power was no easy task.

[Meigs] One of their key needs

is to have a way to test this giant rocket.

But this rocket's gonna be so powerful,

you can't just put it in a stand and light it.

It would probably break through

any kind of restraint system you design.

[Wise] So the way they tested the engine

was by putting it in a hole in the ground.

[narrator] Measuring 150 feet from top to bottom,

[narrator] Measuring 150 feet from top to bottom,

it was one of the deepest silos ever excavated in the state of Florida.

They tested the rocket in this location three times,

and the way that they did it was that they turned it upside down,

so that the nozzle was pointing up.

[Meigs] And then they could ignite it and test it

without worrying that it was gonna fly off somewhere.

Each time it must have been an amazing sight to see.

Each time it must have been an amazing sight to see.

The tower of flames shooting up out of the middle of the Everglades

was something you could see from miles and miles away.

[narrator] The early tests were a resounding success,

and the team at Aerojet were confident

their launch vehicle was fit for purpose.

[Meigs] Aerojet was making great strides,

building and testing the monolithic solid-fuel rocket NASA wanted,

and the rocket seemed to perform as predicted.

and the rocket seemed to perform as predicted.

But then in 1967, NASA changed course.

[Mabry] NASA decides to ditch solid rocket engines

and there are a million and one technical reasons why that was,

but essentially, a solid rocket just wasn't the right choice.

The final rocket, which became known as the Saturn V,

used exclusively liquid fuel.

[narrator] Only six years after work at the facility began,

Aerojet's funding was withdrawn,

and the pioneering project mothballed.

So although it was a lot more powerful to use solid fuel,

liquid fuel just became more controllable,

and they shut this entire place down.

It was useless.

[Wise] A lot of the things were removed from the factory when it closed,

but there is one thing that remains, the AJ-260 itself.

but there is one thing that remains, the AJ-260 itself.

It's buried under a concrete slab, never to be seen again.

[Meigs] One of the ironies of this story

is that when NASA was looking for a way to replace the giant Saturn V

with a more affordable, reusable system,

they returned to the idea of using solid-fuel rockets.

they returned to the idea of using solid-fuel rockets.

[narrator] And the groundbreaking work

carried out here wasn't wasted.

Technology developed during those years was used

in the solid-fuel boosters of NASA's iconic space shuttle.

[Mabry] The feats, the achievements that took place

in the American space program at that time

is really a testament to human ingenuity and imagination.

I mean, to boldly go where no man had gone before was their literal mission.

[narrator] On the Indonesian island of Sulawesi,

a gentle sea laps the coastline of Palu City.

There's this beautiful mosque that kind of sits right on the waterline.

[narrator] But inside, this beautiful mirage soon turns ugly.

[narrator] But inside, this beautiful mirage soon turns ugly.

The walls are mainly beige and tarnished by seawater.

[narrator] All along the coast are signs of destruction.

You can see either side of the river

that there used to be a massive bridge here.

[narrator] And two miles inland

is a scene of utter devastation.

To this day, scientists are still trying to uncover what happened here.

[narrator] The obliteration of these sites

appears to be linked, but how?

[narrator] In September 2018,

The people of Palu City, Indonesia were preparing for an annual music festival.

Like many, writer and researcher, Neni Muhidin

understands the importance of his home town's most distinctive mosque.

understands the importance of his home town's most distinctive mosque.

We're now at the Floating Mosque

Many families used to like coming here in the evening for Maghrib prayers.

[Meigs] The idea of a mosque that seems to be levitating above the water

was very poignant and beautiful for a lot of people.

[narrator] September 28th, 2018...

...worshippers gather in the mosque,

...worshippers gather in the mosque,

and the surrounding beaches are full of people.

At the Floating Mosque, the muezzin was about to call for prayer.

[Neni Muhidin] It was sunset and the busiest time of the day.

There were activities all along this road too,

especially, of course, near this mosque.

[narrator] Without warning, disaster struck.

Suddenly, around 6:00 PM, about 48 miles north of Palu City,

Suddenly, around 6:00 PM, about 48 miles north of Palu City,

There was an earthquake of 7.5 magnitude.

Indonesia lies in one of the most

geologically active regions on Earth,

the Ring of Fire.

And Palu City sits between two major faults.

More than 40 miles over there, that was the epicenter of the earth quake

and the shockwaves radiated out from there and hit Palu City.

and the shockwaves radiated out from there and hit Palu City.

[narrator] Many watched as the powerful quake

destroyed his city's infrastructure.

[Muhidin] This is the Palu impact bridge,

and it's directly opposite Palu bay.

When the earthquake hit,

the curved part in the middle of the bridge broke apart and crashed down.

That's what I saw from here.

That's what I saw from here.

[narrator] The earthquake caused damage across Palu city.

But the devastation of the Floating Mosque

was caused by something way more deadly.

About eight minutes later, a tsunami came roaring up the inlet.

[people screaming]

[narrator] It's thought the earthquakes had caused a landslide under the sea...

[people screaming]

[narrator] ...sending a tsunami thundering towards land.

This bay extends almost 20 miles to the north,

and all of its points were affected by the tsunami.

When it hit the coast, the tsunami was travelling at 250 miles an hour.

[Meigs] There were actually people praying in the mosque when it hit.

The mosque was lifted from its pillar supports and crashed in upon itself.

The people who were in it were washed, some of them, out to sea.

But it wasn't just one tsunami wave, it was a series of them,

and you can only imagine how terrifying it must've been.

The worst of it happened over there,

when a tsunami hit in the east.

[narrator] The beaches were full of people...

...and hundreds lost their lives to the killer waves.

When Neni headed inland, he discovered the horror was far from over.

The neighborhood of Balaroa, way beyond the reach of the tsunami

The neighborhood of Balaroa, way beyond the reach of the tsunami

was suffering an even worse fate.

I arrived here around 9:00, and the situation was chaotic.

The power was out. Everyone was trying to save themselves,

their families, and the people closest to them.

I'll never forget it. People were screaming for help

to pull their families out of houses that had been buried.

to pull their families out of houses that had been buried.

[narrator] Throughout the night, a series of relentless mud flows

had engulfed Balaroa.

In the harsh light of day, the destruction was clear for all to see.

[Muhidin] Lots of personal possessions of residents can still be found.

Most tragically, there are lots of children's belongings, like this.

Most tragically, there are lots of children's belongings, like this.

[narrator] So what set these lethal rivers of mud powering through Balaroa?

[narrator] In 2018, the Indonesian suburb of Balaroa

was obliterated by fatal mud flows.

Just minutes earlier, nearby Palu City

had been struck by a series of earthquakes and tsunami.

Balaroa lay far from the deadly floodwaters,

Balaroa lay far from the deadly floodwaters,

so many struggled to understand why it had been engulfed.

Balaroa was built in the 1980s on top of a swamp.

But was it really safe to build a residential area on this swamp?

There were many people who had their doubts.

[narrator] The concerns proved chillingly accurate

when the 2018 earthquake struck.

When the waves of an earthquake hit that kind of ground,

it forces water up into the soil.

[Wise] This makes the particles in the soil loose contact with each other.

So soil, which is a solid, loses those characteristics

and gains those of a liquid. Essentially, it flows.

[narrator] This process, known as liquefaction,

created the mudflows that submerged Balaroa.

created the mudflows that submerged Balaroa.

More than 1,700 homes and at least 600 lives were lost that night.

Entire houses, livestock and vehicles

were swallowed by debris and churned up with soil and sediment.

What we see today, what has been left behind

shows all the characteristics of the liquefaction process.

[narrator] The surviving residents of Balaroa

[narrator] The surviving residents of Balaroa

tried to make sense of what had happened.

[Muhidin] Many families could hear the cries

of their loved ones trapped in their houses,

but they couldn't be found because of the mud

and eventually their voices disappeared.

This is like a mass grave for the residents of this place

because many who lost their lives were never found.

[narrator] Today, much of the devastation

in Palu City has not been repaired.

[Wise] You can still see the scars of this disaster throughout the city.

The residents have asked for it to be kept this way.

[Muhidin] It's like a living laboratory...

...where people can see just how devastating liquefaction can be.

...where people can see just how devastating liquefaction can be.

[narrator] On Spain's Balearic Isles,

are the remains of an Ibizan legend.

Breaking through the tree line you see a very odd structure dug into the hillside.

There's this big amphitheater and other outdoor spaces

There's this big amphitheater and other outdoor spaces

that look like they're set up for certain kinds of performances.

[narrator] This site has clearly been abandoned for some time.

[Wise] Pooling water on the floors,

wires hanging from the ceiling,

chunks of concrete littering the rooms.

This place looks broken.

[Rob Bell] And as you peer out of what used to be a doorway,

there's this pile of burnt-out cars.

[narrator] But on the artwork-dobbed walls

lie clues to the significance of this location.

A lot of people have come here specifically to make some kind of creative expression.

A lot of people have come here specifically to make some kind of creative expression.

Some of it very almost trippy and mystical.

The graffiti on the steps say, "Don't stop the music."

[Bell] These defaced ruins are part of the story

of how Ibiza became the party capital of the world.

[narrator] In the 1960s, this area, like much of the island,

was rural and quiet.

Vicente Mari Tur grew up less than a mile away.

It was incredible that in such a remote area

in the middle of the mountains,

there could be a place like this.

In 1969, when construction began,

the owners had to bring everything in,

from the power, to the water supply.

from the power, to the water supply.

They even had to build the road to get there.

[narrator] This is Festival Club.

This place is one of the first on the island to put together

the concept of a large, multi-purpose night club.

[narrator] Its doors opened in 1972.

Vicente remembers the first time he came here.

I was 20 years old, and at that time,

I thought it was a spectacular place.

There were several bars,

and I remember that they advertised one of the drinks

as Champagne a Go-Go.

[narrator] Drinks were not the only attraction.

Live music was central to the experience.

We are on the stage where the orchestra played.

We are on the stage where the orchestra played.

There were actually two orchestras.

When one played, the other rested.

The dancefloor was surrounded by tables and armchairs

with all the clientele watching the show.

[Bell] The main stage would have acts

ranging from magicians, orchestras playing Spanish music,

and covers of famous songs from the time.

Apparently, "Delilah" by Tom Jones was big hit here.

And of course, there was the nighttime attraction of the grand discotheque.

And of course, there was the nighttime attraction of the grand discotheque.

[narrator] Guests were also drawn to a very Spanish form of entertainment.

[Wise] This strange circular structure, it wasn't a stage.

It was actually a ring where they used to put on bull fights.

[Meigs] They didn't actually stage true bull fights,

but they did demonstrations of what bull fighting was like

with young, not particularly dangerous bulls.

Today, we're so used to hotel resorts and entertainment complexes,

Today, we're so used to hotel resorts and entertainment complexes,

but back then, this would have seemed quite massive

[narrator] But the good times wouldn't last.

[Bell] Events thousands of miles away

would spell the end of the party at the festival club.

[narrator] On the Spanish island of Ibiza

lie the remains of a nightclub

and entertainment venue built in the early 1970s.

[Wise] The guests could order food or drink

to their tables stacked along the hillside,

or they could take to the dancefloor

and have a little dance in front of the stage.

[narrator] Its owners based their business

on a supposedly guaranteed source of revenue,

on a supposedly guaranteed source of revenue,

thanks to a revolution in international travel.

[Bell] The package holiday was bursting onto the scene

with all your flights, accommodation

and entertainment all rolled into one price.

[Meigs] Travelers would just pay an agency

that would put them on a plane then put them on a bus,

and large busloads of people were expected

to be rolling up to the gates of the Festival Club

to be rolling up to the gates of the Festival Club

as parts of these package tours.

[narrator] But an evening here was a far cry from partying

in one of Ibiza's modern clubs.

They were dressed up for the occasion,

that is the ladies wore long dresses,

and the gentleman came in suits and ties.

If they didn't come dressed smartly

they probably wouldn't have been allowed in.

they probably wouldn't have been allowed in.

[narrator] And the guests were expected to behave themselves accordingly.

[Meigs] This is the waning days

of the Generalissimo Franco dictatorship.

It was a very conservative country,

both politically and religiously,

a very catholic country.

So much so, a bishop even opened the club.

I had seen a couple who were kissing passionately.

I had seen a couple who were kissing passionately.

So the waiter and the manager of the room approached the table.

They politely told them to restrain their intimacies

for other moments when they were out of the party room.

[narrator] Despite occasionally offending local sensibilities,

the club continued to attract visitors from around the world.

the club continued to attract visitors from around the world.

But only one year after it opened, tragedy struck.

[Meigs] In 1973, OPEC,

the group of oil-producing states, decided to protest

the way various countries around the world were dealing with Israel

by embargoing their oil.

[Bell] All those tour operators

who made huge profits bringing tourists to the islands

found themselves facing higher costs,

and they passed those costs onto their customers.

and they passed those costs onto their customers.

[narrator] Because of this, 50,000 fewer tourists came to Ibiza.

Faced with a lack of visitors,

its owners just couldn't afford to keep the lights on until tourism recovered.

Festival Club closed its doors in 1974.

After the recovery from the oil crisis,

tourist numbers in Ibiza skyrocketed,

and they've pretty much increased year on year ever since.

and they've pretty much increased year on year ever since.

[Vicente Mari Tur] If this had been built a few years later

in the times of Ibiza's clubs from the '80s until now,

it would have been very, very successful.

[narrator] Although abandoned by its owners in the 1970s,

[narrator] Although abandoned by its owners in the 1970s,

that wasn't the end of the music at the Festival Club.

[Bell] As the rave scene came to the fore in the '80s and '90s,

the ruined club became the perfect location for illegal raves.

Hundreds of people would descend onto the dancefloor

with huge sound systems, and the DJs would set up on the old stage

and party deep into the night.

[narrator] When the authorities put an end to the illegal raves,

[narrator] When the authorities put an end to the illegal raves,

the ruined buildings became a Mecca for graffiti artists.

For Vicente though, there is beauty in the ruin of Festival Club.

As I like poetry, well maybe, let nature reclaim this place...

...with a background of music or a melody

from the time when there was a party here.

[narrator] In the Bulgarian seaside resort of Sozopol

is an island of ghostly ruins impossible to ignore.

From the town, you can't help but be captivated

by the imposing structures standing on St. Kirik.

[narrator] A manmade breakwater

connects the island to the town,

connects the island to the town,

but public access is strictly forbidden.

[Dominic Selwood] The main building used to be beautiful and grand,

but now, it's decaying and full of weeds.

[Sascha Auerbach] At first glance, it looks like an embassy

or a government building of some sort.

You definitely get the sense that at one time,

something vital was happening here.

In the depths of this ruin is a crumbling room

with dusty photos on the walls.

with dusty photos on the walls.

[narrator] These images are the remnants of a secret operation

destined to alter the course of Bulgaria's history.

This was part of an ambitious and covert plan for revenge.

What will be inside? Will this exceed my expectations?

[narrator] Author, Maria Dimolareva,

[narrator] Author, Maria Dimolareva,

has been researching the island of St. Kirik since 2004,

but this is her first time here.

The island's most prominent structure is shrouded in mystery.

Maria is on a mission to find out the real reason behind its construction.

[Maria Dimolareva] This building peaked my interest

more than 15 years ago,

and since then, I've been looking for information about it.

and since then, I've been looking for information about it.

I truly hope that stepping into it will answer all my questions.

The building was commissioned by the Bulgarian government

in 1924 for a staggering amount of money,

equivalent in today's terms to $25 million.

The official line was the Bulgarian government

was establishing a fishery school.

[Selwood] Which was notably unusual at the time,

when fishing was learned at home, not in the classroom.

when fishing was learned at home, not in the classroom.

[narrator] According to Bulgarian officials,

there was good reason for the new venture.

Since the beginning of the 20th century,

Bulgarians had really gravitated towards the countryside

rather than towards the coast.

Now, the Bulgarian state needed a new generation of men

that could take advantage of the coast

and use the sea to generate revenue.

[Dimolareva] The classrooms were on the ground floor.

[Dimolareva] The classrooms were on the ground floor.

The dorms for the students were on the floor above.

And in the hall or the middle highest parts of the building,

were homes for the teaching staff.

[narrator] The admission criteria for students

appeared intended to right past wrongs.

The school was created with the goal

of bringing in orphans or refugees from the First World War.

of bringing in orphans or refugees from the First World War.

[Selwood] It was a four-year course with full board,

and the novice fisherman were even given

an interest free loan to buy all the equipment they would ever need.

[narrator] The motive behind the prestigious school appeared beyond reproach.

Dig deeper, and there was much more to this site than meets the eye.

There were rooms and features that really didn't add up.

[narrator] On the small island of St. Kirik in Bulgaria

are the remains of a once-pioneering fishing school.

But not all was as it seemed.

The first sign something was not right

surfaced when construction began.

The first stone was laid in 1924,

The first stone was laid in 1924,

and unusually, the ceremony was attended

by top government officials and even the king of Bulgaria.

[Auerbach] During the ceremony, the king gives a rousing speech,

and the words are very evocative and emotional.

He turned to them and said that,

"In the memory of their fathers,

who fell for the freedom of the country,

they must learn to build strong will

and good discipline in school...

and good discipline in school...

...and to be true to their fatherland, like good sailors."

[narrator] It's a speech that seemed better suited

to naval cadets than future humble fisherman.

The attention the opening of this type of school attracts

is quite unusual.

But what could the king really be trying to accomplish with all this?

But what could the king really be trying to accomplish with all this?

[narrator] The king's inspiring words

threatened to give the real game away.

[Dimolareva] The way this building is laid out, its architecture,

shows that it was not just a school building and a place for boarding,

but it had a purpose as a military facility.

[narrator] But Bulgaria was not supposed to have a navy

or be investing in any kind of military.

or be investing in any kind of military.

Post-World War One was a really humiliating period for Bulgaria.

They had picked the losing side in the war,

joining the Central Powers' cause.

[Selwood] Like many of the defeated countries,

Bulgaria was forced to sign a treaty ceding land

and committing to drastically reduce its army and navy.

[Lynette Nusbacher] The prohibition on more than one service academy

meant that they would never be able to have a navy again.

meant that they would never be able to have a navy again.

[narrator] Bulgaria was not going to take this lying down.

The Bulgarians were quietly seething,

and they developed a plan to see some of their territory back.

[narrator] The Sozopol Fisheries School

was central to the ambitious scheme.

Bulgaria was secretly preparing for war.

This wasn't just a fisheries school.

And this was going to be a way to maintain

And this was going to be a way to maintain

the capability, the skillset of navigation and ship management,

and all of the requirements for a naval officer,

in spite of the Allied restrictions.

[narrator] Suddenly, the king's speech starts to make sense.

These seemingly innocuous apprentice fisherman

were actually secretly training to be naval warriors.

[narrator] And in 1939, Bulgaria would get the chance to put its plan into action.

[narrator] And in 1939, Bulgaria would get the chance to put its plan into action.

[Auerbach] When World War Two started,

Bulgaria sided with Nazi Germany,

another country that shared its resentment at the peace treaty

and a strong desire to return to its former glory.

During the war, the school became exclusively a military zone.

All civilians were forbidden.

[narrator] After it became clear

Bulgaria had once again picked the losing side,

it looked like history was about to repeat itself...

it looked like history was about to repeat itself...

...until the Soviet Red Army invaded in September 1944.

The Bulgarian authorities very wisely seeing which way the wind is blowing,

switched sides. They abandoned their Nazi allies

and joined Stalin instead.

[narrator] Under the newly installed communist government,

the military presence on this island expanded rapidly.

When Bulgaria became a satellite of the Soviet Union,

more buildings were put up, which you can see today,

more buildings were put up, which you can see today,

encircling the original one from the 1920s.

St. Kirik became an official naval base,

home to two naval divisions and a repair depot.

The building behind me was built during the '40s and '50s.

They were offices and rooms for the officers.

Highly-classified military material was kept in there.

[narrator] After the collapse of the Soviet Union,

the island remained in military hands

until it was shut down in 2007.

[Auerbach] The 38 buildings that remain on the island are all completely abandoned,

and there's no access to the public,

they're very strict about this.

[narrator] Today, the Bulgarian government

is deciding what to do next with the island of St. Kirik.

is deciding what to do next with the island of St. Kirik.

The hope is it can be reinvented as a place for the people

And now that Bulgaria is no longer interested

in exercising its force overseas with violence,

this island can go back to being a regular island.

There are talks of making the island a tourist attraction,

There are talks of making the island a tourist attraction,

which makes sense considering its complex past,

but nothing's really come of it yet.