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Rob: A technological masterpiece
lost to a Norwegian fjord.

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When you get up close,

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you realise there's a lot
more than meets the eye.

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Tom ward (narrates): An
ambitious arctic structure

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that became an
environmental hazard.

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Man: Nothing had
ever been built like it.

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It was one of the greatest
feats of arctic engineering

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that's ever been.

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A mysterious concrete giant
on an icy mountain peak.

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Buzludzha is this
amazing structure

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that is a little bit mysterious.

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It reminds me of something
out of a 1970s Sci-Fi film.

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And a fantastical castle in
the middle of the Hudson river.

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He left an incredible building

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which was an icon
all over the world.

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Once they were some of
the most advanced structures

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and facilities on the planet

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at the cutting edge of
design and construction.

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Today, they stand abandoned,
contaminated, and sometimes deadly.

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But who build them and how?

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And why were they abandoned?

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(Theme music)

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Deep beneath the Norwegian
fjord near the port of narvik

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lies a forgotten
engineering masterpiece.

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From among the scattered
debris littering the sea floor

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rises a corroded bulk
of metal 37 feet wide.

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When you first see this
mass of twisted rusting steel

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in the otherwise beautiful
setting of Norwegian fjords,

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you think, "hang on,
someone's just been

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dumping junk down here."

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For 390 feet,

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it climbs towards the rocky
shoreline of rombaksfjord

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where it protrudes
out of the water.

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Yet something
appears to have crushed

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and warped this metal structure.

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When you get up close

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and actually you
see just how twisted

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and mangled this
mass of rusty steel is,

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you realise it's not just
the roof of someone's shed

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that they've lobbed down there
to disintegrate into the seas.

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Actually, there's a lot
more than meets the eye.

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What is this
mysterious metal wreck?

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Why is it here in the
pristine nordic wilderness?

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And why was it abandoned?

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On 1 march, 1940,

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Adolf Hitler ordered the
invasion of neutral Norway,

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looking to exploit the
country's long coastline

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and intent on obtaining
essential raw materials

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for its growing war machine.

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One of these was high-grade iron
ore flowing from the port of narvik.

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But these waters were
patrolled by britain's royal Navy,

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still the most powerful
Navy in the world.

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To compete, the German Navy
needed a modern fleet of the fastest

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and most manoeuvrable
ships, destroyers.

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James: Destroyers
are not mini battleships.

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They are, to some degree,

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expendable weapons
with relatively small crews.

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And they're capable of
a multitude of operations.

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They're an essential
part of the Navy.

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Destroyers were originally
developed in the late 19th century

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in response to the
emergence of torpedo boats.

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Through the interwar
years, they were light vessels

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with little endurance

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but packed with armour
and capable of high speeds.

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They could escort
merchant convoys

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but were increasingly
built as weapons

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to counter submarines
and aircraft.

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In the 1930s Germany, in
breach of the versailles treaty

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began building destroyers again.

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They create a
warship that represents

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the absolutely apogee
of German technology.

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And these destroyers are gonna
be the best warships on the sea.

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Hitler's new fleet were
the type 1934 destroyers.

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And this is the 'Georg tiller'.

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At the cutting edge
of warship technology,

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it cost around 67 million
pounds in today's money to build

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and she entered service in 1937.

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The 'Georg tiller' was
one of the first of Hitler's

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new breed of warship that
he believed was gonna win him

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the war on the waves.

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It was bigger, it was faster
and much more heavily armed

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than anything it was
gonna come up against.

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On 6 April, 1940,

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Georg tiller and
nine other high-speed

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heavily armed destroyers
headed for narvik.

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On board were three
thousand elite mountain troops

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spearheading the
German invasion of Norway.

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Viggo kristensen is an
author of the epic naval battles

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that took place at narvik.

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They had very
sophisticated machinery,

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high-pressure boilers

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delivering high-pressure
steam to the turbines.

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And that gave the German
destroyers very high speed,

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more than 40 knots.

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Comparing to the
English destroyers,

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the highest speed
was about 32 knots.

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Despite her speed
and sophistication,

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her modern design
was overcomplicated.

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And compared with
royal Navy destroyers,

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mechanical breakdowns
were common.

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The Germans build warships
that, on paper, are excellent,

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but, on through high seas,

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they just can't
perform properly.

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One of the ships' key
design flaws was that

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she was top heavy, making
her unstable in rough seas.

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To avoid the
threat of capsizing,

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her fuel tanks had to remain
just 30% full at all times.

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And that wasn't
her only weakness.

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They were so heavy at the front

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they'd really dip into the
water in heavy weather

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and take on hundreds
of gallons of water.

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The engines were unreliable
and the guns were too big.

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Their powerful arsenal
consisted of 5 inch guns,

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437mm anti-aircraft guns,

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and eight 21 inch torpedo tubes.

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For all its defects,

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this was still a fierce
fighting machine.

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On April 10, 1940,

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the ten destroyers
powered towards narvik.

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They actually,
very successfully,

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landed in a surprise
attack on narvik,

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landed their invasion force

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which fairly quickly
seized the railhead

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and the town of narvik,

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drove out the
defending Norwegians.

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Yet victory was short-lived.

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A royal Navy attack force
thundered in to retake narvik.

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Lynette: They were coming
with these highly tuned

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German sports cars of destroyers

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and they were coming up against

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these clunky royal Navy
Land Rover destroyers.

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And the Germans,
they fight very well.

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The 'Georg tiller'
unleashed hell,

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taking out one of the
royal Navy destroyers.

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But outnumbered

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and in the narrow
confines of the fjord,

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she was unable to take advantage
of her superior speed and firepower.

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Suffering seven major
hits in the process,

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14 of her 325-man
crew were killed.

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You're operating an
impossible situation.

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You're in an enclosed area,

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you can't effectively
use your torpedo,

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and the British have
brought in cruisers

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and much heavier ships.

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British firepower sent
six German destroyers

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to the bottom of the fjord.

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Trapped, low on
ammunition and fuel,

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the surviving German
destroyers fled.

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But the 'Georg
tiller' stood defiant,

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firing her last torpedo

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as British destroyer
hms 'eskimo' closed in.

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'Georg tiller's' last torpedo
rolled the boat off the eskimo.

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The royal Navy set its
sights on the 'Georg tiller'.

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Badly damaged,
there was no escape.

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Well, the only option they
had was to ram their ship

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as fast as they
could onto the shore.

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That would allow their crew
some chance of escape onto land

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and would effectively
scuttle the ship.

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She headed for shore
at a speed of 45 knots,

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beaching herself
on rombaksfjord.

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What a sight that
must have been.

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It's pretty much
a third of the ship

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that made its way up onto land

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to allow its crew some
chance of escape.

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But just a phenomenal sacrifice

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that those captains
made of the technology

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and potentially of
their crew as well.

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With her fate sealed,
the ship's crew fled

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and escaped into
the surrounding hills.

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The battles of narvik however
had cost the German Navy dearly,

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half their total
destroyer force was lost.

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Breaking in two, the stern
of this German war machine

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sank deep into the rombaksfjord
while the bow rolled onto its side.

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It was left mangled
and abandoned.

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Today, the twisted steel
plates of 'Georg tiller'

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still lie in this
Norwegian backwater

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never able to fully unleash
here superior speed,

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manoeuvrability, and firepower,

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she was ultimately
defeated by the surroundings

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in which she fought.

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Well, in another
20-30 years or so,

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it's likely what's
left will disintegrate

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and slip further down

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and finally come to
rest on the seabed,

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joining its sister
ships down there.

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And maybe that
is a more fitting end

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to the last remaining survivor
of Hitler's long-vanished fleet.

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Around 3,500 miles west,

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high in the chugach
mountains of Alaska

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is one of the world's first
fleets of arctic engineering.

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Wedged in a glacier lined gap,

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178 feet above the
fast-flowing copper river,

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this rusting steel bridge
is almost 500m in length.

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Man: Nothing had
ever been built like it.

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It was one of the greatest
feats of arctic engineering

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00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:33,160
that's ever been,

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and it's been copied
many times since.

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It really required some
innovative thinking

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and the challenges
were pretty demonstrable.

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Supporting the steel bridge
are three huge concrete legs,

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each 64 feet long and
21 feet thick at the base.

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00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:56,240
To get all of that material

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in a very pristine
Alaskan wilderness,

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it is truly mind-blowing.

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00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:04,720
Yet a closer look reveals
some unusual elements

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to this mammoth structure

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00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:10,520
that hint at the unique
challenges this construction faced.

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We have these concrete
blocks coming out of the water.

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00:13:16,680 --> 00:13:17,720
Why?

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00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:22,960
What are these concrete wedges?

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00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:26,920
And why was this seemingly
intact structure abandoned?

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00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:37,200
In 1900, Alaska was rich in
undiscovered natural resources.

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00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:40,000
Deep in the territories
wrangell mountains,

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00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:43,520
prospectors discovered
high-grade copper ore

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00:13:43,560 --> 00:13:47,400
and set up the kennecott mine
to extract the valuable mineral.

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00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:52,920
But that was only
half the battle.

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00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:56,440
How would they transport
this priceless ore to civilisation?

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00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:01,720
The mines' owners jp
Morgan and Daniel guggenheim

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00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:05,680
sank $25 million into
the copper river railway.

220
00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:09,600
At 196 miles long,

221
00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:12,360
the route faced a multitude
of obstacles thrown up

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00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:14,400
by the Alaskan
climate and landscape.

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00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:20,176
Dougal: Whenever you
have engineering projects

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00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:22,160
in high latitudes,
the arctic regions,

225
00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:24,240
antarctic regions,
it's a problem.

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00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:26,520
It might be easier to
work there in winter

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00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:28,480
when the ground's more solid.

228
00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:32,400
You've got that dynamic
problem of a melt season.

229
00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:35,200
As you've got lots of snow,
when you get the summer,

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00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:37,400
a short summer, you
get lots and lots of water,

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00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:38,760
so you get big rivers.

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00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:41,320
So, all of these things
make engineering projects

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00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:43,360
in such environments
very, very difficult.

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00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:48,240
Standing in its way
were steep canyons,

235
00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:52,200
Gale-force winds,
rivers, and glaciers.

236
00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:55,800
In particular, two
formidable walls of ice,

237
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the Childs and
miles river glaciers.

238
00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:01,840
Barely 3 miles apart,

239
00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:04,920
they blocked both
banks of the copper river.

240
00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:10,520
The only solution was to build
this, the miles glacier bridge,

241
00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:13,400
better known as the
million dollar bridge.

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00:15:13,440 --> 00:15:15,400
Andrew: The million
dollar bridge is aptly named

243
00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:18,000
because that's what
it cost to construct.

244
00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:22,960
It was a completely unique
engineering challenge.

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00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:25,480
Luke borer is a
local businessman

246
00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:29,120
and has intimate knowledge
of the challenges they faced.

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00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:32,320
It was new technology
for everything.

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00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:35,400
Nobody had a glacier
on both sides of the bridge

249
00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:38,160
that's dumping
1,000 tonne icebergs

250
00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:40,280
and 100 mile an hour winds

251
00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:44,440
and 60 below zero
temperatures across a river

252
00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:47,000
that has a current of 10 knots.

253
00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:51,880
Plus the fact access to
here was near impossible.

254
00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:56,600
This impossible bridge
had to be light enough

255
00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:58,680
to stretch across the river

256
00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:01,360
but strong enough to
take the river's current

257
00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:04,200
and the strain of
two fully loaded trains

258
00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:06,000
meeting in the
middle of the span.

259
00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:13,800
To achieve this economically,

260
00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:17,080
engineers built four
steel truss spans

261
00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:19,480
mounted on three concrete piers.

262
00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:24,640
Roma: So, this bridge is a
Pennsylvania truss bridge.

263
00:16:24,680 --> 00:16:26,520
Now, engineers love trusses

264
00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:30,120
because they're full of triangles
and triangles are a strong shape.

265
00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:33,160
It also means you've
got thinner pieces of steel

266
00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:35,240
and you're cleverly
channelling loads

267
00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:38,480
and forces through
it into the foundations

268
00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:41,480
to create and efficient
structure and a light structure.

269
00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:47,040
Construction of the
miles glacier bridge

270
00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:48,960
began in April 1909.

271
00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:54,080
The workers were
in a race against time.

272
00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:57,240
The melt season released
1,000 tonne icebergs

273
00:16:57,280 --> 00:17:00,720
that could potentially sweep
away all their hard work.

274
00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:05,680
They finished in a
breakneck 13 months

275
00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:07,160
and improvised the structure

276
00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:10,440
to deal with these potentially
devastating battering rams.

277
00:17:11,600 --> 00:17:13,080
Roma: You try and deflect them.

278
00:17:13,120 --> 00:17:15,280
You try and stop those
massive pieces of ice

279
00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:17,320
from actually hitting
the bridge itself.

280
00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:20,480
There's two ice-breakers,

281
00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:23,280
one in front of pier one
and one in front of pier three.

282
00:17:23,320 --> 00:17:26,720
They're both
approximately 53 feet long,

283
00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:31,920
31 feet wide buried about
20 feet into the bed of the river

284
00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:36,720
and sticking out of the
water all of about 18 feet.

285
00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:40,320
The iceberg had
come down and hit that

286
00:17:40,360 --> 00:17:44,200
and are either split or
deflected by the ice-breakers

287
00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:47,040
so that the ice doesn't
hit the piers themselves.

288
00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:55,360
With the bridge complete
and now protected,

289
00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:59,040
the first 1200 tonne load
of high-grade copper ore

290
00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:02,440
travelled across the miles
glacier bridge in 1911.

291
00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:10,320
For the next 27 years, the
bridge withstood the elements

292
00:18:10,360 --> 00:18:13,120
to bring its investors
a massive return.

293
00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:16,720
So, even though the bridge is
called the million dollar bridge,

294
00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:18,560
for its day, which
was a lot of money,

295
00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:21,400
the amount of money
that came out of the mine,

296
00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:23,200
almost over $200 million,

297
00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:25,360
more than paid for
the extravagant sum

298
00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:26,600
that was spent at the time.

299
00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:34,360
The bridge proved a vital
and hugely profitable lifeline.

300
00:18:34,400 --> 00:18:38,640
But in November 1938,
having exhausted its resources,

301
00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:41,360
the kennecott copper
mine shut down

302
00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:43,160
and plans were made to transform

303
00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:46,200
the railway bed into a
high wave of vehicles.

304
00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:50,480
Then at 5:36am

305
00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:55,200
on march 27, 1964,
disaster struck.

306
00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:02,200
The earthquake
that struck Alaska

307
00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:06,120
in 1964 recorded as the
second largest earthquake

308
00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:08,960
every recorded in human history.

309
00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:12,960
Whole communities were destroyed

310
00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:16,560
and 139 people
killed in an earthquake

311
00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:19,040
with a magnitude of 9.2.

312
00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:23,280
Lucas: The '64 earthquake
knocked down stand four.

313
00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:26,360
It fell down into the
water basically intact.

314
00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:30,400
But the reason it fell
is the pier supporting it

315
00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:32,320
had sliced itself in half

316
00:19:32,360 --> 00:19:34,440
because there was no
structural reinforcement

317
00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:35,520
in the concrete.

318
00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:41,240
Armour rails were embedded
in the surface of the concrete,

319
00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:44,840
running vertically to just
above the high water Mark.

320
00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:46,840
This was to protect
it from icebergs.

321
00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:51,320
Above these armour rails,
the concrete was sheared off

322
00:19:51,360 --> 00:19:53,040
by the force of the earthquake.

323
00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:57,160
It left engineers
grappling with a problem

324
00:19:57,200 --> 00:19:58,600
for the next 40 years.

325
00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:03,800
If the rest of the
bridge collapsed,

326
00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:07,680
it could create an
environmental disaster,

327
00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:10,680
not only blocking
the copper river below

328
00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:13,160
but poisoning its waters
with its lead coating.

329
00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:16,440
The engineers were torn

330
00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:19,400
between repairing or
demolishing the bridge.

331
00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:21,880
But in the end, its
fate was determined

332
00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:24,160
by financial considerations.

333
00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:30,200
It was less expensive to
repair it than it was to take it out.

334
00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:33,120
In excess of $100
million was estimated

335
00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:35,040
to take the bridge out,

336
00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:39,840
and they spent 17 million
on phase one to fix the bridge.

337
00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:45,400
In 2004, work began to
rebuild the damaged pier

338
00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:48,640
and raise the fallen
span back into place.

339
00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:54,840
Despite the repairs,
the bridge was redundant

340
00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:58,640
as the highway it served
could no longer reach it.

341
00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:01,960
The miles glacier
bridge was abandoned.

342
00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:11,840
Today, the bridge serves no
purpose but remains a tourist attraction

343
00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:14,880
as well as being an
environmental ticking time-bomb.

344
00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:21,600
Andrew: It requires upkeep.
It's too expensive to get rid of.

345
00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:23,720
So, what are you
gonna do with it?

346
00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:28,240
Today, the million dollar bridge
is literally a bridge to nowhere.

347
00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:37,040
Over 5,000 miles
away, across the Atlantic,

348
00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:40,600
high up in the central
Balkan mountains of Bulgaria

349
00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:43,120
is a structure that
appears out of this world.

350
00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:51,360
Through the cold swirling mist,

351
00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:54,880
a strange curved
concrete surface emerges,

352
00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:57,320
punctuated by oblong openings.

353
00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:01,120
An amazing structure

354
00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:05,400
that is a little bit
mysterious I think I'd say.

355
00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:08,600
It reminds me of something
out of a 1970s Sci-Fi film.

356
00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:15,560
Eerie light and haze Pierce
the decaying copper roof

357
00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:19,800
that covers this abandoned
22,500-tonne structure.

358
00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:24,120
It looks like ufo
or a flying saucer

359
00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:26,840
with a concrete
spire going above it.

360
00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:34,840
The 230 foot high tower
tapering to only 30 feet

361
00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:37,960
at its base rises from
the concrete disc.

362
00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:43,240
But its purpose is almost
impossible to decipher.

363
00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:47,760
If you told me it was
the control centre

364
00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:50,680
for nuclear missiles,
I'd believe you.

365
00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:55,240
If you told me it as some
paganist cult worship centre,

366
00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:56,520
I'd believe you.

367
00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:58,840
It's confusing.

368
00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:02,040
What is this
extraordinary complex?

369
00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:07,280
Why is it here 4,600 feet up in
the central Balkan mountains?

370
00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:15,040
The answer lies
behind the iron curtain

371
00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:16,640
of the 1970s.

372
00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:20,280
At this time, Bulgaria
was the Soviet union's

373
00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:22,000
most loyal eastern ally

374
00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:25,800
thanks to the country's
communist dictator todor zhivkov.

375
00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:29,360
As head of state,

376
00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:34,200
he looked to a common
cause in Bulgaria's history

377
00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:36,720
and a unifying project
on a grand scale

378
00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:39,160
that would ignite
nationalist spirit

379
00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:41,720
and unite his people under
the communist banner.

380
00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:47,280
He chose a site of huge
national pride and significance.

381
00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:51,920
The location's
important to Bulgarians

382
00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:56,080
because it's built on the
site of a 19th century battle

383
00:23:56,120 --> 00:24:00,120
between Bulgarian rebels, which
became the communist party,

384
00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:02,360
and the forces of
the ottoman empire.

385
00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:06,520
After battling
against five centuries

386
00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:08,040
of ottoman occupation

387
00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:11,320
and founding the Bulgarian
communist party here,

388
00:24:11,360 --> 00:24:14,560
this was also the site where
partisans lost their lives

389
00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:18,520
fighting fascist forces
during world war ii.

390
00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:20,920
All combined to make
this a national symbol

391
00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:24,240
of heroism and self-sacrifice

392
00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:28,480
and the perfect location for
this, the buzludzha monument.

393
00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:31,256
The first impressions
when you see the monument

394
00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:33,920
are sort of bewilderment.

395
00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:36,200
When you see monuments,
there's classical shapes.

396
00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:38,360
This is not classical anyway.

397
00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:41,200
And so it's strikingly strange.

398
00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:43,640
For me, buzludzha
pretty much exemplifies

399
00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:47,240
the methods communism
used to keep people

400
00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:49,840
under the thumb
and to exert the power

401
00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:52,560
over the people
through their brutalistic

402
00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:55,040
and oppressive architecture.

403
00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:01,800
The project began
on 23 January, 1974.

404
00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:06,200
However, creating
such a massive structure

405
00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:09,280
on top of this inhospitable
mountain range

406
00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:11,040
was no easy task.

407
00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:15,240
Dan: Constructing
anything of large size

408
00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:17,160
in a remote area is challenging.

409
00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:18,560
And I think it was sort of

410
00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:21,640
classical socialist
will that decided,

411
00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:23,456
you know, "we're gonna
build "this building right here.

412
00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:24,616
"And no matter what it takes,

413
00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:27,000
"we're gonna cart "all this
material up this mountain.

414
00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:28,936
"We're gonna dynamite
"the top off the mountain

415
00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:31,720
and this is what we're
gonna do," and they did.

416
00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:37,280
530,000 cubic feet of rock

417
00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:40,880
were blasted away to
level the top of the mountain,

418
00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:43,680
dropping its height by
an incredible 30 feet.

419
00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:49,320
At such high altitude, the
progress of construction

420
00:25:49,360 --> 00:25:50,960
was at the mercy
of the elements.

421
00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:57,520
Workers battled heavy snowfall,
high winds, and enveloping mists.

422
00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:02,000
They worked around the
clock to achieve the build

423
00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:05,000
in the narrow weather
window from may to September.

424
00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:08,240
With such a demanding schedule,

425
00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:11,040
a constant supply
of materials was vital.

426
00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:14,776
Roma: Now, this thing's
made out of concrete.

427
00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:16,680
So, you need to get
the aggregates up there,

428
00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:18,800
you need to get the
wet concrete up there.

429
00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:21,040
You need to mix it up
and make sure that it's all,

430
00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:22,720
you know, properly
moulded together.

431
00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:25,360
You need to get the
formwork up there

432
00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:27,440
so that you can actually
shape the concrete.

433
00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:31,680
It's really a big
logistical challenge.

434
00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:40,640
Despite these difficulties,
70,000 tonnes of concrete

435
00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:44,840
and 3,000 tonnes of steel were
used to construct the monument.

436
00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:49,000
At its core was a y-shaped base

437
00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:52,320
that took the whole vertical
load of the unique saucer.

438
00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:58,840
Centred around a
simple interior structure,

439
00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:02,600
it was the futuristic outer shell
that posed the greatest challenge.

440
00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:09,040
Dora Ivanova is an architect
and runs the buzludzha project.

441
00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:12,040
She works to
reconstruct the monument

442
00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:14,240
and preserve it for
future generations.

443
00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:18,440
The design of the monument
was a great challenge

444
00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:21,560
for the engineering in the '70s.

445
00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:24,560
The shape and the
concrete was calculated

446
00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:26,720
by computers in Moscow.

447
00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:30,200
When you're trying to
make something as curved

448
00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:33,320
and as sinuous as this structure
that we're looking at here,

449
00:27:33,360 --> 00:27:34,416
then you need to think about,

450
00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:36,800
"well, how am I actually
going to achieve that?"

451
00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:39,800
So, it's a really interesting
challenge for engineers,

452
00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:41,320
especially in that era,

453
00:27:41,360 --> 00:27:43,960
to create these really
smooth curves against

454
00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:46,160
which they then want
to pour the concrete.

455
00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:50,600
And the principle can
be actually explained

456
00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:52,680
with a turned up umbrella.

457
00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:56,760
There are thick steel
ropes that are pre-stressed

458
00:27:56,800 --> 00:28:02,000
and concreted in order to
create this overhang of 25m.

459
00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:09,640
The futuristic design was
inspired by a fascination with space.

460
00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:12,920
This was the era not only
of the first man in space

461
00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:15,080
but the first
Bulgarian in space.

462
00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:18,960
An impressive 30
tonnes of copper cladding

463
00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:21,120
covers the roof of the saucer

464
00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:23,680
which can be heated
to melt heavy snowfall,

465
00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:26,480
preventing the
roof from collapse.

466
00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:28,200
One of the biggest challenges

467
00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:29,856
that the engineers would
have had to consider

468
00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:32,480
in designing this is
the amount of snow

469
00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:34,720
that the roof would
need to resist.

470
00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:39,520
So, having the shallow dome
shape is actually a fairly good shape

471
00:28:39,560 --> 00:28:41,640
because it will allow some snow

472
00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:44,520
to kind of move its
way off and to flow off.

473
00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:53,440
A striking element of this
construction is the tower

474
00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:56,840
that soars from the
mountain top towards the sky.

475
00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:05,120
Its summit takes the load of
two 39 feet high red glass stars,

476
00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:07,880
each weighing a
colossal 3.5 tonnes.

477
00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:14,440
Dora: They were the biggest
illuminated stars in the world.

478
00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:17,360
They could be seen from
hundreds of kilometres away

479
00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:18,600
by good weather.

480
00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:22,840
No expense was spared

481
00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:25,480
on the lavish interior
of the structure.

482
00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:28,000
Rob: From the outside,

483
00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:31,160
you see this brutalist
concrete version

484
00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:33,160
of the millennium falcon.

485
00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:36,040
On the inside, the
feeling's quite different.

486
00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:40,880
They used 35 tonnes of mosaic

487
00:29:40,920 --> 00:29:44,400
and stained glass
to decorate the inside

488
00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:46,280
to give it the atmosphere
that they wanted.

489
00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:55,520
The mosaics were not
just for decorative purposes.

490
00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:57,360
Every element
within the monument

491
00:29:57,400 --> 00:29:59,960
was a reminder of
the communist cause.

492
00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:06,720
From the one side,
could be seen the faces

493
00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:08,640
of Lenin, Marx, and engels.

494
00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:11,960
And from the other side, the
Bulgarian communist leaders.

495
00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:22,920
A 538 square foot mosaic of
the hammer and sickle crowns

496
00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:25,440
the centre of this
monumental achievement.

497
00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:30,880
It took 7 years,
6,000 volunteers,

498
00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:34,000
and more than 25 million
pounds in today's money

499
00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:35,800
to construct buzludzha.

500
00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:40,320
The grand opening
on 23 August, 1981,

501
00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:43,600
was attended by the world's
top communist leaders.

502
00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:47,160
The site was
immediately glorified

503
00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:50,240
through the communist
world as a beacon of power.

504
00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:54,000
Many of the communist structures

505
00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:57,640
that we see were almost
monuments to either individuals

506
00:30:57,680 --> 00:31:00,480
or to military control

507
00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:03,720
to the power of that
communist party.

508
00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:06,760
They weren't
necessarily beautiful

509
00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:09,400
or maybe they were
beautiful in their own way.

510
00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:11,680
There was certainly a
lot of concrete involved.

511
00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:16,320
It served as a mecca
for communism.

512
00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:18,440
Visits had a
ritualised character

513
00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:20,960
and took the form of
an organised pilgrimage.

514
00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:28,400
It also doubled a meeting place
for the Bulgarian communist party.

515
00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:34,400
Dora: People were really impressed
and astonished by the building.

516
00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:37,800
They still remember
until today their visits.

517
00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:42,040
And in this sense, buzludzha
was a really effective tool

518
00:31:42,080 --> 00:31:44,960
of creating communist mythology.

519
00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:50,480
For eight years, it
served as the emblem

520
00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:54,560
of Bulgarian communism
and drew 3 million visitors,

521
00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:58,320
all requiring written permission
before making the trip.

522
00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:03,280
1989, however, saw
the dawn of a new age.

523
00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:05,840
It was the beginning
of the end for the ussr.

524
00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:09,560
And todor zhivkov's
fall from power rendered

525
00:32:09,600 --> 00:32:13,360
the buzludzha monument
a relic of the past.

526
00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:16,600
With no interest in preserving
this symbol of communism,

527
00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:20,840
the new regime closed its
doors and it was abandoned.

528
00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:32,480
Today, having suffered
decades of looting and vandalism,

529
00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:36,720
buzludzha monument is a
ruined shell clouded in mist.

530
00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:39,560
And its future looks bleak.

531
00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:43,680
On 24 November, 2016,
the Bulgarian government

532
00:32:43,720 --> 00:32:46,520
passed a new law
banning public displays

533
00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:49,400
of communist symbols.

534
00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:51,680
So, are they going
to tear it down

535
00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:54,600
or will this hill return
to its former glory?

536
00:32:56,200 --> 00:32:58,240
Future generations
may never know

537
00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:02,120
that here stood a powerful
icon of Bulgarian communism.

538
00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:06,880
Say what you like about Eastern
Europe communist regimes,

539
00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:11,280
but they could certainly
make a statement structurally.

540
00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:15,040
Dora: It can explain
the story of its creation.

541
00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:18,200
It can be a very
interesting museum

542
00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:20,720
about history-Bulgarian history.

543
00:33:20,760 --> 00:33:26,400
And it will overcome the
trauma of the communist past.

544
00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:41,440
Deep in the forests
of upstate New York

545
00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:43,960
hides a remote island
on the Hudson river.

546
00:33:47,480 --> 00:33:51,240
And on it what appears to be
the remnants of a mighty castle.

547
00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:56,800
When you first see these ruins,

548
00:33:56,840 --> 00:34:01,760
it looks like just another castle
over a brooding Scottish loch.

549
00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:06,760
Scattered ruins sprawled
across the island,

550
00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:09,480
concealed amongst the
trees are multiple turrets

551
00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:13,400
and towers typical of a
palace or medieval castle,

552
00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:15,880
fortified with battlements
and arrow slits.

553
00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:21,680
So, what is its purpose?

554
00:34:21,720 --> 00:34:26,120
The giveaway is in the
letters along one of its walls.

555
00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:32,920
What was this impressive
fortification trying to protect?

556
00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:34,960
And why was it abandoned?

557
00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:43,600
In the year 1900, at the
centre of New York City,

558
00:34:43,640 --> 00:34:46,600
millionaire businessman
Francis bannerman vi

559
00:34:46,640 --> 00:34:49,040
ran a successful
military surplus empire.

560
00:34:50,560 --> 00:34:53,440
His store of military materials
on Broadway covered

561
00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:55,200
almost an entire block.

562
00:34:56,520 --> 00:35:01,480
But he needed a warehouse big
enough to store his explosive supplies,

563
00:35:01,520 --> 00:35:05,000
including some 30 million
munition cartridges left over

564
00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:08,520
from the Spanish-American
war of 1898.

565
00:35:10,360 --> 00:35:13,080
Neil caplan head of
bannerman castle trust

566
00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:16,400
runs this fantastical castle.

567
00:35:16,440 --> 00:35:18,880
The city did not want him
to store black powder there

568
00:35:18,920 --> 00:35:21,880
because it's very, very
volatile and just a small cup

569
00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:23,360
could blow up
an entire building.

570
00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:29,520
A solution was found 50
miles up the Hudson river

571
00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:31,880
from New York City,

572
00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:34,160
on a piece of land
considered haunted

573
00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:37,400
by some native American tribes,

574
00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:40,120
the uninhabited polipol island.

575
00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:45,240
Bannerman purchased
the rocky land for $600

576
00:35:45,280 --> 00:35:49,280
and created a series of structures
to house his dangerous supplies.

577
00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:54,680
And it evolved into
this might fortress.

578
00:35:54,720 --> 00:35:58,880
Bannerman's island arsenal,
better known as bannerman's castle.

579
00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:03,160
Andrew: This is
no Scottish castle.

580
00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:08,560
It's no British stately home
or ruined French chateau,

581
00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:11,840
this is an ammunition warehouse.

582
00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:17,600
It was close enough to New
York to carry on business

583
00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:19,440
and where his lethal
catalogue of good

584
00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:21,040
wouldn't pose a threat.

585
00:36:23,880 --> 00:36:26,800
Placing his own unique
stamp on the island,

586
00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:28,760
bannerman turned
his hand to design.

587
00:36:31,680 --> 00:36:34,080
He was an amateur architect,
there were no blueprints.

588
00:36:34,120 --> 00:36:37,240
He actually drew on
napkins and on paper.

589
00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:39,000
And when he built
something, he said,

590
00:36:39,040 --> 00:36:40,600
"I want you to
build it up to here."

591
00:36:40,640 --> 00:36:42,016
And if he didn't
like it, he would say,

592
00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:43,120
"break it up

593
00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:44,536
"and put another
window in or something."

594
00:36:44,560 --> 00:36:46,200
And the whole place
was built like that.

595
00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:53,200
Work began in spring 1901,
blasting away tonnes of rock

596
00:36:53,240 --> 00:36:56,640
to create a level platform
for a three-storey warehouse.

597
00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:01,400
As business boomed,

598
00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:04,600
so too did bannerman's
island creation.

599
00:37:04,640 --> 00:37:07,680
In 1905, he constructed
two more buildings

600
00:37:07,720 --> 00:37:11,920
and a harbour wall to receive and
store his expanding arms empire.

601
00:37:14,720 --> 00:37:17,360
Rather than design
them in simple fashion,

602
00:37:17,400 --> 00:37:20,200
he wanted something
far more elaborate

603
00:37:20,240 --> 00:37:23,080
and he drew on his family
heritage for inspiration.

604
00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:27,400
If I just passed by
bannerman's castle randomly

605
00:37:27,440 --> 00:37:29,320
and I didn't know
where in the world I was,

606
00:37:29,360 --> 00:37:31,560
I'd look at the kind
of quite classic,

607
00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:35,240
you know, traditional
stone appearance of it,

608
00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:37,320
the fact that it's
quite castle-like,

609
00:37:37,360 --> 00:37:40,640
I'd think I'm in northern
Scotland somewhere.

610
00:37:40,680 --> 00:37:43,920
Andrew: Why did bannerman
design the building that he did?

611
00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:45,480
Well, he was a proud scot

612
00:37:45,520 --> 00:37:47,560
and he was paying
homage to his homeland.

613
00:37:47,600 --> 00:37:49,160
So, anything he could use

614
00:37:49,200 --> 00:37:52,120
to make the structure
look sort of castle-esque,

615
00:37:52,160 --> 00:37:54,040
that's what he wanted to do.

616
00:37:56,240 --> 00:37:59,520
His building methods
were anything but ordinary.

617
00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:02,360
To create the harbour,
he sank multiple barges

618
00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:05,320
filled with junk and rubble
to act as foundations.

619
00:38:07,440 --> 00:38:10,000
Frank bannerman was
a practical businessman

620
00:38:10,040 --> 00:38:12,640
who made his
fortune selling junk.

621
00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:13,720
What does that mean?

622
00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:15,720
It means he never
wasted a thing.

623
00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:17,480
If he couldn't
sell it, he used it.

624
00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:20,160
Old bedsteads,
pieces of battleship,

625
00:38:20,200 --> 00:38:23,560
he used them to
reinforce his building.

626
00:38:27,320 --> 00:38:31,400
Incredibly, his unconventional
approach to building also extended

627
00:38:31,440 --> 00:38:35,000
to all of the structures
on the island.

628
00:38:35,040 --> 00:38:36,576
When you think about
the way this building's

629
00:38:36,600 --> 00:38:39,880
actually been put together,
which is a complete mishmash

630
00:38:39,920 --> 00:38:43,400
of all kinds of different
materials with a bit of brick

631
00:38:43,440 --> 00:38:46,880
and a very thin layer of
concrete actually surrounding that,

632
00:38:46,920 --> 00:38:49,000
I mean, that sounds
questionable enough

633
00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:51,840
for someone to
live in or to reside in.

634
00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:54,520
But then you put
explosives in there.

635
00:38:54,560 --> 00:38:57,720
And I think that that's
quite frankly a terrible idea.

636
00:39:08,040 --> 00:39:11,160
Yet in 1908, this
structure stored

637
00:39:11,200 --> 00:39:13,160
one of the largest
private collections

638
00:39:13,200 --> 00:39:17,240
of army surplus and ammunition
ever seen in the United States.

639
00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:21,200
In this respect,
bannerman was a pioneer.

640
00:39:23,800 --> 00:39:26,040
Andrew: Army surplus
stores are everywhere today.

641
00:39:26,080 --> 00:39:27,760
But that wasn't always the case.

642
00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:30,640
It's thanks to bannerman. He's
the one who bought this stuff.

643
00:39:30,680 --> 00:39:31,760
Nobody else cared.

644
00:39:31,800 --> 00:39:34,520
And before long,
Hollywood, Broadway,

645
00:39:34,560 --> 00:39:37,920
they're turning to him and
him only for their props.

646
00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:44,000
Bannerman's military
equipment and uniforms filled

647
00:39:44,040 --> 00:39:46,280
the sets of Broadway
and Hollywood.

648
00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:50,560
But to be closer to all
this new ammunition,

649
00:39:50,600 --> 00:39:53,960
bannerman moved his family
into his own purpose-built castle.

650
00:39:56,840 --> 00:39:59,560
Its amateur construction
and explosive stock

651
00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:01,880
however was a
recipe for disaster.

652
00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:05,800
It was a ticking time-bomb.

653
00:40:06,840 --> 00:40:08,040
He realised,

654
00:40:08,080 --> 00:40:11,560
"hmm, this is not the work
"of a master craftsman.

655
00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:14,920
This has a
flavour of diy to it."

656
00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:16,640
And that's what's
so interesting.

657
00:40:16,680 --> 00:40:20,040
From a distance, impressive.
Close up, not so much.

658
00:40:23,640 --> 00:40:27,280
Roma: I love the idea of taking
scrap bits of metal and material

659
00:40:27,320 --> 00:40:30,200
and making something
fantastic out of it.

660
00:40:30,240 --> 00:40:32,120
The one thing I
wouldn't recommend

661
00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:34,160
is doing that on a structure

662
00:40:34,200 --> 00:40:36,440
because, ultimately, if
you're gonna live in there,

663
00:40:36,480 --> 00:40:37,640
it needs to stand up.

664
00:40:37,680 --> 00:40:39,360
I definitely wouldn't
want to live there.

665
00:40:41,520 --> 00:40:43,240
Francis continued building

666
00:40:43,280 --> 00:40:46,880
and enlarging the complex
until his death in 1918,

667
00:40:46,920 --> 00:40:50,240
when the business
passed to his wife Helen.

668
00:40:50,280 --> 00:40:55,440
Then on 15 August,
1920, disaster struck.

669
00:40:55,480 --> 00:40:57,440
His wife was here,
Helen bannerman.

670
00:40:57,480 --> 00:40:59,600
She was up at the residence
sitting in her hammock.

671
00:40:59,640 --> 00:41:01,680
And as soon as she got up,

672
00:41:01,720 --> 00:41:03,376
she went into the
house to get a cup a tea,

673
00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:06,800
she turned around,
and the building blew up

674
00:41:06,840 --> 00:41:08,856
and a piece of that building
went right in the hammock

675
00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:10,760
where she was sitting.

676
00:41:13,440 --> 00:41:17,480
200 pounds of black powder
stored in a munitions house

677
00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:21,120
exploded throwing a
25-foot section of wall

678
00:41:21,160 --> 00:41:24,080
across the river and
onto the railway tracks.

679
00:41:26,600 --> 00:41:29,440
Miraculously,
bannerman's castle complex

680
00:41:29,480 --> 00:41:31,200
survived the explosion.

681
00:41:33,880 --> 00:41:36,920
For 30 years, as bannerman's
business dwindled,

682
00:41:36,960 --> 00:41:39,600
his island complex
fell into disrepair.

683
00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:46,080
Then in 1969, a
catastrophic fire

684
00:41:46,120 --> 00:41:49,280
that burned for three
days sealed its fate.

685
00:41:51,800 --> 00:41:54,160
Bannerman's castle
was abandoned.

686
00:42:00,400 --> 00:42:03,840
Today, the ruins are stabilised
and bannerman's island

687
00:42:03,880 --> 00:42:06,760
has become a popular
tourist attraction,

688
00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:12,000
hosting guided tours,
theatrical events, and film nights.

689
00:42:12,040 --> 00:42:14,720
Francis bannerman's
fantasy castle continues

690
00:42:14,760 --> 00:42:17,160
to fascinate all
those who visit.

691
00:42:18,400 --> 00:42:22,240
Neil: He left an
incredible building here,

692
00:42:22,280 --> 00:42:24,560
which is an icon
all over the world.

693
00:42:24,600 --> 00:42:27,080
People come and ask
about bannerman island.

694
00:42:28,680 --> 00:42:30,056
Andrew: Clearly,
bannerman's building

695
00:42:30,080 --> 00:42:32,240
is in a state of disrepair.

696
00:42:32,280 --> 00:42:34,520
It will require
millions to restore.

697
00:42:34,560 --> 00:42:36,600
But I think we
should make the effort

698
00:42:36,640 --> 00:42:39,960
because this is a slice
of history that, frankly,

699
00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:41,360
I don't think
should be forgotten.

700
00:42:56,120 --> 00:42:57,600
Now abandoned,

701
00:42:57,640 --> 00:43:01,640
they were once on the cutting
edge of human engineering.

702
00:43:01,680 --> 00:43:06,120
Within these decaying structures
are the echoes of history.

703
00:43:06,160 --> 00:43:08,720
They speak of war and terror

704
00:43:08,760 --> 00:43:12,440
but also of exploration
and human endeavour.

705
00:43:20,400 --> 00:43:23,400
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