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Mirna Pavlovic documents the abandoned affluent homes of Europe's wealthiest families

In her ongoing series, Dulcis Domus, Croatian photographer Mirna Pavlovic documents the many abandoned villas, palaces and castles across Europe, that once belonged to some of the continent's wealthiest families.

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Decaying ornate interior with faded purple-toned wall panels and decorative mouldings, nature reclaiming the abandoned room through rubble and overgrown vegetation

Often left to ruin following social and political upheaval, these crumbling buildings have been overtaken by nature, but still hold many clues to their fascinating past. Mirna explained: "The World Wars left many scars, and in terms of abandoned villas of wealthy families, most of them are concentrated in countries which held a precarious political position in the wars.

"Most of these homes were abandoned, appropriated by the regime and then reappropriated by the surviving members of the families after the conflict ended, only to once again be abandoned when the world entered post-war economic fluctuations. The crumbling economies and high emigration rates sealed their fate."

A staggering number of villas and palaces now stand abandoned and overgrown, and are often very difficult to reach. Mirna added: "I wanted to preserve the memory of the places as well as the families who once lived there, by documenting and retelling the hidden histories of these spatial and temporal incongruities that were once called home."

Based in Belgium, Mirna is an award-winning photographer and writer, and most notably scooped an accolade at the Moscow International Foto Awards 2016. You can discover more of her work at www.inkquietude.com or follow her on Instagram @inkquietude.

Via Creative Boom submission | All images courtesy of Mirna Pavlovic

Abandoned ornate interior with peeling blue ceiling, crumbling wooden beams, white columns and decorative wall panels showing signs of decay and water damage
Abandoned neoclassical room with peeling green wallpaper, ornate cornicing, white panelled doors and arched window, from Mirna Pavlovic's Dulcis Domus series
Overgrown courtyard of an abandoned European villa with crumbling whitewashed walls, fallen wooden beams and vegetation reclaiming the space
Abandoned ornate interior with Gothic-arched doorways, peeling blue walls, and a grand staircase visible through an archway, covered in dust and debris.
Deteriorating corridor with burgundy panelled walls and ornate ceiling rose, leading through open doorways towards light, in an abandoned European villa
Abandoned bedroom with a deteriorating bed with blue and white fabric, peeling wallpaper and debris scattered across a bare concrete floor
Deteriorating interior of an abandoned European villa with peeling wallpaper, debris-strewn floor, ornate ceiling and large windows letting in natural light
Crumbling interior room with faded frescoes of landscape scenes on ceiling and walls, overgrown with climbing plants and scattered with debris and discarded shutters
Abandoned bedroom with peeling wallpaper, decaying floorboards, a weathered armchair and heavy curtains hanging from a rail, part of Mirna Pavlovic's Dulcis Domus series
Deteriorating frescoed ceiling and walls in an abandoned European villa, with faded classical figures and cherubs painted across peeling plaster, doorways opening onto overgrown gardens
Dilapidated interior of an abandoned European villa with crumbling plasterwork, empty wall panels and debris-strewn floor, from Mirna Pavlovic's Dulcis Domus series
Decayed interior of an abandoned European villa with ornate ceiling frescoes featuring blue and gold geometric patterns, crumbling walls and a gaping hole in the floor
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