It’s Milan as you have never seen it before as we explore, Diurno Venezia, below the street with Forbidden Places…
These public baths below the streets of Milan were built in an Art Deco style typical of the interwar period. Besides baths, barber shops and sundry recreational facilities, customers had a choice of services ranging from post office and travel agency to shoe-shine boy. A central boiler maintained a comfortable temperature. After the subway was built, the original entrances were used as access points for the new means of underground transport. As the layout of the baths became more confusing, the Milanese gradually lost interest. More and more businesses left the premises. Despite several attempts at restoration, the site is sinking into oblivion.
➤Taken from Forbidden Places: Exploring our Abandoned Heritage, Vol 2 by Sylvain Margaine, text by David Margaine, Jonglez, £29.99 (hardback) ➤Photography © Sylvain Margaine