Khovrino Hospital (the 'Umbrella') — Moscow

OVERVIEW

Khovrino Hospital — 'Khovrinka', the 'Umbrella', 'Nimostor' — was an unfinished medical complex in the Khovrino district of north Moscow, on Klinskaya Street. Begun in 1980 as a 1,300-bed hospital in brutalist style, shaped like a three-rayed star (hence 'Umbrella', after the corporation in Resident Evil, from its likeness to the biohazard sign), it was abandoned for more than thirty years, drew stalkers and gathered urban legends until it was demolished in 2018.

HISTORY

Construction stopped after about five years, when plumbing and furniture were already arriving, and was finally frozen in 1992; the most likely reason was uneven settling of the building on marshy ground. Unguarded for nearly two decades after the early 1990s, it drew stalkers, extreme tourists and teenagers, and was the scene of crimes: a girl was killed there in 1990, a man was found bound and hanged in 2015, and in 2005 a 16-year-old threw himself down a lift shaft from the eighth floor. Most visitors who needed a hospital had simply fallen through gaps in the floors. Demolition began on 23 October 2018 and was finished on 21 November 2018; housing has since been built on the site.

REPORTED ACTIVITY

The best-known legend is of a satanic sect, 'Nimostor' or 'Nemostor', said to have carried out ritual killings of people and animals in the building before being buried in its basements after a battle with the police. The Russian Wikipedia article states plainly that nothing of the kind happened — but the name stuck, and 'Nimostor' graffiti appeared on the walls.

VISITING

The building no longer exists: it was demolished in 2018 and a residential complex stands on the site.