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

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