Palace of Culture Energetik

The Palace of Culture Energetik (Ukrainian: Палац культури «Енергетик», romanized: Palats kultury “Enerhetyk”; Russian: Дворец культуры Энергетик) is an abandoned palace of culture located in the town of Pripyat, at the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in Ukraine.

The name “Energetik” is a play on words, as it means both “energetic” (lively) and “power plant worker”.

These generally physically impressive buildings were designed as a focal point for people to enjoy a range of recreational and artistic activities all under the banner, quite literally in many cases, of political propaganda.

Pripyat's Palace of Culture includes what's left of a cinema, theatre, library, gymnasium, swimming pool, boxing/wrestling ring, dancing and meeting halls and even has a shooting range in the basement.

The building was temporary utilized as a makeshift courtroom in July 1987, where 6 defendants who were accused as being responsible for the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster stood trial.

OSM locator map of the palace within the city of Pripyat