Last Empire was born in 1992, a prosperous period for nightclubs, they were opening in incredible numbers, especially far from population centers.
The nightclub was opened, in fact, in December of that year on an evening still remembered by thousands of people, and it took more than 3 years of work to finish its construction because of safety issues, management and size of the complex.
Ex Last Empire disco consisted by: 7 dance floors, 9 bars, 7 fountains and 2 waterfalls. It had an indoor area of 7,000 square meters, an outdoor area of 12,000 square meters, 20,000 watts of outdoor sound power and 50,000 watts of indoor sound power.
❝Epic DJs of the caliber of Mauro Picotto, Francesco Zappalà, Ricky le Roy, Gigi D'Agostino, Maurizio Benedetta (just to name a few) have been anointed within these walls. The generations of Piedmontese and non-Piedmontese clubbers who frequented it can't fail to remember the long lines to get in, the immensity of the venue, the ruthless animation, the vocalists who made the history of the club (Gradiska, Franchino, Zicky the Jester, Joe Tequila), and the techno and progressive music that was played at the console.❞
From large numbers such as those just mentioned, it is easy to see that the Last Empire was not a disco like the others; in fact, it could be considered the largest club in Europe, able to accommodate more than 8,000 people at once.
DECLINE OF LAST EMPIRE
Since January 1996, the disco saw its first major problems, when a raid took place where large quantities of drugs and many fake tickets were confiscated.
Photos by Michela Baggio📸
Troubles followed each other becoming bigger and bigger, making it impossible to carry on the business, and from then on the Last Empire lived through long and small spasms of activity; from 1998 to 2008 it changed its name and became the “Privilege”, the reason is not very clear, but between 2008 and 2009 it changed again to ”Templares“ until September 2009 when it was changed for the last time to “Royal Fashion Club,” but things did not change and the failure continued until a certain and inevitable decline.
The last event was in June 2010, and after that date it shut down forever.
At the moment the space appears to be up for sale under judicial auction, but no one dares to buy it, probably because of the immense costs of renovation and those involved in maintaining it.
Since its abandonment, the venue has been destroyed by vandals; many things have been looted and today the building is in a state of total decay.
Columns and sculptures reminiscent of the Roman Empire were destroyed and thrown to the ground. All that remains of the stairs, in most spots, is the supporting structure. The console table is gone and neither is the bar counter. Only the foam upholstery is left of the sofas, and near the walls are the empty canisters with which the writers made some graffiti. The outside part, the one where they used to dance when it was so hot, is in complete ruin, and you can also see the presence of a car carcass.
Photos by Alessandro Lemma📸
Although belonging to a decidedly more modern era than the usual urbex sites, the Ultimo Impero nightclub definitely represents a must-visit place for all fans because of its majesty, who try to position themselves in the middle of one of the dance floors and get carried away by the decidedly nostalgic ambience.
THE PURPOSE OF THIS ARTICLE IS IN NO WAY
TO ENCOURAGE THE READER OR INVITE TO EXPLORING.
ALL LOCATIONS MENTIONED WITHIN THE URBEX CAFE
ARE IN RUINS AND ARE OFTEN A DANGER OF COLLAPSE.
WHOEVER DECIDES TO VENTURE OUT TAKES
EVERY CONSCIOUS RISK.
LEAVE ONLY FOOTPRINTS AND TAKE ONLY PHOTOS.
