The 'End of the World' cinema, located in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, January 2010. (Kaupo Kikkas/HotSpot /Landov)

A movie theater is probably the last thing anyone would expect to see in the Sinai Desert, where temperatures can reach 104 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, but that’s just what Estonian photographer Kaupo Kikkas discovered during a trip with his friends.

Kikkas, who has been to the Sinai Desert five times, was on his way back to Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt after an overnight trip with his friends in the desert when his friend offered to show him something unusual. “And there it was — the apocalyptic cinema in the middle of the desert,” he told weather.com.

He ended up staying at the location for several hours trying to capture the theater in “softer evening light.”

(MORE: No Vacancies: 10 Abandoned Hotels and Resorts (PHOTOS))

“Usually deserts are considered as empty and rather boring landscapes, but deserts can be very different and everything can change with light,” Kikkas explained. “I believe that sunrise is always the most beautiful time in deserts, usually it’s cold at night and this first ray of sunlight brings huge change in everything. This moment is so strong that sometimes I feel that it’s too sacred to ruin it with my shutter sound.”

The outdoor theater was built over a decade ago in the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, at the bottom of a desert mountain range. A wealthy Frenchman, who thought the desert was a perfect location for a cinema, built the theater, according to Kikkas.

The theater never ended up showing movies after the generator mysteriously failed to work during its premiere. Today, the 150 wooden seats are weathered and worn from the elements. The frame of the screen and the building holding the generator and the projector are left crumbling.

The decaying theater was the perfect subject for Kikkas, who says most of his projects are related to “the relationship between nature, environment and mankind.” To see more of Kikkas’ work visit his website.