Abandoned Crying Baby Hospital in the Northern region of Italy. (Gaz Mather/Caters News Agency)

British urban explorer Gaz Mather primarily photographs abandoned buildings in the U.K., but he discovered a whole new world of deserted, decaying buildings when he traveled to Italy.

“After exploring the U.K. for a few years it was only a matter of time before I had to venture further afield and Europe was the next destination,” Mather told Caters News Agency.

The Manchester-based photographer trekked to the northern region of Italy for a long weekend to tour the derelict buildings in the area. On his visit he photographed abandoned hospitals, churches and buildings with rundown staircases, crumbling arches and empty beds.

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“My favorite location had to be the first one I visited – the crying baby hospital – we arrived so late in the evening it was also our shelter and hotel for the night,” explained Mather. “It’s a little daunting sleeping in a location for the first time – but this wasn’t the first place I had laid my head – so the bangs and noises were soon drowned out by the snoring.”

Although Mather said he wasn’t afraid to sleep in the abandoned hospital, he did admit that it was pretty creepy.

“The amount of empty children’s beds in the location gave a chilling insight into what it was like to live the life of one of these children,” said Mather.

The photographer, who has been arrested before for trespassing, wasn’t too worried about getting in trouble in Italy.

“I didn’t really look into the trespass laws in Italy, if they were stricter than here in the U.K. then I may have had second thoughts about the trip,” Mather explained.

The slideshow above features haunting photos from Mather’s trip to Italy.