More abandoned places part two ......i decided to split this in parts ......... as it is .......long and some people get bored ....... like me .....i have short attention span ...so short is sweet for me....... i hope you enjoy ..............
50. Ross Island
Location: Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India
Year: 1857
Cost: $2 million*
Ross Island was part of over 500 islands off the coast of India. It was used as a prison by British colonizers during the Indian Rebellion. The Indian prisoners were confined to decrepit jail cells, while the British built churches, tennis courts, and fancy bungalows on their part(s) of Ross Island.
In 1941, a large earthquake hit the island, killing almost everyone living there. The Japanese took over Ross Island in WWII, turning the buildings into bunkers. After WWII, the Japanese abandoned the island, and it has since been overtaken by roots, vines, and plants—though it is open to the public.
51. See Monster Oil Rig
Location: Weston-Super-Mare Beach, England
Year: 2022
Cost: $158.3 million* (Total Project Cost)
This is one of the more inventive uses for an abandoned building that we’ve seen. The See Monster is a decommissioned oil rig that is currently being turned into a green art installation. It will be one of the United Kingdom’s largest art installations. The See Monster proves that even a rusty, dated, industrial behemoth can be turned into something beautiful.
The massive platform spent a year in a shipyard in the Netherlands before the rig was decommissioned. It is now being stripped, cleaned, and fixed so that it can be transformed into an oasis-like artistic venture. When it was transferred from off the coast of Southeastern England, hundreds gathered to watch it be lifted from the water to the shore. The giant crane took three dramatic hours to lift the See Monster to its final home.
52. The Mechanics Institute
Location: Swindon, Wiltshire, England
Year: 1855
Cost: $34.28 million to fix*
The fate of the Swindon Mechanics’ Institute has been a bit of a sad one, filled with promise and then heartbreak. Founded in 1855 in Swindon, England, the Institute is a Grade II building that is part of a conservation area within a railway village. It served workers from the nearby Swindon Railway Works.
It was turned into a theater sometime in the twentieth century, but it closed in 1986. Since then, it has remained in disuse, falling into terrible disrepair. In 2002, a company called Forefront took ownership of this abandoned building, but that company dissolved in 2012. It was overburdened by the heavy $34.28 million debt associated with fixing the Mechanics’ Institute.
53. Carpenter Road Elementary School
Location: Flint, Michigan
Year: 1837
Cost: $1 million to operate per year before closure*
There was a time when Flint, Michigan was famous for being the birthplace of the iconic American company General Motors. It was also famous, in the thirties, for spawning the United Auto Workers union. Now, Flint is sadly known for being a city that was, as it has been hit with high crime rates, an infamous water-quality scandal, and general dereliction.
The Carpenter Road Elementary School is now yet another abandoned building haunting Flint. It closed down in 2015 because of district budget cuts, and its closure left northeast Flint, temporarily, without an elementary school. Its eerie photos are a grim reminder of how far Flint has to go to fix its issues.
54. Borgata Maison
Location: Noasca, Italy
Year: 1960s (Year Abandoned)
Cost: N/A
Borgata Maison consists of the abandoned ruins of a chapel and schoolhouse. The ruins are the only thing that remains of the little Italian village, which fell into disuse in the sixties when people left the countryside for the convenience of city life. The buildings where Borgata Maison once stood are hit-and-miss, with some in excellent condition and others unrecognizable.
The small chapel has remained in a decent state, as it has frescoes still remaining on its walls. Borgata Maison has become popular with hikers, as hiking trails pass through the area. Hikers can leave the trail and get a glimpse of this eerie, abandoned village.
55. Dino Island
Location: Praia A Mare, Italy
Year: 1950s (Officially Abandoned)
Cost: N/A
Dino Island, located in Praia A Mare, Italy, is the perfect setting for a survival-esque horror movie, as this picturesque island contains the ruins of a failed resort. Dino was connected to its mainland until erosion destroyed the bridge, making it unsafe for even human feet to cross.
The buildings that stand hint at a small chapter of Dino Island’s long history. Pirates once stopped at Dino, as did Islamic and Ottoman Ships, Norman invaders, the Kingdom of Naples, and more. In the fifties, a private company sought to turn Dino Island into a tourist attraction, but plans failed, and Dino was abandoned, leaving the ruins of a restaurant and a few house-like structures behind.
56. Park of Souls
Location: Mount Parnitha, Athens, Greece
Year: 1930s
Cost: $0 to visit*
Athens, Greece is a city full of ruins, but the Park of Souls takes the cake for being some of the creepiest. Located on Mount Parnitha, these wooden sculptures stand outside an abandoned sanitorium. The outdoor exhibition is meant to capture peoples’ attention, and it is a reference to Athens’ history with tuberculosis and forest fires.
The Parnitha Sanitorium was constructed in the 1930s to provide sunshine and fresh air to TB patients as the disease ravaged Athens. The building was repurposed after the plague until it was abandoned in the mid-eighties. After a series of fires broke out in the 2000s, causing more devastation, sculptor Spyridon Dassiotis constructed the Park of Souls to give “life” to this seemingly-haunted area.
57. Perlora Ciudad de Vacaciones
Location: Perlora Ciudad de Vacaciones, Spain
Year: 1954
Cost: Unknown
Perlora Ciuidad de Vacaciones, Spain, known in English as Vacation City, was supposed to be a luxury resort. The Francoist oasis was, at one time, a way for workers of all classes to enjoy the chance to travel (under the watchful eye of Italy’s 1950s fascist government, of course). At its peak, this 150-building resort could house 2,000 workers a day.
Now, it is abandoned. Vacation City closed down in 2005, but people still visit it. The ghost town comes to life every summer, as people now treat the abandoned resort like a park, using space for barbecues and hanging outside certain run-down villas.
58. Elfland
Location: Somerville, Boston, Massachusetts
Year: 2021
Cost: Priceless
Elfland started out as the project of an eight-year-old, and it is delightfully wacky. After a gas station near the youngster’s house was abandoned, the lot was cleared and fenced in. The boy and his family began adding little elf-themed models, growing the abandoned lot into a tiny elf town.
Elfland really took off when strangers began contributing their own models, giving this tiny, weird city a life of its own. Developers who bought the area have a challenge on their hands, as they can’t get rid of this Boston landmark, so they have to find a way to keep it or move it intact and unharmed (after all, who wants to be known as the company who destroys community art installations?).
59. Nike Missile Control Site
Location: Newport News, Virginia
Year: 1955
Cost: $12 million*
Project Nike was developed by the U.S. Army to construct a series of $12 million bases that would serve as an integral part of America’s air defense system. There were hundreds of these bases across the country, and some, like N-85 in Newport News, Virginia, were converted from POW camps to missile bases after WWII.
Formerly Camp Patrick Henry, N-85 was turned into a missile site in 1958, and it remained the base of Nike Ajax until 1971. Today, looming radar towers and abandoned buildings remain, and it is a popular destination for not only people who like exploring abandoned places but also snakes. N-85 is known to house a lot of snakes and weird insects (so keep an eye out if you choose to visit).
60. Château de la Mothe-Chandeniers
Location: Le Trois-Moutiers, Vienne, France
Year: 1200s
Cost: $1.6 million attempt to purchase*
Château de la Mothe-Chandeniers is a breathtakingly beautiful castle that remains abandoned in Les Trois-Moutiers, a commune in Vienne, France. Mothe-Chandeniers dates back to the 1200s when it was a stronghold of the Lords of Loudun, the Baucay Family. The English captured it a few times during the infamous Hundred Years War.
During the French Revolution, Mothe-Chandeniers was obliterated. It changed hands from the early 1900s until 1932, when a fire destroyed the castle, leaving it abandoned. In 2017, a French crowdfunding project raised $1.6 million to purchase the castle to preserve it, as it is a centuries-old historical landmark that should not be erased.
61. Seminário de Santa Teresinha
Location: Raposeira, Portugal
Year: 1928
Cost: N/A
Fire has put an end to the lifespans of even the most historically-significant buildings, and that includes the Seminário de Santa Teresinha. The Seminario was a theological college that was started by Vincentian priests in 1928. The building, after 1967, was used as a retirement home (it fit the structure well).
It remained in use until 2020, after a devastating fire scorched the Seminario, leaving only ruins in its wake. You can see some of the beauty and meticulous detail with which this historic seminary was constructed, but you’ll have to climb through glass, rubble, and ash to do so.
62. Chacaltaya Ski Resort
Location: Chacaltaya Mountains, Bolivia
Year: 1930s
Cost: $22 for a tour*
Located in Bolivia, Chacaltaya remains the world’s highest ski resort. Tour companies now offer a look around the place for $22, but the resort is not open to the public, as it has been abandoned. For a while, Chacaltaya was the only ski resort in Bolivia. It was constructed in the 1930s.
You can still ski down the mountain’s 600-foot stretch, assuming that there is enough snowfall for a run. Amateur mountaineers also like Chacaltaya, as the road stops just 660 feet from the summit (a reasonable distance for a new climber).
63. Beautiful Betsy
Location: Valentine Plains, Australia
Year: 1945
Cost: $5.42 million to build*
On February 26, 1945, during World War II, the Beautiful Betsy, a B-24 Liberator (which cost $5.42 million to produce during the War, adjusting for inflation) went missing on a flight from Darwin, Australia to Brisbane. The bomber had been damaged in prior combat missions, so it was only used for short flights.
As soon as it could be replaced, the Australian government would scrap it. Alas, they waited too long, and the Betsy crashed, killing eight soldiers. For years, the crash remained a mystery until 1994, when a park ranger discovered the remains. Initially, the Betsy’s discovery was kept a secret, but, now, the crash site is open to the public, with trails and signs leading to the remains of the bomber.
64. The Western Village
Location: Nikko, Japan
Year: 1973
Cost: $25 million* (Cost Of Mt. Rushmore Reproduction)
Just a few miles from lovely Nikko, Japan and its Toshogu shrine is The Western Village, a theme park inspired by Spaghetti Westerns and classic American Wild, Wild West tales. The Western Village opened in 1973, and it has a very distinct Westworld vibe (minus the killer robots, thankfully).
The Western Village was pricey, with its Mount Rushmore reproduction costing $25 million to put in a few decades ago. The Village closed in 2007, likely for financial reasons. Now, it is a popular place for haikyo (urbex adventurers) from Japan, who love exploring the uncanny, surreal surroundings of this former Western-themed amusement park.
65. Barlow Sanatorium
Location: Los Angeles, California
Year: 1902
Cost: $250,000*
Tuberculosis is a bacterial disease that ravages through the lungs. Treatment now is a regiment of antibiotics, as well as strict isolation. This deadly disease is better-managed now, thanks to the wonders of modern medicine, but in the early twentieth century, it tore through entire countries, killing thousands.
Sanatoriums, which were places dedicated to treating TB patients, were opened to combat the spread. The Barlow Sanatorium was founded in 1902 for TB patients to get sunshine and fresh air—some patients remained there for years on end. Now, Barlow is a Respiratory Hospital, though remains of its old sanatorium past remain undisturbed on its grounds.
66. Dunmore Park House
Location: Airth, Scotland
Year: 1822
Cost: $779,000 to build*
Located in Airth, Scotland, Dunmore House was constructed as an ancestral home in 1822 for the Fifth Early of Dunmore and his family. At the time, the home was worth around $16,000 (that’s $779,000 in today’s money).
Dunmore Park House, as it was known, remained occupied for nearly a century until 1911, when it was sold to a private owner and transformed into a girls’ school from 1961 until 1964. After the sixties, Dunmore Park House fell into dereliction. Some lots remain privately owned, while others remain in the National Trust for Scotland. You can visit the abandoned grounds for a tour of Dunmore, though it was partially demolished in 1972.
67. Chatanika Gold Dredge #3
Location: Fairbanks North Star, Alaska
Year: 1923
Cost: $70 million total value (1923-1957)*
To visit this old gold mining landmark in Alaska, you can take the old Steese Highway twenty-five miles out of Fairbanks. The Chatanika Gold Dredge #3 was established in the early 1920s as a mining operation. Over a period of thirty years, around $70 million worth of solid gold was extracted from the dredge.
At one point, the population of the mining camp was ten thousand, which, ironically, is even larger than the entire population of Fairbanks. The Dredge changed hands from the sixties until 1997 when its new historian owners left the equipment as it was to make sure Alaskan history was preserved. Though the steel equipment and framework were damaged by fire in 2013 and 2016, the Dredge #3 still remains, mostly, intact.
68. Victoria Theatre
Location: Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Year: 1876
Cost: $121,000* (2022 Renovation Costs)
In 1876, Victoria Theatre was founded as a state-of-the-art, professional, nationally-significant theater that was a feather in New South Wales’ cap. The Newcastle-located Victoria was designed by famous architect J. Henderson, and, though it was torn down a few times, it was always rebuilt. It stopped being a theater in 1966, and it now is a historical, visitable landmark.
The abandoned theater was stage-and-screen, and its final movie was Bette Davis’ Who’s Buried In My Grave (fitting, don’t you think?). The theater’s huge velvet curtain was kept at half mast, as though it would one day be reopened for live theater—something that has not happened yet.
69. Old Town Mall
Location: Gay Street, Baltimore, Maryland
Year: 1818
Cost: $1.7 million revival cost in 1968*
Baltimore, Maryland is a city that was once a great landmark of East Coast America, but it has, largely, fallen into disrepair, boasting high unemployment rates, poverty, and crime. When the Old Town Mall was founded in the 1800s, it helped turn Baltimore into a bustling, diverse city. But, after WWII, a lot of families moved to the suburbs, and Gay Street, the street on which the Old Town Mall is located, fell into disrepair.
Despite a $1.7 million revamp after the devastation of the 1968 Baltimore Riots, Old Town Mall didn’t last. The area is mostly abandoned now, though, fittingly, a Haunted House opens there every year before Halloween.
70. Rodalquilar Gold Mine
Location: Rodalquilar, Spain
Year: 1930s
Cost: N/A
The Denver Mining Plant’s surviving structures seem to precariously hang off the hillside over the little Spanish town of Rodalquilar in Cabo de Gata Natural Park. The mine was founded during the first half of the twentieth century, and its fame hit a fervor pitch in the 1950s. People truly believed that there were huge deposits of gold hidden beneath Rodalquilar’s surface.
Alas, this state-sponsored enterprise didn’t live up to its expectations, and after a decade of disappointment, it was abandoned. Though it got a breath of fresh air in the eighties after it was used as a film set for Solarbabies and The Reckoning, this former mine is mostly the haven for explorers who want to tour its eerie, rocky ruins.
71. The Witch’s Hat Pavilion
Location: Neversink Mountain, Reading, Pennsylvania
Year: 1892
Cost: $4.142 million to build the Neversink Mountain Hotel*
Neversink Mountain, a site of hiking trails in Reading, Pennsylvania, was once the site of a group of exclusive, fancy hotels constructed at a cost of $4.142 million (adjusting for inflation). In the warm months, vacationers from Philly and NYC would take a train to the hillside to stay in Reading and get a taste of the rural, sweet country air.
Now, all that remains of nineteenth-century glory is an abandoned stone pavilion nicknamed “The Witch’s Hat.” It has a spooky vibe, as it does look like the hat of a Halloweenish figure. Despite Neversink’s abandonment (and further destruction due to arsonists), it still offers beautiful views of the mountains on a clear day.
72. Sadpol Strawberry
Location: Wierzbica, Poland
Year: 1992
Cost: Unknown
This gigantic metal strawberry was once the linchpin announcing the presence of Sadpol, a farm located between Modlin and Warsaw, Poland. This giant, red strawberry heralded a strawberry-growing farm where tens of thousands of pounds of strawberries were grown and exported throughout Europe.
The Sadpol Strawberry is slightly damaged, but it still makes for a great photo op. The hole at the base of the large metal berry actually adds a bit of character. You can see inside, and the berry is no doubt home now to a bunch of critters who see it as a mansion.
73. El Miro Ruins
Location: Puntarenas Province, Jaco, Costa Rica
Year: Unknown
Cost: N/A
Overlooking Playa Jaco in Costa Rica are the ruins of a mansion that once belonged to a rich man. The man passed on before El Miro, his estate, was completed, and all that remains of El Miro’s dream is its three-story ruins, which consist of unfinished balconies, white pillars, grand staircases, and what would have been a luxurious interior.
El Miro offers panoramic views to curious hikers and urbex adventures. There is a lot of graffiti on El Miro, which is either beautiful or disrespectful, depending on how you view the toil of graffiti artists. To get to El Miro, you’ll have to do some hiking on a trail that starts past the Petrol Station on the side of Jaco’s highway to Quepos.
74. Michelangelo da Vinci
Location: Villamarzana, Rovigo, Italy
Year: 2000
Cost: $16.23 million for the Douglas and Tupolev planes*
An hour southwest of Venice, Italy in Villamarzana stand the ruins of two planes, a helicopter, and a control tower. The planes, a Douglas DC-6 ($230,000) and a Tupolev Tu-134A ($16 million), were part of a project founded by Gigi Stecca in 2000. Stecca wanted to give elderly Italians a chance to fly on an airplane if they had never done so before.
Stecca named the complex, which also included a restaurant, Michelangelo da Vinci. Alas, the semi-amusement park was embroiled in over a decade’s worth of legal battles over governmental zoning rules, and that forced its shutter in 2014.
75. Sanatorio Durán
Location: Potrero Cerrado, Costa Rica
Year: 1918
Cost: $100,000-$300,000 to build*
Carlos Cartin, a Costa Rican politician and doctor, opened Sanatorio Duran, a tuberculosis recovery ward, to help treat his daughter who was ill with the disease in 1918. Sanatorio Duran’s locale was remote, so as to provide the most natural light, fresh air, and warm weather possible. Sadly, Cartin’s daughter did not make it.
Duran still functioned after her passing, and it was staffed by nuns from the Charity Santa Anna. It is said that the ghosts of these sisters, as well as the children who passed away from TB, haunt the grounds of the sanatorium (which was also, later, used as an insane asylum). Sanatorio Duran has a reputation for being the most haunted hospital in Costa Rica.
76. Bodie, California
Location: Bodie Hills, California
Year: 1859
Cost: $39 million* (Total Ore Production)
Bodie is located in the Bodie Hills of California, right by the Nevada Border. It was once a gold-mining town that boomed during the gold rush. Between the years 1877 and 1881, Bodie had a population of ten-thousand people.
So, what happened? Well, Bodie ran out of gold, and its appeal wore off quickly. It was abandoned and relegated to become a ghost town and, in 1962, a State Park. It’s a far cry from Bodie’s former glory, as the town accounted for over $32 million in gold and $7 million in silver. Now, it is a tourist attraction for those who want to roam its eerie arrested decay.
77. Houtouwan, China
Location: Houtouwan, Shengshan Island, China
Year: 1980s
Cost: Unknown
Located east of Shanghai, China, Houtouwan is an abandoned fishing village. You can find it on the northern side of China’s Shengshan Island, part of a chain of four-hundred islands. Houtouwan is now overgrown, overtaken by greenery in an example of what would happen if humans suddenly disappeared.
At one point, Houtouwan was home to two-thousand fishermen, but the fishermen abandoned the village in the early nineties because of problems with the food delivery and education. The village was home to a handful of people until 2002, but, now, it is a tourist attraction for explorers and those looking to take otherworldly photographs.
78. Fordlandia, Brazil
Location: Aveiro, Para, Brazil
Year: 1928
Cost: $10 million* (Ford Investment)
Fordlandia was a 5,509-square-mile tract of land in Aveiro, Para, Brazil. It was located on the banks of the Tapajos River, and it was established by famed U.S. industrialist Henry Ford, who invested $10 million into its construction in 1928. Ford created this Amazonian town as a prefabricated village for people who were harvesting cultivated rubber.
The village was inhabited by 10,000 workers who all had one thing in common: they hated Ford. There were revolts over working conditions, and Ford’s project eventually filed. Fordlandia was abandoned in 1934, and, now, it is mostly deserted still, with just ninety residents as of the early 2000s.
79. Power Plant IM, Belgium
Location: Charleroi, Belgium
Year: 1921
Cost: $500 million-$1 billion to build*
Located in a neighborhood of Charleroi, Belgium, this abandoned power plant looks like something out of a science fiction movie. Power Plant IM was constructed in 1921, and, when finished, it became one of the country’s largest coal-burning plants. It was the main source of energy for the town, able to cool 480,000 gallons of water a minute.
But, in 2006, Power Plant IM’s fame came crashing down when Greenpeace got ahold of information stating that it was responsible for 10% of CO2 emissions in Belgium. Protests ensued, bringing a lot of negative attention, and IM closed in 2007. It remains a popular location for urbex adventurers, and it has been “scheduled for demolition” for years, to no avail.
80. Gereja Ayam, Indonesia
Location: Magelang, Indonesia
Year: 1990s
Cost: $240,000* (Cost of Land)
Gereja Ayam is a fascinating chapel-turned-tourist attraction. Located in the forests of Magelang, Indonesia, this massive church is shaped like a chicken. Daniel Alamsjah, an architect who said he received a message from God to build a hen-shaped church, constructed Gereja Ayam in the 1990s.
Well, partially constructed. A chicken church is no small feat, and Alamsjah ran into financial problems (the cost to buy the land alone was $240,000) and local resistance. He abandoned his project before it was completed. Now, Gereja Ayam has achieved a high level of fame for its unique shape, and it has even been put in several movies since the nineties.
81. Tianducheng, China
Location: Hangzhou, China
Year: 2007
Cost: $30 billion to build*
Tianducheng, located in Hangzhou, China, is a former ghost town that was designed to look like a miniature version of Paris. It was also known as Sky City, and its central feature was its 354-foot-tall replica of the famous Eiffel Tower. In Tianducheng, there are other features of Parisian design as well, including fountains, landscaping, and architecture.
It opened in 2007 and had a population capacity of 10,000. But, only 2,000 people showed up, which led the media to label Tianducheng a ghost town. By 2017, Tianducheng had rallied, and the former ghost town now has a population of around 30,000, if not more. Still, this $30 billion district has not lived up to the potential the Chinese government thought it would.
82. Michigan Theatre, Detroit
Location: Detroit, Michigan
Year: 1925
Cost: $42.4 million to build*
Believe it or not, Detroit used to be an elegant city where everyone wanted to live or visit. In 1925, the Michigan Theatre was constructed as a testament to that elegance, as it was designed in an opulent, baroque French Renaissance style. Adjusting for inflation, the Michigan Theatre cost $42.4 million to build.
It was designed by two renowned architects, George L. Rapp and Cornelius W. Rapp. The Theatre had forty years of greatness before it changed hands, and the new owners had little interest in running a Theatre. In 1957, the Michigan Theatre was shuttered and abandoned after a dual screening of The Spy With a Cold Nose and A Thousand Clowns.
83. Ponyhenge, Massachusetts
Location: Lincoln, Massachusetts
Year: 2010
Cost: Unknown
Ponyhenge in Lincoln, Massachusetts is perhaps one of the strangest entries on this list. Located on a wide-open New England pasture, Ponyhenge was formed in 2010 when rocking horses and plastic ponies began showing up in a circle there. Someone was putting them there, but the identity of this mystery equestrian was unknown.
The metal and plastic horse toys continued to proliferate, and that was when the art installation (if you can call it that) got its moniker, Ponyhenge. Periodically, Ponyhenge is rearranged into a circle or a scattered pattern. No one has attempted to take down Ponyhenge, and the attraction just continues to grow and grow, much to the delight of locals.
84. Beelitz-Heilstatten Hospital, Germany
Location: Beelitz, Germany
Year: 1898
Cost: Unknown
Every photo of the “dark tourism” location known as Beelitz Heilstatten is eerie and fear-inducing. This derelict military hospital has had a dark past—in addition to having been a sanitorium for those suffering from tuberculosis and other lung diseases, Beelitz was once the residence of tyrant Adolf Hitler as he recovered from injuries sustained in WWI.
Hitler was a young soldier when he was shot at the Battle of Somme and blinded in a British gas attack. Beelitz treated him successfully, and Hitler would continue to mandate the hospital as a military hospital in WWII. A few small sections of the building are in use today, but much of it has been abandoned, and it is now a popular place for urbex, teenagers who want to drink, and people looking for a creepy scare.
85. Kennecott, Alaska
Location: Kennecott, Alaska
Year: 1911
Cost: $885.83 million* (1916 Value)
This Alaskan copper mine was once an American giant. It was founded in 1911, and it took off quickly. Between 1915 and 1922, Kennecott was in the top ten for mine production in America. In 1916, Kennecott’s production value was $885.83 million (inflation-adjusted). Billions of pounds of copper were mined every year in Kennecott.
This massive production ended up being Kennecott’s downfall, as it was stripped bare. By 1938, there was no copper interest left in the mine. Kennecott remains an abandoned mining town, and it is inside the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. To protect it from being torn down, it was named a National Historic Landmark District in the 1970s.
86. Rummu Prison, Estonia
Location: Rummu, Vasalemma Parish, Estonia
Year: 1938
Cost: $3.10 entry fee to visit*
Rummu is an underwater prison in Estonia, and it is extremely unique, as there are not many other places like it. Rummu started out as a limestone quarry. In 1938, the Soviet Union, who controlled Estonia until the 1990s, turned the quarry into a prison camp, where inmates would mine limestone as part of their sentence.
The jail was abandoned in 1991 when the USSR collapsed, and the lack of supervision quickly led the quarry to become submerged. Now, Rummu Prison is totally underwater, and it is a popular attraction for scuba divers who want to explore the former jail’s mining equipment and buildings below the surface.
87. Lapalice Castle, Poland
Location: Lapalice, Poland
Year: 1979
Cost: Unknown
Though Lapalice Castle might look and sound like an ancient Polish castle, it is now. This moody-looking, unfinished castle was constructed in 1979, and it was originally intended as a studio for Piotr Kazimierczak, a Polish artist. Piotr wanted Lapalice to be a grand estate, with a swimming pool, ramparts, twelve towers, and a ballroom.
But, alas, Piotr ran out of money, and he also didn’t have the right permits. He had to abandon his dreams of Lapalice, leaving its ruins standing. Lapalice is now at risk of collapse, but that has not stopped explorers from hopping its brick entrance gates to explore.
88. Kangbashi, China
Location: Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China
Year: 2016
Cost: $161 billion to build*
Kangbashi, Ordos, China has just about everything, minus the people. This urban district was announced in 2000, and it took sixteen years to build. Kangbashi is famous for its decorated civic square, grandeur, and the fact that it has very few residents. Kangbashi is a well-dressed ghost town, essentially.
It became a ghost city largely because of design failures. According to Forbes, Kangbashi had a “lack of relevant services and urban infrastructures,” which made it hard to attract people. High property taxes, in addition to poor construction, also deterred new residents. Kangbashi can hold one million people, but its population right now is one-tenth of that.
89. Tskaltubo, Georgia
Location: Tskaltubo, Georgia
Year: 1920
Cost: $59 per night to stay*
The waters of Tskaltubo have been rumored to have healing powers since the 600s. But, it took centuries before this Western Georgia city would become state property. In 1931, the Georgian Soviet Republic declared Tskaltubo a spa resort, and there were nine baths, a resort park, and nineteen sanatoriums and pensions built on the property.
Tskaltubo even treated Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin at one point. After the USSR collapsed, Tskaltubo was largely abandoned, with just 700 people a year coming to visit. Much of the complex is now dedicated to housing refugees, though you can still receive spa treatments there for $59 a night. Compared to its former glory, Tskaltubo has fallen a long way.
90. St. George’s Church, Czech Republic
Location: Lukova, Manetin, Czechia
Year: 1352
Cost: Unknown
Located in Lukova, a tiny Czech town, St. George’s Church is famous for its ghosts. The fourteenth-century church stood for hundreds of years until, in 1968, the roof collapsed during a funeral. This led to locals believing that St. George’s was cursed or haunted, and the congregants began holding mass outside and avoiding the church’s interior altogether.
But, oddly enough, it was ghosts who brought St. George’s back to life. An artist installed thirty-two, white-sheet-covered ghostly figures in the church, seating them in pews, standing them by doorways, and putting them in the aisles. These ghost statues are a physical manifestation of the haunting of St. George’s.
91. Lake Reschen Bell Tower, Italy
Location: Lake Reschen, Italy
Year: 1950 (Reservoir Formed)
Cost: $150-$300 million to build*
If you’re a fan of the Italian-language mystery series Curon, then these photos of the ruins of an Italian village will be familiar to you, as they were the film location for the Netflix show. In 1950, Reschen, an old Italian village, was flooded to create a dam for a hydroelectric power plant. 160 houses were blown up and flooded, and any villagers remaining had to move.
When Lake Reschen was drained in 2021, one of the first ruins to emerge in decent condition was the St. Catherine Bell Tower. As more and more of Lake Reschen has drained, locals have ventured out, taking photos of the Bell Tower and the eerie ruins of the little Italian village that was.
92. Nicosia International Airport, Cyprus
Location: West of Nicosia, Cyprus
Year: 1930s
Cost: $37 million* (Proposed Reconstruction Plan)
The Cyprus government has proposed a plan to reconstruct Nicosia International Airport. At $37 million, the price tag is not cheap, but it’s easy to see how Nicosia Airport could be restored back to its former glory. Built in the 1930s, Nicosia was the main airport on the island. In 1974, Nicosia was abruptly shut down after the Turks invaded Cyprus.
Nicosia was also, in addition to being a popular commercial airport, home to Royal Air Force and United Nations camps. You legally cannot visit the abandoned airport today, as the United Nations has declared it a “Protected Area,” sealing off the former airport and its camps to the public.
93. City Hall Subway, New York City
Location: Manhattan, New York City, New York
Year: 1904
Cost: $1-$2 billion to build*
The City Hall Station was constructed in the early twentieth century underneath City Hall Park in Manhattan, New York City. The station saw its ridership grow quickly, though city officials decided against lengthening its 257-foot platform to accommodate larger, ten-foot trains. In 1945, City Hall Station was shut down, as it was deemed infeasible to keep it open when it was so close to the Brooklyn Bridge Station.
That doesn’t mean that this once-great feat of twentieth-century architecture has been abandoned, however. People still come to walk through this Designed Landmark, touring its Romanesque Revival architecture, skylights, colored glass tilework, brass chandeliers, and Guastavino tile.
94. Anping Tree House, Taiwan
Location: Tainan City, Taiwan
Year: 1800s
Cost: $1.45 per ticket to visit*
This testament to Western colonialism has slowly been reclaimed by the Earth. The Anping Tree House was built in the 1800s by England’s British Tait & Co., a trading company. You can see that in the colonial-style architecture that is barely visible beneath the plant life, trees, and roots that have overgrown the site.
Anping was eventually abandoned, and a massive, living banyan tree forced its way across concrete and brickwork to take over the former merchant’s warehouse. Interestingly enough, the tree’s branches and roots have preserved the shapes of Anping’s doorways, roofs, and walls, turning the entire structure into an actual tree house.
95. Griffith Park Zoo, California
Location: Los Angeles, California
Year: 1912
Cost: $650 million* (Proposed Reconstruction Cost)
Griffith Park Zoo, which local Angelos call the “Old Los Angeles Zoo,” was a government-owned zoo in California’s most populous city. It opened in 1912, but it closed in 1966 after the Los Angeles Zoo (“the new one”) opened that year. The animals were all transferred, and Griffith Park was left behind.
The old enclosures, cages and all, have been left as ruins, though some picnic benches and tables have been installed, along with hiking trails, for urbex adventurers. There is a proposed $650 million revival plan on the table for Griffith Park, but environmentalists claim that it is a bad idea, as it will disturb the natural habitat that has taken over in the past fifty-plus years.
96. Al Madam, United Arab Emirates
Location: Emirate of Sharjah, UAE
Year: 1975
Cost: Unknown
Al Madam is located in the Emirate of Sharjah in the UAE, and you can find it where the Mleiha-Schwaib and Dubai-Hatta roads intersect. Now, the road from Al Madam to Hatta is only open to permit holders or Omani/UAE nationals. The town was developed in 1975, and builders had big plans for it.
Though part of Al Madam is still in use, there is an abandoned development with twelve ghost-town houses and a vacant mosque. This is known as the Al Madam Ghost Town. Theories about why this part of Al Madam was unsettled range from a lack of resources to local djinn haunting the area.
97. Villa Epecuén, Argentina
Location: Villa Epecuen, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
Year: 1920
Cost: Unknown
This tourist village was located in the Buenos Aires Province near the city of Carhue. It was built in 1920, and you could get there from Buenos Aires by train. At one point, the city was home to 1,500 people, and it brought in many more tourists a year.
But, tragedy struck on November 6, 1985, when a seiche (a bunch of massive lake waves caused by an extreme weather event) broke Epecuen’s dam. Villa Epecuen’s dike broke too, and the water rose quickly, reaching a peak of thirty-three feet. The village was uninhabitable, and its citizens had to flee. It was never able to remain rebuilt, even though, later, it resurfaced after twenty-five years.
98. Crystal Palace Subway, London
Location: London, England
Year: 1865
Cost: $3.2 million* (2022 Renovation Grant)
Beneath Crystal Palace Park in London, England is a cavernous, vaulted crypt-like structure that is a testament to the Victorian Era’s opulence. This structure is called the Crystal Palace Subway, and fans of history will be pleased to note that Crystal Palace is getting a $3.2 million restoration that promises to boost it back to its former glory.
The Crystal Palace was designed by Italian cathedral craftsmen (which is why it looks like a crypt), and it features stone ribs, reds and creams, and octagonal pillars. During WWII, this opulent Subway station was turned into an air raid shelter. Forty years later, it became a hotspot for ravers. After these partiers came and went, the Crystal Palace was shuttered because of “safety concerns.” Now, these concerns will be alleviated, thanks to the present-day facelift that the London government has planned.
99. Hartley Mauditt, England
Location: East Hampshire, England
Year: 1400s
Cost: Unknown
There is not much to be seen on a map when it comes to the East Hampshire village of Hartley Mauditt, but the story behind this ghost town is interesting. The settlement was first documented in the 1400s, as it had been given to William de Maldoit by William the Conqueror. Hartley Mauditt changed hands until the late 1700s.
The agricultural settlement had consisted of large farms along 1,400 acres, though it declined in the late-1700s. Now, all that is left are a couple of cottage ruins and St. Leonard, a decrepit parish church. Now, this former Saxon village is home to woodland animals and, if legends are to be believed, ghosts.
100. Holy Land USA, Waterbury, Connecticut
Location: 60 Slocum Street, Waterbury, Connecticut
Year: 1955
Cost: $350,000* (2013 Land Price)
John Baptist Greco, a Roman Catholic lawyer, came up with the idea for Holy Land USA, a religious-themed amusement park, in the 1950s. Holy Land USA was unique at the time, not only for its religious attractions (stations of the cross, catacombs, Israelite villages, and a giant cross, among other features), but also for its anti-segregation policy.
Construction finished in the late 1950s in Waterbury, Connecticut, and it attracted 40,000 visitors a year during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1984, Greco shuttered Holy Land USA to expand it, but, when he died in 1986, the work was left unfinished and the park abandoned.
No comments:
Post a Comment