Photo: jezarnold
Perhaps even more eerie than graveyard tourism, abandoned-city tourism is alive and well for those who like the surreal.
Here at Matador, we love the weird, wacky, and surreal. So naturally we took note when the Dir Journal Info Blog published a list of Abandoned Places in the World.
The reasons and urgency that lead a group of people to just up and leave a place are varied: obsolete technology, depleted resources, natural or man-made disasters. But whatever the case, there will always be people who are drawn to destinations like these.
I’ll admit, I enjoy dipping into a cemetery to walk amongst the buried, reading the epitaphs, marveling at the intricate artwork and over-the-top mausoleums while reflecting on life.
Maybe the attraction of visiting an abandoned city is a similar feeling — the emptiness and loneliness, wondering where these people (or their offspring) might be now.
Oradour-sur-Glane / Photo: Verity Cridland
Dir Journal Info Blog’s article lists 15 places around the world from where humans have walked away, leaving the remnants of a once active area.
It includes Pripyat, Ukraine, which was abandoned within two days in 1986 because of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster; Centralia in Pennsylvania, cleared out over 20+ years due to an underground coal-mine fire that’s been burning since 1962, which has made it too hazardous to live there; and Oradour-sur-Glane, France, a town that lost 600 lives and was subsequently destroyed by the German SS in 1944.
Others are Kolmaneskuppe, Namibia, a former diamond mining town whose population steadily declined after WWI, when diamond prices crashed, and Balestrino, Italy, whose inhabitants were moved in 1953 after several earthquakes brought them to the conclusion that the area was geologically unstable.
For more information and some interesting photos, make sure you check out the Abandoned Places in the World article.
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Are you interested in visiting places that have been abandoned? Or is it too creepy? Have you been to any that you can add to the list? Please share below!
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11 Comments... join the discussion!
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Interesting…
One broad category of abandoned places is that which includes military bases around the world that have been abruptly shut down but left largely “as is.”
When I got married on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, a few years ago, we were exploring the small island and came upon barracks, abandoned vehicles, and other hardware left over from the US military’s use of the island as a testing ground for weapons. It made for an eerie sight.↵ -
I remember reading about that base, Julie. It used to take up more than half the island, right?
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Awesome article! I think Centralia is a super-interesting sounding place. The only problem is, it’s really unsafe to visit for the same reasons it’s unsafe to live there. As in, 200+ ft deep sinkhole opening up under your feet unsafe (it’s happened).
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Yeesh! When did that happen? What happened to the people? Scary…
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Awesome article! I love decaying ghost towns. The mining town in Namibia is incredible –the town is entirely full of windswept sand now. Some truly epic photographs have come from there.
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amazing article… i love getting lost & finding abandoned buildings and found this article very interesting. if you live near berlin, you need to check out the old DDR-era cold war spy station… it’s called Teufelsberg and is a must visit!! here is a link to a website about it…
http://www.ccc.de/teufelsberg/
one of the coolest places i have ever been!
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Cool, planning on being in Berlin next year some time, this sounds interesting. Thanks!
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Mongolian ghost town….I would love to know why it was left, especially with all the things still in the buildings!
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Thanks for the comment, Christy. I’ve gone ahead and embedded the video right here so we can all check it out more easily. Fascinating stuff!
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Spooky…thanks for sharing!
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