There’s something about abandoned places that sparks a bit of imagination, and heartache, in all of us. Below are more eerie, but beautiful, abandoned places, some of which you can still visit.
Kolmanskop (Afrikaans for Coleman’s hill, German: Kolmannskuppe) is a ghost town in the Namib desert in southern Namibia, a few kilometres inland from the port town of Lüderitz. It was named after a transport driver named Johnny Coleman who, during a sand storm, abandoned his ox wagon on a small incline opposite the settlement. Once a small but very rich mining village, it is now a popular tourist destination run by the joint firm NamDeb (Namibia-De Beers).
Nara Dreamland (Nara Dorimurando) was a theme park near Nara, Japan which was built in 1961 and inspired by Disneyland in California. On August 31, 2006, Nara Dreamland closed permanently.
The registration of Ayrfield was cancelled on 6 October 1972 and the old collier sent to Homebush Bay for breaking-up. The hull is located near the mouth of Haslams Creek with the bow pointing towards the shore.
Wonderland is an abandoned amusement park construction project located in Chenzhuang Village, Nankou Town, Changping District, People’s Republic of China, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) outside of Beijing. Originally proposed by the Thailand based property developer Reignwood Group, and designed to be the largest amusement park in Asia (to have covered 120 acres, construction stopped in 1998 following financial problems with local officials, while a 2008 attempt to start construction again also failed. The site, which features a number of abandoned buildings, is being reclaimed by local farmers.
Holland Island is a marshy, rapidly eroding island in the Chesapeake Bay, in Dorchester County, Maryland, west of Salisbury. The island was once inhabited by watermen and farmers, but has since been abandoned. It is located in the Holland Strait, between Bloodsworth Island and Smith Island, six miles west of Wenona, Maryland.
15th century monastery in the Black Forest in Germany.
Kalavantin Durg (Prabalgad Fort) is a fort located in between Matheran and Panvel, visible from the Mumbai Pune expressway. The fort is located at an elevation of 2300 feet in the Sahyadri mountains. It is located on a plateau very close to Matheran, but unlike Prabalgad fort does not have a good source of water supply. It was known as Muranjan until it was taken over and renamed by the Maratha forces under Shivaji’s rule.
Pegasus Field (ICAO: NZPG) is an airstrip in Antarctica, the southernmost of three airfields serving McMurdo Station. Pegasus is a blue ice runway capable of handling wheeled aircraft year-round, and the principal Ice Runway on the sea-ice available during the summer Antarctic field season. The other two are the snow runways at Williams Field that are limited to ski-equipped aircraft. The field is named after Pegasus, a C-121 Lockheed Constellation, still visible there in the snow after crashing in bad weather on October 8, 1970. No one on board was injured.
The Maunsell Forts were small fortified towers built in the Thames and Mersey estuaries during the Second World War to help defend the United Kingdom. They were named after their designer, Guy Maunsell. The forts were decommissioned in the late 1950s and later used for other activities.
Bodiam Castle is a 14th-century moated castle near Robertsbridge in East Sussex, England. It was built in 1385 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, a former knight of Edward III, with the permission of Richard II, ostensibly to defend the area against French invasion during the Hundred Years’ War. Possession of Bodiam Castle passed through several generations of Dalyngrigges, until their line became extinct, when the castle passed by marriage to the Lewknor family.
The Cincinnati Subway is a set of unused tunnels and stations for a rapid transit system beneath the streets of Cincinnati, Ohio. It is recognized as the largest abandoned subway tunnel in the United States. Construction took place in the early twentieth century, but the project was not completed so it never hosted a paying customer. The project has been described as “one of the city’s biggest embarrassments,” and “one of Cincinnati’s biggest failures.
Abandoned train depot in Częstochowa, Poland (thanks to reader “Rob” for clarifying this one for us). Częstochowa is a major railroad hub, located at the intersection of two important lines – west-east (from Lubliniec to Kielce) and north-south (from Warsaw to Katowice).
Sunken yacht in Antarctica.
Abandoned distillery in Barbados.
1984 Winter Olympics bobsleigh track in Sarajevo.
Craco is an abandoned commune and medieval village located in the Region of Basilicata and the Province of Matera in Italy. About 25 miles inland from the Gulf of Taranto at the instep of the “boot” of Italy. It is typical of the hill towns of the region with mildly undulating shapes and the lands surrounding it sown with wheat. It was abandoned in 1963 due to recurring earthquakes.
Russian military rocket factory.
Abandoned mill from 1866 in Sorrento, Italy.
Sitting atop a mountain like an abandoned flying saucer, this giant structure looks like it was created on another planet. The House of the Bulgarian Communist Party was built in another era, however, one that long ago crumbled along with the way of life it embodied. After the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, Bulgaria moved into a new age of parliamentary democracy.
Abandoned city of Keelung, Taiwan.
The Lawndale, which opened in 1927, was located in the North Lawndale community on Roosevelt Road at Pulaski Road. It was a rather large neighborhood movie house, seating 2,000, which later featured burlesque, and after that, movies once more, before it was closed in 1963. It was known as the Rena Theater in its later years.
The luxurious Hotel del Salto opened in 1928 to welcome wealthy travelers visiting the Tequendama Falls area of Columbia. Situated just opposite to the waterfall and on the edge of the cliff, it provided a breathtaking view to its guests. During the next decades though, Bogotá river was contaminated and tourists gradually lost their interest to the area. The hotel finally closed down in the early 90’s and was left abandoned ever since. The fact that many people in the past chose that spot to commit suicide, made others believe that the hotel is haunted.
Located near the town of Kleven, this luscious green tunnel provided passage for a private train that provided wood to a local factory. Measuring 1.8 miles long, the unusual rail route in Eastern Europe is a popular spot for lovers’ promises.
Christ of the Abyss (Italian: “Il Cristo degli Abissi”) is a submerged bronze statue of Jesus, of which the original is located in th eMediterranean Sea off San Fruttuoso between Camogli and Portofino on the Italian Riviera. It was placed in the water on 22 August 1954 at approximately 17 metres depth, and stands c. 2.5 metres tall.
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