The scariest ghost towns in the world. The largest abandoned cities in the world
The ghost towns of Russia are scattered throughout the territory. Each of them has its own history, but the end is the same - all were left abandoned by the population. Empty houses still retain the imprint of a person's stay, in some of them you can see abandoned household items, already covered with dust and decrepit from the time passed. They look so gloomy that you can shoot a horror movie. However, this is what people usually come here for.
New life in Russia's ghost towns
Despite the fact that cities are left abandoned for various reasons, they are often visited. In some settlements, the military is organizing training grounds. Dilapidated buildings as well as empty streets can be used to recreate extreme living conditions without the risk of involving civilians. 
Artists, photographers and representatives of the cinema world find a special flavor in abandoned buildings. For some, such cities are a source of inspiration, for others - a canvas for creativity. Photos of dead cities can be easily found in different versions, which confirms their popularity among creative people. In addition, abandoned cities are considered curious by modern tourists. Here you can plunge into another side of life, there is something mystical and eerie in lonely buildings.
List of known empty settlements
There are quite a few ghost towns in Russia. Usually, such a fate awaits small settlements in which residents are mainly employed in one enterprise, which is key for the city. What was the reason for the massive resettlement of residents from their homes?
- Kadykchan. The city was built by prisoners during the Second World War. It is located next to coal deposits, so most of the population was employed in the mine. In 1996, there was an explosion that killed 6 people. It was not included in the plans to restore the extraction of minerals, the residents received compensation sums for resettlement to new places. For the city to cease to exist, the power and water supply was cut off, the private sector was burned. For some time, two streets remained inhabited, today only one elderly man lives in Kadykchan.
- Neftegorsk. Until 1970 the city was called Vostok. Its population slightly exceeded 3000 people, most of whom were employed in the oil industry. In 1995, there was a strong earthquake: most of the buildings collapsed, and almost the entire population was in ruins. The survivors were resettled, and Neftegorsk remained a ghost town of Russia.
- Mologa. The city is located in the Yaroslavl region and has existed since the 12th century. It used to be a large shopping center, but by the beginning of the 20th century its population did not exceed 5,000. The USSR government in 1935 decided to flood the city in order to successfully build a hydroelectric complex near Rybinsk. People were evicted by force and as soon as possible. Today, ghostly buildings can be seen twice a year when the water level drops.
There are many cities with a similar fate in Russia. In some there was a tragedy at the enterprise, for example, in Promyshlennoe, in others the mineral deposits simply dried up, as in Staraya Gubakha, Iultin and Amderma.
There is nothing more terrifying and intriguing than abandoned cities. They allure and charm with their gloomy beauty, and over time they only become more attractive. Desperate adventurers are increasingly choosing abandoned settlements. If you're also looking for a creepy weekend getaway or chilling photo shoot, check out the 13 scariest ghost towns in the world.
Kraco, Italy
Founded in the 8th century, the Italian town of Kraco has been abandoned due to endless natural disasters. Part of the population left it in 1963 after a landslide. In 1972, a flood hit Kracko, making it an even more precarious place to live. The last straw for its inhabitants was the 1980 earthquake, after which the rock under the city began to collapse. After a deadly disaster, the picturesque Kracko was abandoned forever.
Only risky daredevils go on a journey through the "dead" city, because the rock under Kracko can not withstand and collapse. The miraculously survived statue of the Virgin Mary still stands in the city, so religious festivals are still held here. Despite the fact that Kracko is a time bomb, he was used for the filming of The Passion of the Christ.
Turlingua, Texas, USA
In 1903, when the workers of local mining companies worked tirelessly in the mercury mines, the population of the Texas town was 3 thousand people. However, the cinnabar deposits were depleted over time, and the residents of Terlingua, left without work and money, had to leave their homes. In 2010, the city had barely 58 residents. The enterprising descendants of the miners who risked staying here have built a good business on tourists eager to see firsthand ghost cowboys in local dilapidated churches and houses.
Pripyat, Ukraine
After the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which provoked the most powerful emissions of radiation, Pripyat turned into one of the darkest and most dangerous abandoned places on Earth. 50 thousand citizens almost 30 years ago hastily left their homes, not even suspecting that they would never return back. The city itself entered the notorious Chernobyl exclusion zone. The highest level of radiation cut it off from the outside world for decades. Only vandals and marauders who robbed the city regularly visited Pripyat. It is now open to the public. You can go to Pripyat and look at the famous amusement park, city hospitals and schools, shops and cinemas as part of an excursion with strict observance of safety rules. Indeed, in lowlands, ditches and near large trees, the radiation background is still increased.
Calico, California, USA
Like Terlingua, the town was created by a mining company founded in 1881, and just as rapidly emptied as the silver feeding its inhabitants fell in value and the borax deposits that had been profitable dwindled. The last man left Calico in 1986. The desert city was bought by a certain Walter Knott and made a historical landmark out of it. Now Calico is open to the public, and there is a Wild West Museum on its territory.
Hashima Island, Japan
In 1881, underwater coal mines started working on Hasima Island. Its population grew rapidly, and by 1959 its population was 5 thousand people. People left Hasima when the mines began to run out in 1974. The now flourishing island is completely abandoned. Here you can see only tourists who have come to look at gloomy dilapidated houses, dilapidated shops and deserted streets.
Garnet, Montana, USA
Garnet is another mining settlement with a sad history. Sloping log cabins are all that remain of a 19th century town of 1,000 inhabitants. You can now explore Garnet for as little as $ 3. There are camping sites nearby. Desperate tourists who decide to go on a dangerous night trip around the city stop there.
Thurmond, West Virginia, USA
Desert Thurmond, even now, cannot be called completely abandoned. According to the results of the 2010 census, 5 people still live here. However, you will hardly see anyone or hear that there is not a single soul in the town.
Kolmanskop, Namibia
The somewhat pompous and artsy Kolmanskop blossomed in the middle of the African deserts in the early 20th century, when diamond hunters from Germany settled here. The city was dotted with houses made in the German architectural tradition, a dance hall, a hospital and even a bowling club were rebuilt. The first X-ray apparatus in Namibia appeared at Kolmanskop. True, the townspeople did not use it for medical purposes. Over time, diamond deposits became smaller, precious stones decreased in size, and with the help of the apparatus, it was easy to identify an unlucky thief.
The city began to decline soon after the end of the First World War. In 1928, richer diamond deposits were discovered south of Kolmanskop than the local ones, and greedy townspeople, thirsty for profit, began to rapidly leave their cozy homes, leaving the settlement equipped with their own hands to be torn apart by the vast Namibian deserts.
Virginia City, Montana, USA
This is a former mining town, the inhabitants of which hunted for gold mining. Virginia City was founded in 1863, and its population was about 10 thousand people. The now deserted city has been preserved as a historical monument. However, instead of the traditional deserted streets and tumbleweeds, once here, you will see how before your eyes Virginia City rises from the ashes thanks to the actors who are located behind the windows of shops, in residential buildings and public buildings, ready to send travelers to visit them at any time. into the past.
Kennecott, Alaska, USA
At the beginning of the 20th century, the town was the center of the copper industry in Alaska and brought in millions of dollars a year. However, single-industry towns built around a single mining enterprise have little chance of success. Copper production began to decline gradually, and Kennecott had nothing more to offer his residents. The town was abandoned and turned into a silent ghost, whose eerie dilapidated buildings attract hosts of adventurers.
Animas Forks, Colorado, USA
During its heyday, Animas Forks had about 30 residential buildings, a department store, a post office, a hotel and a bar. However, he, like many mining settlements, suffered a sad fate. Now Animas Forks is a desolate place with nine dilapidated shacks and a small prison.
Ross Island, India
Once upon a time, the island of Ross was ruled by British officials. Here they built an entire city with extravagant dance halls, bakeries, clubs, swimming pools and gardens, and at the same time rebuilt a correctional facility for the local population. The "Paris of the East," as Ross Island was called, witnessed the extreme brutality of the British colonial system.
The city flourished until 1941, when an earthquake struck and the Japanese invaded. Ross again came under British control only after the end of World War II, and in 1979 was transferred to the Indian Navy. Now the former "Paris of the East" has conquered tropical vegetation, and the island itself has become an attractive tourist destination.
Rhyolite, Nevada, USA
Abandoned Rhyolite - heir to the "gold rush" era. At the beginning of the 20th century, the pursuit of easy money brought the first gold diggers here, who erected a settlement in record time, and, having enriched themselves at the expense of gold mines, turned it into a garden city. In Riolita, a school, hospital, shops, hotels and even an opera house with a stock exchange were rebuilt. The population has reached 12 thousand people.
However, Rhyolite emptied as quickly as it appeared. Gold mines became scarce, and a crisis began in the United States. By 1911, the population had dropped to 1,000 people, and in 1920, Rhyolite was the last resident. Now the city has been transformed into an art space where artists from all over the world create art. The sculptural compositions of Charles Zhukalsky, reminiscent of ghosts in their gloomy appearance and bearing the name "The Last Supper", gained particular popularity.
We live in a big and noisy world, and sometimes it is difficult to believe that there are corners on Earth where crowds and crowds, noise and din are completely absent. Moreover, these are not uninhabited islands or paradise coasts at all, these are quite real cities, with streets and squares, houses and schools, roads and squares. Only people don't live here. The ominous emptiness of the streets, the grass sprouting through the asphalt ... All this justifies the eerie name of "ghost towns", under which the settlements of the most different countries our planet. The reasons for the devastation of cities are completely different, but they all inspire horror. And in some, the most creepy places, they even arrange excursions, and this, by the way, is very popular. We offer you the ten most creepy ghost cities on our planet.
1. Kolmanskop, Namibia
The city of Kolmanskop in the Namib Desert near the Atlantic coast is world famous. At the beginning of the 20th century, diamond deposits were found here, and after a few years the settlement of gem hunters turned into an exemplary German town: houses and hotels, schools and hospitals, a stadium. However, the supply of diamonds very quickly dried up, and residents of the city came to the conclusion that it was very difficult to live here - there is little water, constant sandstorms. Residents began to disperse and after a few years Kolmanskop was empty. Today, sandstorms have done their job: even the smallest rooms of houses are covered with sand - this is an amazing and eerie sight. Locals try to keep the buildings in good condition so that tourists can admire the amazing abandoned city-museum.
2. Pripyat, Ukraine
The city of Pripyat is located 94 km from the capital of Ukraine Kiev, and only 3 km from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. It was here in 1986 that a terrible tragedy happened - a nuclear reactor exploded, and the population of Pripyat was urgently evacuated. At the time of the evacuation, about 50 thousand people lived here, it was assumed that the evacuation would be temporary. However, due to the high radiation background you can't live here, the city is empty. People left the city so hastily that everything remained as in those days. Here is the terrifying "Bridge of Death", from which some residents watched the reactor burn and subsequently died within weeks. The Ferris wheel in the amusement park looks so creepy that it became a symbol of peace after the apocalypse in the famous game "Call of Duty".
3. Centralia, USA
In the state of Pennsylvania in the United States there is a small town called Centralia, which has been raging underground for 50 years in a row. How is this possible? Let's start with the background. The city was founded in the middle of the 19th century; the main craft of local residents was work in mining mines. In 1962, a fire broke out in one of the mines at a garbage dump, it captured deep deposits of debris and penetrated the mines around the city. It was not possible to liquidate the fire, every now and then in different places carbon monoxide was released to the surface, which means that a fire was still burning underground. In 1984, local residents were resettled from Centralia, but today 9 people live here, who are sure that the fire is the result of a conspiracy by the authorities against the population of the city. The city became the prototype for Silent Hill from the horror film of the same name.
4. Detroit, USA
Detroit is not a city without a population; today it is home to about 700 thousand people. But compared to two million during its heyday, this is practically nothing. The population of the city is literally melting, every year families and whole districts leave here. The status of a ghost town is quite applicable to Detroit. Once it was one of the most dynamically developing cities in the United States, it was a real "city of motors", the automotive industry flourished here with might and main. The decline began in the 1950s with the onset of the global oil crisis, and the city's population began to decline rapidly. Many Detroit buildings are abandoned and abandoned, and their appearance terrifies visitors. These are, first of all, car factories, as well as schools and hospitals, train stations and museums, theaters and art galleries, and even skyscrapers. The creepiest views of Detroit are featured in Eminem's video "Beautiful".
5. Humberstone, Chile
The city of Humberstone is located in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. The city was founded as a settlement for workers of a plant for the extraction and processing of saltpeter. In the 1930s-40s, it was a large city with a dynamically developing infrastructure and large quantity population. However, due to a significant decrease in the reserves of saltpeter, the authorities closed the plant, and the population gradually left the city. After Humberstone was awarded the status of a "ghost town" without a single local resident, it opened up for tourism, tours are regularly organized here. In 2005, the city was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this is a real open-air museum.
6. Hasima, Japan
The island city of Hashima or, as the locals called it, Gunkanjima ("cruiser island") in Japan really looks like a warship, especially when viewed from the sea. This city was founded when coal deposits were found here, and during its heyday the island was considered overpopulated. In 1974, the authorities closed the coal mines, and the population began to gradually leave the city. When visiting this place, one gets the impression that the city was abandoned by the inhabitants instantly, before that everything here reminds of the old times. Today, you cannot visit the city on your own, you need to seek permission from the local authorities, or travel with a tourist group. The city's concrete labyrinths attract video and film makers, as well as computer games.
7. Chaiten, Chile
Chaiten is considered another ghost town in Chile, but the reason for its devastation was not at all the cessation of the work of local factories, as in the case of Humberstone. It was something much more terrible and destructive - a volcanic eruption. At one time the port city of Chaiten on the coast The Pacific was a developed center of maritime trade. The eruption of a volcano, which has been sleeping for many years, unexpectedly happened in 2008, and the city's population was urgently evacuated. The eruption of the volcano was not quite traditional: the red-hot lava first fell into the icy waters of the mountain river Rio Blanco, as a result of which a liquid gray mass was formed, resembling concrete in its properties. She, accordingly, “concreted” everything that came across on the way: houses and cars, streets and roads, and even abandoned animals.
8. Spinalonga, Greece
The ancient island city of Spinalonga in Greece has served as an excellent settlement for generations of people. However, at the very beginning of the 20th century, when an epidemic of leprosy hit the country, the sick were forcibly sent to this island, making it a real leper colony (colony for lepers). The patients were sent to the island, the city was surrounded by a wall, food and medicines were delivered to them by boats. If a leper woman gave birth to a healthy child, he was forcibly taken away and sent to an orphanage in Crete. In 1957, a cure for leprosy was invented, the sick were able to be healed. Naturally, the recovered people left the island, and it turned into a ghost town, a kind of historical landmark. Today, excursions are organized here for curious tourists. Exists interesting legendthat deities live in the waters around the island, who at one time helped the lepers to heal.
9. Varosha, Cyprus
The city of Varosha on the island of Cyprus has long been a popular tourist resort with excellent beaches and warm sea. In 1974, Turkish troops unexpectedly invaded here, and the population of the city was urgently evacuated. It happened in the early morning, people just threw breakfast on the tables, forgot to turn off the lights and did not have time to collect their things. The clothes were left to dry on the clothesline, and people believed that they would soon return home. However, this did not happen. Until today, the city is completely devoid of population, its territory is surrounded by barbed wire, and disputes between the two states over the city's territory continue. Varosha looks literally frozen in time: in shop windows there are still outfits of the 70s, antique cars rust in car dealerships, grass and tree roots are breaking through the asphalt, and turtles rest on deserted beaches.
10. Pegasus, USA
It is no coincidence that the name of the city that closes our list of ghost settlements is in quotation marks. The fact is that the city has no official name. For now. This is not at all a city that residents have left due to the destructive effects of the forces of nature or the lack of conditions for a full life. There is no population here and will never be. Pegasus is a unique center for innovation, testing and research located in the state of New Mexico in the USA. It has not yet been built, but is already planned for construction by a major technology innovation company. Various novelties that are planned to be released on the international market will be tested here: unmanned vehicles, inexhaustible sources of energy, anti-terrorist installations and more. Here everything will be like in an ordinary city, only there will be no residents. The company plans to spend about $ 1 billion on the construction of a ghost town for tests and experiments.
Culture
Ghost towns may seem scary and sad to someone, but they are rather curious places, as they retain a part of the soul of the society that lived here, but which left these places long ago. There are a large number of ghost towns in the world, whose stories always have a sad end, however, the reasons why the locals left them are completely different from each other. Many of these cities have long been hidden underground, and archaeologists are trying to dig them out, but some of them were abandoned relatively recently, so life in them seemed to stop and we can see the life of that time.
1) Bodie, California, USA
Probably the most famous ghost town in the United States is Bodie, which is located east of San Francisco. This city was once a thriving community thanks to the nearby gold deposit. It was the precious metal that attracted thousands of wealth hunters from all over the country to these places; he also forced local residents to leave their homes and move to other areas. However, nothing lasts forever, so as for Bodie, as the gold reserves began to deplete, more people began to move. In 1932, a fire broke out in the city, which destroyed the entire business part of the town and finally decided its fate.
2) San Zhi, Taiwan
San Ji is a city that began to be built in the early 1980s according to the latest concept, whose architecture was supposed to make it known throughout the world as an ultra-modern city of the rich. However, due to a number of problems that occurred in the city during construction, in particular due to a large number of accidents, and also due to insufficient funding, the project was stopped developing, although most of the buildings were already standing. Today, no one lives in the city, all engineers and builders also left it, never completing what they started.
3) Varosha, Cyprus
Once these places were famous all over the world for being a luxury resort, attracting thousands of wealthy tourists, among whom were many celebrities. Everything changed in 1974 when the Turks broke into Cyprus. They turned this piece of paradise into a fortress and cut off access to the area even for local residents who fled during the attack.
4) Gunkanjima, Japan
Another town that began to develop thanks to the minerals found here is a city on the island of Hasima, which is often called Gunkanjima (Japanese for "cruiser"). At the end of the 19th century, coal was found near a small rock in the sea, during the extraction of which an artificial island was formed, where the workers settled. So little by little the city of miners began to be built. The city became very popular, and crowds of people began to flock here. In 1959, the city had 1,391 people per hectare of land, and there were less than 5 hectares! However, later other alternative coal deposits were found, residents began to gradually move, as a result, it became clear that the city was doomed. Despite the fact that the city has long been abandoned by the inhabitants, many tourists come here to see.
5) Balestrino, Italy
This city, which today is one of the ghost towns of Europe, hides many secrets, in particular, no one knows exactly when it was built, and it is also not clear why the locals began to leave it. Balestino refuses to reveal his secrets. However, it is obvious that natural disasters that took place about 60 years ago forced local residents to look for a new refuge.
6) Katoli World, Taiwan
The Katoli World was one of the most successful amusement parks in Taiwan. It was famous for its fun roller coasters and many other attractions. Why was it abandoned? In 1999, a powerful earthquake struck the area. Thousands of people died, and the park itself was so badly damaged that it could not be restored to this day. He seems to have closed his doors forever.
7) Centralia, Pennsylvania. USA
This city also fell victim to the closure of coal mines, which were the main source of income for the city's residents. There was no other job in this area, so the townspeople were forced to move. The situation was further complicated by the fact that underground fires took place in the city, which could not be extinguished for many years. Naturally, no one wanted to live on such a powder keg, because harmful gases were released into the air, poisoning everything around. When the situation became unbearable, the local population left their homes.
8) Yashima, Japan
City with ancient history Yashima is the site of a famous battle that took place in 1185 during the Gempei War. Known for its temple, the site was a popular tourist attraction in the 1980s. Funds were invested in the construction of hotels, shops and other tourist facilities. However, all of a sudden, everyone realized that tourists were unlikely to come here because of the proximity of rock mining enterprises, so the construction was frozen, possibly for another thousand years.
9) Pripyat, Ukraine
It may seem strange that a relatively large city of 50 thousand people was empty in an instant. Pripyat is notorious for the events that took place in this area in 1986, namely, a disaster occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant near the city. Due to dangerous levels of radiation, residents were forced to evacuate urgently, never to return to the once prosperous city.
10) Kraco, Italy
This beautiful city, which was once inhabited by 2,000 people, is today abandoned as a result of a series of misfortunes that have befallen it, from the war, poor agricultural conditions to a series of earthquakes that convinced the last inhabitants that it was time to find more suitable place to live.
11) Kolmanskop, Namibia
In 1908, the diamond mining industry became a very lucrative business in Namibia. People from all over the country flocked to the Namib Desert to try their luck. In just 2 years, a whole city was erected, and in an area that before that was completely barren and useless. Kolmanskop became a thriving city with a school, hospital, exclusive residential buildings and even a casino. Everything was fine until diamond sales began to fall after the First World War. Since local businessmen were losing profits, they went in search of new jobs. It became more and more difficult to find food, and the inhabitants of the city began to leave Kolmanskop. The city became a ghost back in the 1950s. Since then, the desert has increasingly absorbed the once beautiful and rich buildings.
12) Kadykchan, Russia
The city of Kadykchan was once home to 12 thousand inhabitants, who were mainly coal miners. After the collapse of the Union, this city was seriously damaged. Due to the reduction in demand for coal, many companies were forced to close. Finally, a collapse in a coal mine in 1996, which killed 6 people, decided the fate of the city. In the following months, residents of the city were evacuated to nearby cities, and the population declined to a minimum until it disappeared altogether.
13) Gilman, Colorado, USA
The city of Gilman was founded in 1886 during the Colorado Silver Boom. Thanks to the mining industry, Gilman has grown into a state-wide lead and zinc mining center. However, a hundred years later, in 1986, the city faced the beginning of its end. Mining has become unprofitable, and toxic pollutants have also been detected. Groundwater pollution has made the city uninhabitable. After all, the Security Department environment ordered to evacuate residents and close the city to visit.
14) Oradour-sur-Glane, France
The village of Oradour-sur-Glane in France is a few ruined buildings reminiscent of the terrible events of World War II, or rather June 1944, when the Germans decided to punish the inhabitants of the city of Oradour-sur-Vires for supporting the French resistance. By mistake, the Nazis attacked the nearest village of Oradour-sur-Glane. All the villagers were killed. Today the village remains a kind of monument dedicated to those events, and is also a ghost town.
A huge overview and description of the largest cities, which in the past developed rapidly, and nowadays are abandoned ghost towns. Quite interesting, read on.
Dallol, Ethiopia
The former sylvine, potassium and salt mine was abandoned in the late 1960s. Most of the buildings on the site were built from salt blocks. Currently, Dallol is considered the settlement with the highest average annual temperature. Between 1960 and 1966, the average annual temperature was 35 degrees Celsius.
Most of the buildings on the site were built from salt blocks.
Currently, Dallol is considered the settlement with the highest average annual temperature. Between 1960 and 1966, the average annual temperature was 35 degrees Celsius.
Nova Cidad de Quilamba (New City of Quilamba), near Luanda, Angola
By the time the project was completed, it was supposed to shelter about 500 thousand people. 750 multi-colored eight-story buildings were to become houses for future indigenous people.
The city also has all the necessary infrastructure: 12 schools, shopping centers, cinemas, a five-star hotel.
Kolmanskop, Namibia
Kolmanskop was founded in 1908 as a result of the diamond rush in Namibia. But after the First World War, when the "diamond reserves" ran out, the city was deserted and was soon abandoned.
Taverga, Libya
Back in 2006, the population of the Libyan city of Taverga was 24,223 people. But in 2011, as a result of the military conflict between the opposition and the government, the city lost almost all of its inhabitants. Today, the once prosperous Taverga has become completely deserted.
Pomona, Namibia
Pyramid, Russian mining settlement, Spitsbergen, Norway
Oradour-sur-Glane, France
The village was destroyed in 1944, and 642 inhabitants, including 205 children and 247 women, were killed by German soldiers on June 10, 1944. And only 47-year-old Marguerite Ruffanche miraculously survived.
Adolph Dieckmann, the SS commander, blamed local partisans for the massacre in the city.
By order former president Charles de Gaulle's France, Oradour-sur-Glane was not restored, but became a city-museum, the ruins of which are designed to remind descendants of the Second World War.
Kayakoy, southwestern Turkey
Oili, Switzerland
An imitation of the city was built to train the Swiss army.
Cowpenhill Down, Wiltshire, England
Built life-size by the British Department of Defense as a replica of a German village in 1988 for urban combat training.
Dellersheim, Austria
As a result of the policy of forcible annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany in 1938, this 900-year-old village and several neighboring ones suffered. Hitler, despite the fact that his paternal grandmother was buried in Dellersheim, ordered training bases for the Wehrmacht on the site of the villages. At the moment, this territory belongs to Armed Forces Austria.
Big Blasket, Ireland
Until 1953, the island was mainly inhabited by a fishing community, but soon the population dropped to 22 people, and then the island became completely uninhabited.
Pegrema village, Karelia, Russia
Pegrema is a fine example of wooden architecture. The village was abandoned after the Revolution.
Pripyat, Ukraine
The city, named after the nearby Pripyat River, existed for only 16 years. All 45,000 residents were evacuated a few days after the Chernobyl disaster in April 1986. The city has an amusement park that only worked for a few hours and a train station just outside the city.
Luxury residential area of \u200b\u200bFrancisco Hernando in El Quinen, Sesenia, Spain
During the construction boom in the early 2000s, this supposedly prestigious 13,200 apartment complex was built. The construction budget was nearly $ 12 billion. Oddly enough, but such utilities as water and gas supply for some reason were not in the plans of the builders. Maybe that's why so few apartments were sold, and only a third of those sold became residential.
Sanzhi or "Ruins of the Future", Taiwan
In 1980, a project to build houses of the future in the Taiwanese city of Sanzhi was abandoned due to investment losses as well as numerous car accidents. Now from the city of the future, it has turned into the ruins of the future and has become one of the strangest of the ghost cities. The futuristic houses, much like flying saucers, were destroyed between 2008 and 2010.
Little Paris or Tianducheng, near Shanghai, China
Today it is a protected area, but Tianducheng was conceived as a copy city of Paris. In little Paris, of course, there is the Eiffel Tower, and entire architectural ensembles of the original Paris and even the Champ de Mars. Residential buildings are capable of accommodating at least 100 thousand people, but its actual population is slightly more than 2000.
Chenggong, Kunming, Yunnan Region, China
In the Chinese ghost town of Chenggong, less than 10% of all houses built have become residential.
Centralia, Pennsylvania
In 1856, two coal mines were opened in Centralia. The population continued to arrive, and already in 1890 there were 2,761 people. The city has about 5 hotels, 7 churches, 2 theaters, 14 supermarkets and grocery stores, as well as 27 bars. The mines operated until the end of the 1960s, but after a fire in one of them, its population began to decline and by 2010 there were only 10 residents. By the way, underground fires continue to this day.
The city was founded near the mine in 1859 by a group of gold diggers. In 1876, the Standard Company discovered another large gold ore deposit, and, as usual, Bodie from a small settlement turned into the largest city in California. Since the late 1880s, the population began to decline rapidly. In 1900 its population was 965 inhabitants, and by 1940 only 40 inhabitants.
Fordland, Brazil
The venture turned out to be extremely unsuccessful, since rubber trees did not take root at all on the hilly and barren Brazilian soil. Residents of the city were forced to wear special badges with their identification code, and there is only American food. These conditions led to an uprising in 1930, which was suppressed by the Brazilian Army.
Chaiten, Chile
As a result of the eruption of the eponymous volcano, which woke up after 9000 years of sleep, the city turned into a ghost. A week after the eruption, he was still buried in lava and ash.
Grytviken, South Georgia
Grytviken was built as a whaling for Captain Karl Larsen's fishing company in 1904. It was closed to outsiders in December 1966, but the church on site is still sometimes used for marriages. The residents had their own cinema (photo below, 1933), but it was destroyed a couple of years ago.
