In the modern world, everything happens quickly: some towns are booming at a record pace, while others are becoming abandoned just as fast.
Here are some pictures of places around the world that were abandoned for many reasons.
1. Argentiera, Italy
Argentiera is a former mining town, named after the word “argento,“ which means ”silver." Silver mining first appeared there during the Roman and Phoenician eras. The decade of the 1940s was Argentiera’s most prosperous period, which was followed by a decline. In 1963, the mine was closed for good.
2. Varosha, Cyprus
This quarter of the city of Famagusta used to be a popular tourist destination before the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974. Varosha is still a ghost town because of UN Security Council Resolution 550, adopted in 1984, that considers "attempts to settle any part of Varosha by people other than its inhabitants as inadmissible."
3. Quinta da Regaleira, Portugal
The Initiation Well is in the estate of Quinta da Regaleira, where one can see a variety of architectural follies. According to legend, the nine levels of the well symbolize the 9 Circles of Hell. This place was previously believed to be used for religious ceremonies of the Masonic fraternity.
4. Grytviken, South Georgia, and the South Sandwich Islands
Grytviken is the administrative center of a British Overseas Territory. The first whaling station in the Antarctic was built there in 1904. The abandoned station’s church is the only building retaining its original purpose. The most recent marriage in that church was registered on 18 November 2009.
5. Oradour-sur-Glane, France
In June 1944, a German Waffen-SS company destroyed the village of Oradour-sur-Glane. 642 villagers were killed as a result of the attack. After the war, the French president announced that the village would never be rebuilt but instead would remain a memorial to the brutality of the Nazi occupation.
6. Cape Romano, USA
A house consisting of several domes was built in 1980. After a while, the sandy ground under it began moving. In 2005, the new owner was planning to renovate the house but couldn't do it because of the new resolution of the island’s authorities. Nobody lives in the house now, and it continues to "march" into the ocean.
7. Plymouth, Montserrat
In July 1995, after several powerful eruptions at the Soufrière Hills volcano, lava and ash covered a large area of southern Montserrat — including Plymouth. In August 1995, ash fell on Plymouth, which was inhabited by 4,000 people. The inhabitants were evacuated in December.
8. Spinalonga, Greece
Spinalonga is a Greek island in the eastern part of Crete. In 1669, Crete was captured by the Ottoman Empire. To drive the Turks away, the Greeks collected all the lepers and sent them to Spinalonga. Fearing infection, the Turks left the island. Today, the most visited tourist object on the island is the remains of the once impregnable fortress.
9. Spreepark, Germany
The entertainment park Spreepark opened in 1969 in Berlin and worked well until 1989. It was then bought by the Spreepark Berlin GmbH company. Later it was discovered that the founder’s assets were doubtable and that the park was mired in millions of dollars of debt. In 2001, Spreepark went bankrupt and finally became abandoned.
10. Agdam, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic / Azerbaijan
Agdam is a settlement in the southwest part of Azerbaijan. It was shelled during the Nagorno-Karabakh War in 1993. According to Human Rights Watch, having been seized, Agdam was looted and burned. That was said to be a well-organized plan of Karabakh authorities.
11. Hashima, Japan
Hashima is an island in the East China Sea, famous for its coal mine shafts reaching up to 600 meters in depth. In the 1940s, the Mitsubishi Corporation used Chinese and Korean forced labor there. For several years, the 6.3-hectare (16-acre) island was practically the most populous place on Earth: its population density was measured and assumed to be about 835 per hectare. In 1974, all the local mines were shut down, and the island was abandoned.
12. Pripyat, Ukraine
Pripyat was first inhabited in 1970 as a closed city to serve the nearby Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. After the Chernobyl disaster in April 1986, the town was evacuated and has been abandoned since then. Radiation levels have dropped, and Pripyat is now considered to be relatively safe to visit. Many tourists create graffiti there.
Preview photo credit Obsession911
Reference: Brightside
What a beautiful picture.
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