Throughout the world, there are many famous and beautiful monuments of historical significance to old textile mills, cities, ancient railway stations or parks. Some of these are still preserved and visited by many sightseers while some got abandoned in a very mysterious way. But still, these abandoned places & monuments with decaying walls and broken glass looks spectacular and left behind some mysterious and creepy stories.
Every location is a portrays history that has been frozen in time, be it a Bolivian Train Cemetery, an Art Deco Metro Station below New York City or a village covered with sand dunes along the coast of Namibia. You can add them to your bucket list for future trips if you like to explore these abandoned places. Check them out!
1. Valley of the Mills – Italy, Abandoned Places
This Italian valley is filled with abandoned buildings which give visitants a mesmerising look of the world without humans. The Valley of Mills is a flourishing grouping of modern ruins and are situated in the intense canyons of an ancient earthquake. A huge eruption that devastated the Mediterranean area 35,000 years ago gave rise to a strong crack in the rock that houses the old buildings.
The flour mills, built from stone as far back as the 13th century, benefited from the constant stream at the bottom of the valley. After flour milling was largely shifted to nearby pasta mills, the sunken industrial area became completely unnecessary and in the 1940s, the buildings were closed and abandoned. But this valley is surrounded with greenery and deep their these old floor mills are situated. This gives the valley an abandoned and unused appeal.
2. Buzludzha Monument – Bulgaria
This abandoned saucer-shaped monument is located at Kazanlak on the Buzludzha Peak in the mountains of Bulgaria. The monument is situated at the end of the Communist headquarters in Bulgaria and look likes a UFO structure. It was built for the purpose of the Communist Headquarters with many Marx posters on the wall.
The paintings, broken windows and decaying structure all give the Buzludzha Monument a theme. In 1981 the 230-foot tall dome was opened as a tribute to the Communist Party of Bulgaria. But by the beginning of the 1990s, the desire for monuments dedicated to socialist history was eliminated by the wave of western culture in Bulgaria. Later in 1999, the monument was abandoned by government officials and left open to the public.
3. Dundas Castle – New York
Dundas Castle is set in Roscoe, New York, surrounded by the Catskill Mountains forests. It is also known as Craig-E-Clair Castle to separate it from Scotland’s Dundas Castle. The elegant New York castle was designed for his Scottish wife Anna Dundas by the architect Bradford L. Gilbert. Dundas Castle is an example of Anglo-American castle architecture as built in New York and the Middle Ages.
A bridge had been constructed in the surrounding area and massive iron gates had been constructed. However, Gilbert died just before the structure was finished, and Dundas started working in a sanatorium. There are stories about the Dundas ghost that roams around the halls of the abandoned castle. Many mystery lovers love to visit this place due to its fascination and historical architecture.
4. Kolmanskop – Namibia, Abandoned Places
Kolmanskop is a ghost town which is situated in southern Africa’s the Namib Desert that has been abandoned since 1954. Workers were building a railroad through the Namibian desert when one of them stepped across a diamond. After that, a town was established here by 1912 with 1,300 residents for mining diamonds.
Kolmanskop town had many facilities that time such as hospital, bar, casino etc. But once local residents found more hugely profitable destinations in search of a diamond, they left Kolman and went to another location. It is now famous for its spooky, sand-filled houses, which you have seen in popular Hollywood movies such as Dust Devil and The King Is Alive.
Also Read: 10 Most Mysterious Places Across The World
5. Crystal Palace Subway – London
Crystal Palace Subway is covered under a four-lane road at Dulwich in South London. This subway station was originally designed to link the Crystal Palace High-Level Station with the famous Crystal Palace constructed for the Hyde Park World Fair in 1851. Unfortunately, the Palace was destroyed by a fire in 1936, making the subway station completely useless but it was not destroyed fully in that fire.
The stunning red-and-cream tiled roof of the station and the octagonal pillars still standing high, similar to the architecture of a Byzantine church. Now it is completely abandoned but sometimes the authorities arrange tour and trip for travellers those who are interested in watching Crystal Place Subway as this remains one of London’s most stunning secret gems.
6. Power Plant IM – Belgium, Abandoned Places
This power plant was constructed in Charleroi in 1921 and was one of Belgium’s largest and most successful power plants, with the capacity to cool 480,000 gallons of water per minute in its golden era. Power Plant IM has become responsible for about 10 per cent of Belgium’s total carbon emissions.
Greenpeace, a global environmental protection agency, took to protest the policy, which resulted in the site shut down in 2007 and looks abandoned. The construction of the Power Plant is so mesmerising the people still want to visit it. Although the plant is not a power or electricity source, it offers some beautifully strange and mystical views.
7. Michigan Central Station – Detroit
Michigan Central was the tallest rail station in the world when it opened in 1913. Michigan Central remained a major hub of transport well into the 20th century. It has witnessed heavy train traffic and is one of the most prominent economic hubs of its time in the world. But the rail industry declined in the 1970s, and Michigan Central was not as necessary to bring people around anymore as it is now under abandoned places.
A once busy business centre is now an empty remnant of the financial status of the town. The last train departed Michigan Central Station on January 5, 1988. That moment considered the end of almost 75 years of Michiganders catching trains. Later it was shut down in the late 80s and considered as abandoned but it still looks beautiful from outside.
8. Cemetery Train Graveyard – Bolivia
Everyone knowns Uyuni, Bolivia for its engaging landscape of salt flat desert plains and red lakes located adjacent to each other. But it also features a demolished cemetery of ancient trains which is now become an unusual tourist attraction. During the 19th century, the construction of a rail transport network in the area was adapted because of local opposition and the technical challenges.
The trains were then used to carry minerals. However, when the resources ran out, the miners left them in the middle of the desert in the 1940s, where the Great Train Graveyard stands today.
9. El Hotel Del Salto – Colombia
The El Hotel Del Salto in Colombia was originally built as an architect’s grand house. Since then, the building has undergone many renovations that will be transformed into a hotel in the 1950s. Unfortunately, the hotel was soon abandoned, leaving behind only a spooky story of ghosts and spirits.
Most recently, the site has been transformed into a museum called the Tequendama Falls Museum. You can visit this if you love spooky destinations, but seriously it looks mesmerising from the exterior and you can also witness a number of incredibly interesting events between your route.
10. Pripyat – Ukraine, Abandoned Places
In 1986, Pripyat was the city most affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The city of Pripyat was once home to over 49,000 residents according to reports. The incident released large amounts of radiation and forced the residents to flee. It is actually one of the world’s most common abandoned areas, mostly due to the wonderful reminder of what used to be: toys in a schoolhouse, frozen clocks and the famous amusement park. The park has become so popular that it is made an official tourist attraction by Ukraine under Nuclear Tourism.
There are many other places which are abandoned and yet beautiful which we have not mentioned. Only the popular but hidden from travellers are stated here. If you like this blog, email us and if you want a second part too! Till then keep reading my blogs at indiaimagine.com
Also Read: 7 Most Mysterious & Fascinating Underwater Cities of Ancient World
