WebUrbanist » Abandoned Cities, Towns and Buildings: 7 More Deserted Wonders of the Modern World

Abandoned Cities, Towns and Buildings: 7 More Deserted Wonders of the Modern World

After the overwhelmingly positive responses to and praise for the original 7 Abandoned Urban Wonders article, we were compelled to create a sequel. Thanks to reader-submitted links and locations, we have compiled a follow-up that should rival (or even top) the original (75,000 views)! Without further ado, here are seven more amazing examples of abandoned cities and other deserted urban wonders from around the world:

Gunkanjima

(7) Gunkanjima, Japan: Once known for having one of the highest populatioin densities in the world (1.4 people per square meter) “Battleship Island” is now completely deserted. Known today as “Ghost Island,” this strange place stands out from other hundreds of abandoned Japanese islands for its massive concrete sea walls and omnipresent and ominous concrete architecture. Some people have snuck onto the island to take photographs and explore.

Varosha

(6) Varosha, Cyprus: Photographing this city, fenced off by the Turkish military in 1974, is forbidden. These images show a rare glimpse inside of this eerie ghost town. The area was once home to thousands of Greek Cypriots who have been denied for decades the right to return to their homes. The photographer who took these images nearly lost his camera to a military patrol, and the slanted angles are a result of shooting from his side when he could.

Essex

(5) Verona, New Jersey: The Essex Mountain Sanatorium is an amazing example of a prevalent type of abandonment. Mental hospitals were largely abandoned in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s, being widely considered no better than prisons for the mentally ill. In the wake of this movement, many such building complexes were simply left to decay over time. Of course, breaking into these and taking photographs often yields interesting stories.

Bangkok

(4) Bangkok, Thailand: This former Russian Embassy, including the century-old Luang Sathorn Mansion, is remarkably preserved despite being long abandoned. Sound-proofed and metal-lined walls tell the story of what was once a Russian intelligence stronghold during the Cold War. Pieces of intelligence and communications equipment are strewn about, but much of the architecture and decor remain intact.

Ryugyung

(3) Pyongyang, North Korea: Once slated to be the largest hotel structure in the world, the Ryugyung Hotel building remains incomplete, a towering but hollow concrete shell. At over 1,000 feet high, this building represents a political response to the South Korean company’s equivalent. It is unclear whether the structure will ever be finished. For now, it remains an empty giant on the skyline.

Detroit

(2) Detroit, Michigan: The population of detroit has decreased by half over the past fifty years. Vast areas of land have been cleared in an effort to rid the city of its abandonments, but many structures still remain. Even landmark buildings of historical and architectural value have been demolished. People tend to think that all urban areas grow over time, but Detroit provides a striking counterexample.

Centralia

(1) Centralia, Pennsylvania: Fourty years later, this abandoned town is still burning from below, due to a coal mine fire that never went out, bringing underworld metaphors to life. Carbon monoxide rose to dangerous levels (and sink holes opened up beneath unsuspecting residents) before many left the area for good. Today, a few people still live in or around Centralia, though smoke continues to curl up out of the ground and through gaping cracks in highways. Some try to comprehend it through fascinating videos of the town. Others just pass through, documenting their experience of this surreal place.

Honorable Mentions go out to three other reader-submitted recommendations: (1) Humberstone, Chile, is now a World Heritage Site. (2) Cook, Australia, is an abandoned outpost town in the Australian Outback. (3) Gary, Indiana, though not fully abandoned has some impressive deserted structures. Know of even more?

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the Original 7 Deserted Wonders of the Postmodern World and feel free to add others below! Also be sure to see the Oldest Skyscrapers in the World. Also consider these Abandonments Resources if you are interested in exploring urban abandonments in your own area.

Want More? Check Out These Great Related Articles:

Posted by Urbanist August 30th, 2007
7 Wonders, Abandonments, Architecture, Urban, Urban Images, Urbanism, Urbex
Comments: 96

Comments

Comment from Al Ebaster
Time: August 30, 2007, 5:23 am

Varosha is fascinating — hard to believe that nobody’s done anything to save the place. It’s role in medieval history is impressive too, making the occupation all the more regrettable.

Comment from John Lampard
Time: August 30, 2007, 5:58 am

The old Soviet/Russian embassy in Bangkok looks like a nice pad! Why are people leaving Detroit? It is because of a decline in the car production industry?

Comment from CHESSNOID
Time: August 30, 2007, 9:26 am

Wow, these pictures and stories that go along with them are awesome. As I read each one, I kept thinking this is weird but amazing. The last one blew me away with the underground coal mine still burning after 40 years and those crazy warning signs. My first thought was No way! lol. Excellent job!

Comment from dond
Time: August 30, 2007, 11:58 am

Nice pics but Chernobyl not good enough?

Comment from Oici
Time: August 30, 2007, 12:01 pm

What about that town in Ukraine? The one very close to the once nuclear plant? I saw a short documentary showing abandoned buildings, houses… Ghost city….

Comment from rp
Time: August 30, 2007, 12:18 pm

One of my favorite stories is about Love Canal, NY. Once a toxic waste dump site, it was closed, buried, and then sold for $1 to the board of education, which promptly built a school directly on the dump site. A community surrounding the site developed slowly, until one day people were all like “damn, my cancer hurts!” thus prompting an investigation into the site. Obviously it’s now abandoned as the federal gov under Carter? had to issue an emergency order of evacuation.

Comment from Jacqes
Time: August 30, 2007, 12:29 pm

I tried to look at centralia in detail on google maps but it is apparently blacked out, is there a known reason for that ?

Comment from Detroiter
Time: August 30, 2007, 12:35 pm

Detroit is not abandoned. In fact, there are hundreds of renovations throughout the city to restore buildings and make them living quarters. Who wouldn’t want a loft, restored from original 1920-1940 brick, overlooking art deco architecture surrounded by an underground society. Detroit will rise again.

Comment from yt
Time: August 30, 2007, 12:38 pm

You should also checkout many parts of Youngstown, OH. A lot like Detroit and Gary, IN.

Comment from Matteo
Time: August 30, 2007, 12:39 pm

Great article, loved reading it. Nice one

Comment from slappymcgee
Time: August 30, 2007, 1:39 pm

this is a bad perspective of detroit. the revival of the city with world class casinos, new lofts and condos, as well as the Superbowl and Hockeytown has made this city come to life. i love detroit, and these images shown are images of any large city in its delapitated areas. we have a hard rock cafe, world class restaurants and entertainment. none of this is mentioned!

Comment from Dennis Eldridge
Time: August 30, 2007, 1:53 pm

I can’t believe that no-one’s remembered Pripyat, the town which sits next to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Comment from terminallyunhip
Time: August 30, 2007, 3:35 pm

Yeah, but we all know about Chernobyl. These are all place i never knew excisted. These are fantastic finds. Great job.

Comment from joeseph
Time: August 30, 2007, 3:45 pm

has anyone ever heard of Brazilia?, i don’t know whether it was abandoned or not, it was a huge concrete utopia built in the middle of the jungle in south america back in the 50’s, i heard about it through a behind-the-scenes featurette on Aeon Flux, it was one of the locations they were considering for the movie, i still haven’t done a google search on it yet, but this article reminded me of it.

Comment from Save Videos
Time: August 30, 2007, 6:08 pm

Chernobyl or Union Carbide in Bopal, India both should have been on that list - although the Union Carbide factory is gradually being used illegally (squatters).

Comment from WebUrbanist
Time: August 30, 2007, 8:35 pm

Great suggestions! Actually, a few of the sites mentioned are featured in the original 7 Abandoned Wonders post (see link above). Also: Detroit was recommended by a reader - no offense to anyone from there, but there are a lot of abandonments even if the city is making a comeback!

Comment from greek
Time: August 31, 2007, 12:29 am

i am not sure if that is Varosha in the picture! it can also be famagusta! it was a town full of hotels! it has very nice beaches but after the invasion of the turks in 1974 the town remains a ghost town…full of memories and nothing else!

there are beautiful places like this in Greece and Cyprus and one who can admire history should visit these places…

Comment from Funny Being
Time: August 31, 2007, 12:45 am

Very nice article. All those deserted wonders you mentioned, sure worth more attention.

Thanks for your article.

Comment from Nick
Time: August 31, 2007, 12:49 am

I took lots of photos of Varosha, Cyprus and I never got chased by the Turkish Army, :D I guess I must have been lucky. It is really strange looking at it from the other side of the fence, you can drive around the whole block and see the old Petrolina petrol station, old greek church etc, etc. I would definetly recommend it to anyone who is visting Cyprus.

Comment from revbian
Time: August 31, 2007, 1:53 am

i would have thought Chernobyl would be in that list.

Comment from kate
Time: August 31, 2007, 3:09 am

Brasilia isnt abandoned although it is rather odd and futuristic.

its the capital of Brazil with population of over 2 million!

Comment from petros
Time: August 31, 2007, 7:00 am

Sneaked into Famagusta (Varosha) some years ago. My family house is there. I found it looted and stripped from anything that could be moved. What the Turks have done to that city is another crime which the international community turns a blind eye on.

Comment from Swiney
Time: August 31, 2007, 10:07 am

Much better than the 1st 7. The tunnels under Niagra falls also look impressive. Also, there are lots of abandoned amusement parks around…. neat to see trees growing up through roller coasters.

Comment from dish
Time: August 31, 2007, 12:07 pm

The hotel in pyongyang will never be finished. They used low grade concrete. They would have to demolish and rebuild to finish it. Attempting to finish it in its current state will lead to collapse.

Comment from MonkeyClaw
Time: August 31, 2007, 12:11 pm

slappymcgee,

with all due respect, major cities do NOT look like Detroit. I will agree with you that Detroit is changing for the better, but most healthy cities do not have huge neighbourhoods being swallowed up by greenery, and I think that the fact you are living there is rose-tinting your vision somewhat. However, I don’t think that the idea of nature reclaiming land in the middle of a city is a bad thing!

Comment from IXLU
Time: August 31, 2007, 12:39 pm

Cane Hill mental hospital, just south east of London has been a must look place for UK Urbexers, though the owners have increased security so much that it’s almost impossible to get in now.

It open in the 1880s & closed in 1991, & left more or less in-situ, though vandals and the elements have damaged a lot of the insides & parts are in danger of collapse.

Relatives of Charlie Chaplin, David Bowie & Michael Caine were kept there at times.

Comment from Mark
Time: August 31, 2007, 2:19 pm

Thanks for showing me Centralia - wow. The ozone layer has no chance lol. Can’t believe I’ve never heard about this place, since it has been burning since before I was born. Thanks again :)

Comment from Sherry
Time: August 31, 2007, 9:13 pm

My boyfriend and I went to Centralia. The rocks were so hot from the underground fire that it actually burned my foot through my shoe. There are a couple of old guys that sit under a tree in the middle of town with a sign that says, “We love Centralia” and say that it’s a story that the government concocted to run everyone out of town. The highway is caving in and one of the roads into town is closed off. It was pretty interesting.

Comment from JW Thornhill
Time: September 1, 2007, 4:16 am

I live near Detroit and often drive through it. You could not the believe the utter destitution. With the exception of its downtown area its like driving through a modern day ruin!!

Comment from Mark
Time: September 1, 2007, 11:18 am

You gotto watch this after seeing about Centralia:-
http://city.centralia.il.us/index.pl?iid=4161&isa=Category

Comment from Sabrina’s Money Matters
Time: September 1, 2007, 12:34 pm

Wow, those pictures are amazing, and the Sanitorium especially….glad I found this site!

Comment from Antigone
Time: September 3, 2007, 2:32 am

……The area was once home to thousands of Greek Cypriots who have been denied for decades the right to return to their homes…..
This says it all no need to say more………. :(

Comment from Ramiro Padilla
Time: September 4, 2007, 7:10 am

You should check out this abandoned town in the middle of northern Mexico’s desert. It’s called Real de Catorce, it was once the biggest city in the Americas around the 1500’s, and it decayed until it was completely abandoned.
European hippies re-discovered it in the 60’s and ever since the town’s population has been growing, it must be in the couple thousands by now.
As a reference, it’s the town where they shot most of the scenes for the movie “The Mexican” with Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts.

Comment from b-boi
Time: September 5, 2007, 8:39 am

in varosha..i want to correct that turks and greeks were livin together..not just the thousends of greeks!!..and you have to accept that there is two different countries in cypriot…the north republic of cypriot turks and the greek part..other political comments are just aiming to start the fire again..

Comment from zanbowser
Time: September 6, 2007, 1:11 pm

ur… Mark… the #1 site was Centralia, PENNSYLVANIA; your link points to Illinois.

Comment from Mark
Time: September 6, 2007, 2:15 pm

Well I feel an idiot now…thx 4 pointing that out Zanbowser - thought it was a bit strange.

Comment from James
Time: September 15, 2007, 9:59 am

Interesting seeing my Home town on the list , i remeber sneaking thru many parts of the old Sanitarium when i was a kid, alas Much of it has been demolished to make way for a condo complex.

Comment from Frosty
Time: October 1, 2007, 10:01 am

Another abandoned city, or portion of a city, would be half of Pozzuoli Italy.

To quote Wikipedia:

From August 1982 to December 1984 the city experienced hundreds of tremors and bradyseismic activity which reached a peak on October 4, 1983 damaging 8,000 buildings in the city center and dislocating 36,000 people.

It was known as “citta vecchia” and I think they have still quite a many of the abandonded buildings still there.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=pozzuoli+italy&ie=UTF8&ll=40.820975,14.120232&spn=0.001924,0.004286&t=k&z=18&iwloc=addr&om=1

Comment from Gemfyre
Time: October 2, 2007, 3:55 am

Apart from Pripyat and Centralia, the other town that sprang to my mind was Wittenoom in Western Australia. We stayed there for one night in 1987 and it was pretty quiet even then.

The town was mostly abandoned due to asbestos fibres in the air from the nearby mines. Many workers died of mesothilioma because of it and the families are still seeking compensation. A year or so ago they finally switched off all services and the intention is to remove it from the map altogether. About 6 people refuse to move.

Comment from Anonymous
Time: October 8, 2007, 3:00 am

you need to see this one
http://pripyat.com/en/

Comment from Pancake
Time: November 4, 2007, 2:10 am

Might I suggest the town of Adak?

It isn’t quite abandoned completely, but the population dropped from a few hundred Navy personnel and their families to exactly 69 now.
As you can imagine, most of the buildings that are not being used are now nearly gone from the horrendous weather, but it’s still quite fascinating to see what a couple decades of the worst weather on Earth can do.

Alternately, the nearby (relatively) island of Attu has some very strange abandoned structures, most notably the old Navy docks and warehouses in the bay. From Google Earth, they almost look like scuttled carriers.

Comment from chuck
Time: November 29, 2007, 5:15 pm

One notable location nobody’s mentioned is the Azerbaijan city of Agdam. Located in the breakaway republic of Karabakh, its entire Azeri population fled in the early 1990s when the country was at war with neighboring Armenia. Block after block of abandoned and demolished structures, most stripped bare by the Armenians to rebuild their own city of Stepanikert that was shelled by the Azeris. I visited this eerie place in 2006 and it is a haunting experience. Photos (not mine) at http://www.seamlessterritory.org/Agdam/

Comment from Colan
Time: December 8, 2007, 4:15 am

you might want to see this one as well, abanonded and wrecked, and very impressive to walk through, as I did last summer:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oradour-sur-Glane

Comment from nedvizhimost sdayu tomsk
Time: December 15, 2007, 11:57 pm

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Comment from Bandoliler Letuio
Time: December 19, 2007, 10:55 am

Fabulous collection - however, with regards to Detroit - the “urban area” of Detroit has grown massively and constantly. It’s the city itself that has declined. It’s a case study in the costs of the automobile culture Detroit ironically helped create. While what was once a beautiful city smolders, the people moved to a ring of (generally hideous) suburbs with nothing but tacky chain strip malls to replace the city…. a truly sad tale.

Comment from Dave
Time: December 19, 2007, 12:48 pm

it’s Ryugyong, not Ryugyung.

Comment from bilbo
Time: December 19, 2007, 6:24 pm

detroit is a shithole. if you think its any good try going someplace else for once.

Comment from Roger Ramjet
Time: December 20, 2007, 12:38 am

“Fourty years later, this abandoned town is still burning from below, due to a coal mine fire that never went out, bringing underworld metaphors to life.”

Here’s a ditty from my school years - Naughty Forty doesn’t like u :-P

Comment from Andrea Litzhoff
Time: December 26, 2007, 2:11 pm

I broke into the old, abondoned Cook County Hospital in Chicago, which now there is the John Stroger Jr. Hospital next to it in the Illinois Medical District. It was a trip, 11 stories high, we made it to the roof. The structure is impressive and can be seen from the Eisenhower. If you are in Chicago, it´s a good time, but the place is surrounded by 4 different types of security and cops, from neighboring hospitals and centers. What a trip!!!

Comment from Ariel
Time: December 27, 2007, 7:34 pm

if these places interest you, check out King’s Park Psychiatric Ward on Long Island.

http://www.urbanlens.com/files/pc/pc_1.html

Comment from chuck norris dude
Time: January 5, 2008, 8:21 am

Really impressive. And that Russian embassy is something unbelievable. How the hell did they make such a futuristic looking building?! I guess Russians never had anything with the design of that structure.

Comment from life&style
Time: January 5, 2008, 6:53 pm

It must be interesting to break into an old abandoned facility. Anyway, great writing.

Comment from V
Time: January 8, 2008, 3:40 pm

great pics, what interesting places… particularly the island in Japan

Comment from Senkrecht
Time: January 8, 2008, 6:51 pm

Wow really great pictures. These Places look really great. Is this really JapaN?

Comment from Webdesign SEO Köln Group >> Urban Abandonments (Part Two): 7 More Deserted Wonders of the Modern World
Time: January 16, 2008, 4:44 pm

Amazing articel about 7, 7 Wonders.

Comment from Saladin
Time: January 29, 2008, 9:59 pm

nice pictures …

Comment from David
Time: February 16, 2008, 9:11 am

I’ve enjoyed seeing and reading about all these remote, abandoned, and otherwise interesting places. Thanks! I got here via a link in the Clicked blog on MSNBC.

I happen to live in Centralia, IL. Strangely, there was also a coal mine explosion and fire here in 1947 that claimed the lives of 111 miners. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10704048/ There are still (abandoned) mineshafts under the city, but ours are not still burning. It must be a curse to be named “Centralia”!

Comment from architektur
Time: February 20, 2008, 2:46 am

Cool collection of deserted wonders.

Most impressive for me is “Battleship Island”

Comment from sylt
Time: March 3, 2008, 7:43 am

My favorite is also number 2 first Picture - the house looks like out of a fairytale

Comment from Web , Michael
Time: March 21, 2008, 3:40 pm

Yes i also can say that number 2 is really great. But you should also visit countries like turkey, their are also great places where you would say that these are world wonders.

Comment from Yaprak Dökümü
Time: April 1, 2008, 12:52 pm

wow, great article and great pictures.

Comment from Fanatic
Time: April 12, 2008, 2:53 pm

That one in the middle of water is the place for me.Love such places.

Comment from Saim Baig
Time: April 12, 2008, 2:54 pm

Third picture really looks a haunted place.