63 Chilling Photos Of Abandoned Places
By | December 28, 2018
Precariously perched on a rock pillar in the Westman Islands of Iceland, the Prídrangaviti Lighthouse is arguably the most isolated lighthouse in the world.
Get ready for some rotting, decaying, dilapidated structures that scream safety concerns. Yes, we have 63 photos of abandoned buildings from all over the world, that we are pretty darn sure are haunted. Let's dive into some ultra-creepy amusement parks that have been closed for decades and are now filled with the silent screams of kids that have long departed. Or the crumbling remnants of once glorious hotels that are now inhabited by rats and other types of vermin. We'll also journey to empty sports stadiums that have been left to rot; long after the last victory lap has been run. Also, see what's left of an Austrian nightclub after it was ravaged by a fire. Yes, basically, we have 63 locations that would make for a courageous urban explorer's dream. One thing that wont be abandoned is this photo gallery - because these images are fascinating. Onward!
Talk about the most loneliest lighthouse in the world. You almost want to give the Prídrangaviti Lighthouse in the Westman Islands of Iceland a hug. This Icelandic lighthouse was built in 1938, right before the onset of World War II. And by no means was building a remote Icelandic lighthouse an easy task. Construction workers had to scale the cliff to reach where to lay the lighthouse groundwork. What else did they face? Slick rocks, rain, and heavy winds - leaving the workers safe in the knowledge that one misstep would land them in the icy-cold North Atlantic Ocean that rages below. Now-a-days, workers can take a helicopter for needed repairs.
One of Pablo Escobar’s drug planes that crashed in the Bahamas and abandoned while on the way to south Florida.
The fish that were swimming around this wreckage must have been high as hell. If you're ever in the Bahamas, you can snorkel past the corroded remains of one of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar’s smuggling planes. This fossil of drug-smuggling past can be found off a quiet little island in the corner of The Bahamas. The sunken WWII-era military plane was used to transport Pablo Escobar's expanding cocaine trade to the USA. In 1980, the Curtiss C-46 Commando landed short of the runway - which resulted in it basically resting on a shallow sandbank. The plane was abandoned. But not the cargo; that was hurriedly recovered - since it was worth more more than the entire cost of some stupid plane.
Six Flags Jazzland in New Orleans, Louisiana. The park was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina has been abandoned ever since.
This photo looks like a scene out of the TV series, American Horror Story. This amusement park opened in 2000, and was originally known as Jazzland. It was located on a low-lying section of Eastern Orleans. Then Hurricane Katrina happened. The entire amusement park was flooded and left to rot beneath 4 to 7 feet of flood water for over a month. Repair costs were much too high so the park has been abandoned since August 2005. No amusement here; the park now consists of rusting structures, broken attractions, rotting asbestos, and a steady influx of dangerous wildlife. Needless to say, a day trip to this abandoned amusement park is a major health risk.
Athens Olympic Venues Ten Years Later
On 13 August 2004, the XXVIII Olympic Games came home to Greece. It costs the country a whopping €9bn. Now, over 14 years later, many of the once-stellar Olympic venues are a complete mess and are abandoned. What once made Greeks swell with pride has now turned into a plain rotting eyesore. A six-year depression and record unemployment didn't help matters with upkeep of these facilities. Greek citizens are left to ponder how this multi-billion event actually helped their country. Now, we have such sites as the Olympic swimming training pool for athletes at the Olympic Village - looking like it will never be used again.
Former Tobacco Warehouse Factory - the largest brick built warehouse in the world, currently being redeveloped into apartments. Liverpool, Stanley Dock - England.
In Liverpool, The Tobacco Warehouse is considered a key landmark and World Heritage Site. So that means it can't be torn down. The Tobacco Warehouse stopped operations in the last portion of the 20th century - and has been in a slow decline since. So what's to be done with this building here in the hometown of The Beatles? Why, of course, turn them into hipster lofts. So, the Tobacco Warehouse in Liverpool’s Stanley Dock could become the city’s newest residential hotspot. The firm doing the renovations has proposed a large exhibition space and more than 4,000 sq feet of offices - all worthy of a Beatle!
Abandoned fighter jet's final resting spot
There must be a good story about this abandoned aircraft. Did some military dad let his irresponsible teenage son fly it? A military fighter jet is designed for air-to-air combat; as opposed to a bomber and attack aircraft with the main mission to attack ground targets. A fighter jet is known for is speed, maneuverability, and smaller size. No more for this jet; it looks like its been parked under this tree for quite a long time. Around the world, there are actually dozens of abandoned aircraft graveyards. This is where once glorious flying machines go to die. One such plane graveyard is the in the western desert of the United States where skeletons of defunct planes range from World War Two bombers to Cold War fighters. These are all big, metal crafts; ether you completely scrap them or just let them sit and rust and let nature take over.
Dadipark was opened in October 1949 in the Belgium town of Dadizeele and closed in 2003, when a little boy's arm was severed on one of the rides.
Here's another un-amusement park. This time it's located in Belgium. Dadipark is located south of Antwerp and close to the French border. It opened it's gates in 1949 and was one of the oldest amusement parks in Europe. Now, it's just plain creepy. Back in the early days, it was a simple playground. Then in the 80s, Dadipark evolved to include amusement park rides - and pulled in, at its height, roughly 1 million visitors a year. Then things went horribly wrong. The rides became increasingly rundown; which resulted in a series of accidents. The most serious was in 2000, when a 9-year old boy lost his arm while on the popular Nautic Jet ride. This led to the closing of the park in 2002 for renovations. It never opened again.
Abandoned tank on a beach in Puerto Rico located on small island called Isla De Culebra.
No matter what you think, nature sort of wins out in the end. This tank was abandoned on a beach in Culebra, Puerto Rico. In 1939, just before the onset of World War II, the US Navy used the island for military testing. They left behind a number of tanks to rust in the tropical sun. Sure, there's worst places to be left behind - if you were a tank. North Dakota would be one such locale. But these abandoned tanks in Puerto Rico have been left to the elements. Now, algae covers the side of this rusted tank.
65 years after it crash landed on a beach in Wales, an American P-38 fighter plane has emerged from the sand where it was buried. Wow!
Abandoned plane versus nature. Guess who wins? The rare United States Army Air Force fighter plane was discovered in July 2007 after 65 years under the beach's sands. It's now known as: The Maid of Harlech. The P-38 Lightning was originally designed by Hall Hibbard and Clarence 'Kelly' Johnson. It was the only US pursuit plane to remain in continuous production throughout WWII - that's how good it was! On September 27, 1942, during a practice run, a fuel supply issue resulted in this P-38 to emergency land on a Welsh beach. The Second Lieutenant flying the fighter plane managed to walk away unscathed. Not the same can be said about the plane - as you can plainly see.
Millions of years in one photo.
If you're a Creationist who thinks the world is only a few thousands years old - then take a gander at Dun Briste Sea Stack located off the coast in County Mayo, Ireland. It almost tells the entire story of our planet's evolution over millions of years. Dun Briste Sea Stack is 50 meters in height and is surrounded by cliffs. The rock formations were formed about 350 million years ago when the sea temperatures were much higher than they are today. Dún Briste is Gaelic and the word means: Broken Fort. The sea stacks were once joined to the mainland. Now, as anyone can see, they are not.
Alcatraz Island, San Francisco, California
Alcatraz was made famous in the movie, Escape from Alcatraz. It's also a tourist attraction. And an old prison. Think of what a mind-screw it would have been to be a prisoner in Alcatraz. It's located right in the heart of the San Francisco Bay - where inmates had the most spectacular view of San Francisco. It's only 1.25 miles offshore from Fisherman's Wharf. Alcatraz opened as a military fortress in 1828 and then operated as a federal prison from 1934 until 1963. It was said on New Years Eve, prisoners could actually hear people celebrating in San Francisco from their prison cells. Talk about torture.
This nightclub in Austria was abandoned after it suffered extensive damage after a fire.
Talk about disco inferno, this is the charred remains of a fire at a nightclub in Austria. Fortunately, no one was injured. The club formerly could hold up to 2,000 people. The fire completely gutted the club, melted the interior, and left the blackened DJ booth to rot. The site became a hotspot, so to speak, for urban explorers. One urban explorer describes it:
“It’s a burnt down disco in an industrial area with a very eerie feeling. Quite in contrast to when happy people danced all night under the mirror ball. There [was] a lot of snow outside and some snow inside too coming from a hole in the roof. There were strange sounds all over the place – water dripping, snow smelting, squeaking noises from metal parts barely hanging from the ceiling. The place didn’t feel safe at all."
Kings Park Psychiatric Center, located on Long Island N.Y. Abandoned since 1996.
There's nothing creepier than an old, abandoned, psychiatric hospital. Talk about haunted and filled with the energy of all past inhabitants. The Kings Park Psychiatric Center is located in Long Island. Known to locals as "The Psych Center" - it operated as a facility from 1885 until 1996. It also looks like the perfect setting for a horror movie. In 1954, the patient census reached 9,303. The asylum operated in a farm colony model; where it was designed as a self-sufficient community. Residents were put to work raising crops and livestock because it was said to be therapeutic. Farming as therapy was later replaced by pre-frontal lobotomies and electro-shock therapy. Frightening!
German concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland.
Auschwitz concentration camp was a comprised of 48 concentration and extermination camps. It was constructed by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II. Auschwitz II-Birkenau was constructed in October 1941. It was intended to house 50,000 prisoners of war who would serve as forced laborers. When the Nazis decided to annihilate the Jewish people, Birkenau was changed from a labor camp to an extermination camp. The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum estimates that 1.1 million Jewish people were sent to the camp. On 4 September 2003, three Israeli Air Force F-15 Eagles performed a fly-over of Auschwitz-Birkenau during a memorial ceremony. The flight was led by the son of Holocaust survivors.
Bodie Creek Bridge in the Falkland Isles, the most southerly suspension bridge in the world.Built in 1925 and stopped being used in 1997.
Part of the Predannack Airport in Cornwall, UK, has been turned into a plane cemetery where old military planes and helicopters are left to decay.
The North American F-86 Sabre is a transonic jet fighter aircraft, which was produced by North American Aviation starting in 1947. Sometimes called the Sabrejet, more than 7,800 of these aircrafts were manufactured between 1949 and 1956. And where do these fighter jets go to die? Predannack Airport in Cornwall, UK. The airfield opened in May 1941 when the South West of England was vulnerable to German Luftwaffe attacks. Part of the base has been turned into a plane cemetery. This is where old military planes and helicopters are left to rot as a final resting place. Poor abandoned and unloved airplanes :(
Bombed WW2 watch tower, Cape Cock, Trapani, Sicily.
Trapani sits on the west coast of Sicily and is situated on a low headland sticking out into the Mediterranean Sea. The source of Trapani’s economy is fishing; mainly tuna. World War II was not good to Trapani. It was frequently bombed by the Allied. In fact, Trapani was one on the most bombed towns in the country. During the war the district of San Pietro, which is the oldest part of Trapani, was destroyed. That brought about harsh conditions for the residents. The notable buildings still remaining in the old part of the city include the 14th-century church of San Agostino, the Santuario dell’Annunziata, the 15th- and 16th-century church of Santa Maria di Gesù, and the Baroque Palazzo della Giudecca.
Please, no more bombing these buildings, okay?
A ghost hotel between Icmeler and Turunc, Turkey.
This looks like it would be the location for the sequel of the movie, The Shining. If you happen to be in Icmeler, Turkey, take a visit to the ghost hotel. No, it's not a hotel that caters to the deceased; rather it's an abandoned hotel. Just take a walk in Deniz Kapisi towards Lovers Rock, and it's on the lower left side. Those who have had the courage to venture inside the ghost hotel say the place is covered in animal droppings. It is said that the hotel was an unfinished project where the money ran ut along with the developers not having the correct building permits.
Mamula Island, a concentration camp during the WW II, Adriatic Sea, Montenegro.
For your next holiday in hell, why not venture to Mamula Island, which is a former Austro-Hungarian military fort and site of untold horrors during WWII. Originally built in 1853, the fort became an isolated concentration camp. From May 30, 1942 until the end of the World War II, Mussolini’s forces used Mamula Island to imprison thousands of individuals against their will. 130 deaths were associated with this place, largely due to starvation - though it was also known as a den of cruelty and torture. Since ceasing to be a concentration camp, the buildings have been left to rot and no one has lived on the island since. Sounds like the perfect locale for a new Trump Tower.
An abandoned submarine tunnel in Montenegro. This is one of 3 tunnels which were chiseled 80 meters deep into the coastal rock.
Most of the submarine tunnels along the Adriatic sea were built during the German occupation in World War II. The tunnels were used to hide submarines. There are 3 submarine tunnels ,which were built by the Yugoslav Army, near a village called Rose. Around the area, you can also find a few abandoned Yugoslav Navy ships. Though the tunnels are no longer used for submarines, they have become popular swimming spots. All tunnels are dead ends, so you cannot swim all the way through - but you go there and back; with the length roughly 100 metres and the depth around 10 metres. Happy swimming!
Battleship Island, an abandoned island lying about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the city of Nagasaki, in southern Japan.
First of all, Battleship Island has a great name. No argument there. Secondly, the tiny island was once home ot 5,259 people. It was estimated as the highest population density in history. Now it's abandoned and has been left to the elements since it closed in 1974. Also going by the name "Hashima," in the late 1800s, coal was discovered on the island - which is located near the city of Nagasaki. So a coal mine was started on the island. The deeper the mines got, the more personal was needed. By 1920, 3,271 people lived on Battleship Island. As more people moved in, they started reclaiming land from the sea. The island is now 16-acres; which is three times the original size. As Japan's dependency for coal waned, so did the inhabitants of Battleship Island.
The abandoned trains of Yanov, Chernobyl.
The images of present day Chernobyl are so creepy. Have you seen the photos of the abandoned amusement park situated there? CREEPY! The Yanov railway station was commissioned in 1925 and named after the village it once served. Following the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, the village and train station was evacuated. The 254 people who lived in the village have never returned due to the radiation contamination. The village was eventually demolished and buried. After the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the Yanov station provided transportation of cargo for the liquidation of the accident. Today, the background of radiation at the station Yanov exceeds the norm several times. Looks like no one is coming back soon.
An abandoned fishing village in China
Like I said, nature always wins in the end. This former Chinese fishing village on Shengshan Island is roughly 40 miles east of Shanghai. It's part of a chain of islands in China’s Zhejiang province.The island was abandoned in the early 1990s after it's residents, mainly fishermen, decided to was go time. Now, it's a lush, green, ghost town where creepy vines and other vegetation have taken over the buildings. In fact, the buildings all look like they had a Chia Pet makeover. Only a handful of people still live in a village that was once home to more than 2,000 fishermen.
An abandoned railroad somewhere outside of Osoyoos, British Columbia Canada.
Osoyoos is the southern-most town in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, Canada. The first Europeans to settle in the region were fur traders working for the Pacific Fur Company. In 1821, the Okanagan Valley became a major trade route; thus the need for railroads. The arrival of the gold rush changed the economy of the area. In 1946, Osoyoos was incorporated as a village. This coincided with the arrival of the railway. The railway was discontinued, and the grounds around the station house now serves as the Osoyoos Sailing Club. Tourist can also marvel at the Desert Model Railroad in Osoyoos, where they constructed an entire miniature European world. That's nothing to choo-choo at.
An old gold dredge that stopped working in 1954. The buckets and chains were still beside it and many of the tools and machines inside were still fully intact. Yukon, just south of Dawson City.
It was a crazier time back in the days of the gold rush. Mining dredges were used in Yukon from the turn of the century up until the 1950s. The purpose was to extract gold from the land. The first gold dredge appeared in the Yukon in 1899. Eventually two dozens began working the Klondike area. Unlike the days of panning for gold, the dredges allowed miners to work large amounts of ground in a relatively short amount of time. The arrival of the dredges was an end of the era of stampeders with their shovels and sluice boxes. Several of these old gold dredges still dot the landscape of the Yukon as a reminder of the crazy days of the Klondike Gold Rush.
WW2 prisoner of war camp in England.
Strange to think that there was a large number of prisoner of war camps in the U.K. Yes, German prisoners of war were held in Britain between 1939 and late 1948. The peak number of German prisoners was in 1946 with 400,000 POWs. Generally, the treatment of prisoners in Britain was different than in other countries. The prisoners were generally treated humanely. The only torture that took place was being forced to eat British food. Very few prisoners died in British captivity. The British government even had a program to re-educate prisoners on the evils of the Nazi regime. Some 25,000 German prisoners voluntarily stayed in the U.K. after being released.
Brighton Beach UK, West Pier to nowhere.
When I think of Brighton Beach, in the England, what comes to mind is mods and rockers fighting it out on the pebbled beach. The West Pier was designed by Eugenius Birch and its purpose was to attract tourists; tourists who loved piers. It opened in 1866 and closed in 1975. Now abandoned, the pier had it's glory days. It was extended in 1893 and a concert hall was added in 1916. The West Pier had roughly 2 million visitors between 1918 and 1919. We'll call this the golden age of piers. The popularity declined after World War II. Concerts were replaced by a funfair. In 1965, a local company took ownership but could not meet the increased maintenance costs - so it closed and fell into disrepair, In fact, the English Heritage Society has declared it to be beyond repair.
Lumberton, North Carolina, USA.
Lumberton, North Carolina is an old town. How old is it? It's so old, that some of its gas stations are rotting away. Located in in southern North Carolina's Inner Banks region, Lumberton, ironically, is located on the Lumber River - which is convenient. The town was founded in 1787 by John Willis, who was an officer in the American Revolution. The town only has roughly 21,542 people, but for some reason there is a good handful of major league baseball players that come from Lumberton. Maybe it's because there's nothing to do now that the gas station is closed, so kids spend their time playing baseball.
Villa Epecuén, Argentina. Flooded in 1985 and completely abandoned.
Back in the 1920s, Villa Epucuen was established as a tourist village. It's located on the shores of Lago Epecuen, which is a salt lake, and is roughly 600 kilometers from Buenos Aires, Argentina. The resort town was a popular destination for decades. It peaked in the 1970s with a population of roughly 5,000 residents. But happiness was not meant to be. Unusual high amounts of rain caused Lago Epecuen to swell. In 1985, the waters broke through an earthen dam. A flood slowly grew and engulfed the town with over 33 feet of water. The waters finally began to recede in 2009. This is a shot of the former slaughterhouse of Villa Epecuen.
St. John's Abandoned Mental Hospital Near Lincoln U.K.
Yet another creepy, abandoned psychiatric asylum. St John’s hospital was built in 1852 to house and treat people with mental illnesses. It was originally called: The Lincolnshire County Lunatic Asylum. The building was designed by architects Hamilton and Thomas Percy in a grand Italian-Style and cost around £30,000 to build (in 1852 money). Now it's abandoned and is the thing that nightmares are made of. The facility was built to be self-sufficient, with patients tending the grounds. At it’s height of operation, the facility housed nearly 1900 patients. St John's also served as an Emergency Hospital during World War II. The hospital was closed in December 1989.
Abandoned buildings of the Soviet-era spa complex, Tskaltubo, Georgia.
Spas were big during the Soviet-era. In fact, a state-funded program required citizens to take mandatory spa vacations for at least two weeks each year. That's a lot of people at the spa. In the 1920s, Tskaltubo was a thriving spa town - as opposed to a "non-thriving" spa town. You can feel the Soviet pride that was put into this place with the grand columns, pillars, and arches painted in light blue. Spas were a serious deal back then and these Soviet-era institutions were strict. Guests couldn't bring their families. And forget about drinking, dancing, and making too much noise. No, instead, guests were to focus on the socialist state. Much like the collapse of the Soviet Union, this former spa is now in decay with green foliage growing over the past glory.
An old market building in the abandoned Italian village called Compochiaro, located in the hills of the island Rhodes.
Located in Italian Rhodes this market has been abandoned for some time. Yes, this part of Rhodes was settled by Italians from rural areas who had an aptitude for forestry. Located at the foot of Mount Profitis Ilias it was built by Italians during World War II who eyed the timber trade and hoped to exploit the forest region for tourism. The market was built around 1935 and was part of the agricultural development of the island. Most of the settlers left between 1940 and 1943; a few remained until 1947. When Rhodes was united with Greece, the Italians were expelled, and Campochiaro given its present name.
The Kingston Lounge - Waldo Hotel, Clarksburg, WV
Here's another contender for the set of the next The Shining movie. Not to bum you out, but The Waldo Hotel, located in the heart of Clarksburg, West Virginia, was once considered one of the crown jewels of the state and the gathering place for local socialites.Not anymore - unless you are a rat or cockroach. The Waldo Hotel was built between 1901-1904, and was designed in the Beaux Arts style. The building has now been empty for nearly 20 years. Local residents refer to it as an eyesore. Its gone past the point of renovation and tearing it down would cost the city $1.2 million. Well, at least that's good news for urban explorers!
The ruined village of Kayaköy in Turkey.
Kayaköy was once a a bustling town nestled against the Taurus Mountains. Though it's close to world-famous beaches and yacht-filled harbors, the city was deserted in the 1920s due to political reasons. Originally built in the 1700s, the town was home to roughly 20,000 Greek Orthodox residents by the early twentieth century. And then came the of the Greco-Turkish War from 1919–1922. The residents of Kayakoy abandoned the town and fled to Greece as a result of the Greek loss. 350 homes are now roofless and left abandoned, along with two Greek Orthodox churches and the fountains and cisterns that watered the city.
A lighthouse about 5 miles into Erie outside of Toledo,Oh.
The Toledo Harbor lighthouse sits on Lake Erie. Which is ironic because it's, well, eerie. Construction of Toledo Harbor Lighthouse began in 1901. The need for a lighthouse was due to the shipping channel was widened and deepened in 1897, which increased shipping traffic. The distinctive lighthouse resembles a gingerbread house. There is a tale of a "phantom keeper" who beckoned to mariners from an upper-story window. SCARY! In 2003, the Toledo Harbor Lighthouse Society was formed as a nonprofit to preserve the lighthouse and document it's history. The Toledo Harbor Lighthouse Preservation Society was also formed for restoration of the lighthouse.This should make the phantom keeper quite happy.
The Ruins of New Slains Castle on the Cliffs of Cruden Bay – Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Scotland loves is castle. Remember Monty Python and the Holy Grail? All those castles used in the movie were in Scotland. New Slains Castle was called such to distinguish it from nearby Old Slains Castle. Do you get it? Well, it's now in ruins and overlooks the North Sea from a cliff top. The main portion of the castle was built in the 16th century by the 9th Earl of Erroll. He was called that to distinguish him from the 8th Earl of Erroll. At one time, New Slains Castle had three extensive gardens. Now it's just a roofless mess.
Inis Oirr, Galway, Ireland, a wreck from 1960.
Inis Oirr is the smallest of the Aran islands and is known for is unusual mix of color and has the true feel of a classical isolated fishing village. The iconic Plassey shipwreck has been on the island for the past 50 years. The boat went down on March 8th, 1960. It had been sailing through Galway Bay carrying a cargo of whiskey, stained glass and yarn - which sounds very Irish. A storm started brewing and the Plassey hit the local Finnish Rock and started to go down. The entire crew was brought to shore safely using Breeches Buoy to hoist them out one man at a time.
'De La Frontière' covered bridge built in 1896 near Potton, Québec, Canada.
Holy poutine! De La Frontière is a covered wooden bridge that was built in 1896. It's located in Quebec near the northern border of Vermont. I'm sure a lot of maple syrup was transported over this bridge. You can find it on the Chemin Bellevue where it spans a deep gorge on the Mud Brook. The covered bridge was closed for service n 1960 after 75 years of Canadian service. On October 6, 2008, it was cited as a historic monument. Potton is a township municipality of about 1,850 people in the Memphrémagog Regional County Municipality.
The remainings of an old synthetic fuel factory near Szczecin, Poland, abandoned in 1945.
This synthetic fuel factory was construction in 1937. The fuel produced at the factory was for the German army. The outbreak of World War II sped up the production process. This was due to the influx of foreign workers from German occupied territories. During the World War II, this building was also a subcamp of the Stutthof, Sachsenhausen and Ravensbrück concentration camps. 30,000 concentration camp prisoners and POWs worked at this facility. 13.000 of the workers didn't make it through the war. The Allies tried to bomb the factory on several occasions, but had no luck. Now it stands deserted.
The decaying Poltalloch House - Built in 1853, this once grand Scottish estate fell into ruins in the 1950s.
Poltalloch House, located in Kilmartin, has not been inhabited since the 1950s. But it has a creepy slavery past. Built in the mid-19th century, the estate was home to some of Scotland’s wealthiest lairds who largely made their fortune in the sugar cane plantations of Jamaica. According to Historian Professor Allan MacInness, the original family’s commercial success was founded on their commodity trading in sugar, rum, cotton, cattle, and slaves. A massive fire in 1902 led to the roof falling in. A collection of rare and extinct birds was among items destroyed. In 2004, the house was said to be beyond restoration.
Dunnottar Castle, Scotland is abandoned
Dunnottar Castle is named for the Gaelic word: Dùn Fhoithear, which means "fort on the shelving slope." So true, it is. You can find this ruined medieval fortress on the northeastern coast of Scotland, just south of Stonehaven. It was constructed around the Early Middle Ages with the surviving buildings built around the 15th and 16th centuries. Don't underestimate the historic significance of Dunnottar Castle. It played a prominent role in the history of Scotland due to its strategic location and defensive strength. It gets better: Dunnottar was the place where the Scottish crown jewels, were hidden from Oliver Cromwell's invading army in the 17th century. Take that, Oliver Cromwell!
An abandoned house on Pawleys Island in South Carolina.
Pawleys Island is on the southern end of The Grand Strand. Not impressed? It's also one of the oldest resort areas of the East Coast. It's so old, in fact, that some of the houses are abandoned. The island is known as a refuge from mosquitoes because of the windy conditions. George Pawley owned the island during the colonial era. He sold portions of the island to planters seeking to escape malaria. When Hurricane Hugo struck in 1989, some island cottages were swept away. The motel on Rt3 17 on Pawleys Island can also be found in ruins. Opened in 1934, it was a coastal resort that catered to African Americans who couldn't stay at white resorts. Famous guests included Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, Duke Ellington and Lena Horne.
Medieval style, old abandoned Mansion in Tangier, near Cap Malabata in front of Gibraltar.
Cape Malabata is located about 6 miles east of central Tangier, Morocco. It faces the Strait of Gibraltar. It looks like there was some serious Medieval crusades stuff going down in his ruined castle. For more modern tastes, check out Mnar Castle. It's a luxury resort in the area that's not in ruins. Located in Cap Malabata Mnar Castle offers luxurious apartments with views over the sea and garden and provides an outdoor swimming pool, a garden and a terrace - which is perfect after a long day exploring the nearby ruined castle.
Abandoned old mill at the top of Lumsdale Falls, Peak District UK.
Visiting Lumsdale Falls has the added perk of encountering the ruins of historic industrial mills. This is set against a picturesque waterfall and wooded walking paths. Back in the day early industrial buildings were powered by water. I know, if Trump were in the UK, he'd be running on the platform, "I'm going to bring back the water-powered jobs!"
At Lumsdale Falls, you'll find buildings and tunnels used to power the mill using natures natural resources. Still remaining is he housing for one of the mill wheels and the exit route for the water to be redirected back to the river. I know what you're thinking, "Surely, two days must be spent here!"
Abandoned ferry on dried up Lake Urmia, Iran. The largest salt lake in the Middle East.
Iran’s Lake Urmia was once the largest saltwater lake in the Middle East. Know why it isn't anymore? Because it dried up and shrunk by 80 percent over the past 30 years. Not good because that screws up the ecosystem. Gone are the flamingos that feasted on brine shrimp, along with pelicans, egrets, and ducks. What's left is the rusting bodies of stranded ships. It gets worse, winds that whip across the lake bed blow salt dust to farm fields, making the soil infertile. Recently, Urmia’s distinct turquoise waters have been stained blood-red from bacteria and algae. Not really a good selling point to bring back tourists.
Yacht “Pieces Star”, wrecked since 1997, Carpenters Rocks, South Australia.
The wreck of the Pieces Star near Carpenters Rocks, is one of the region's most popular and visible shipwrecks. Carpenter Rocks is a small coastal town located near Mount Gambier in the south-east of South Australia. It faces the Southern Ocean and is renowned for its rugged coastline that provides exceptional fishing and diving locations - along with the occasional shipwreck. Though this shipwreck happened in 1997, on August 5th, 1859 the SS Admella was wrecked on a reef around these shores that resulted in the loss of 89 lives.When not checking out the abandoned yacht, Carpenters Rock is also the gateway to the Canunda National Park. This seaside area is also known for supporting a significant southern rock lobster industry.
Predjama Castle In Postojna Cave, Slovenia.
A few pretty cool things about Predjama Castle. It's a Renaissance castle built within a cave mouth in south-central Slovenia. Need more? There's also a hidden passageway. A vertical natural shaft leads out of the castle, and exits at the top of the cliff. This hidden passageway allowed the castle to be secretly supplied with food in the time of the castle's siege. Predjama Castle was featured in the 1986 Jackie Chan movie, Armour of God. It was also on a 2008 episode of Ghost Hunters International on the Sci Fi Channel - when it was investigated for paranormal activity.
Abandoned train station, Belgium.
There's something so lonely about an abandoned train station. Trains will never come here and passengers will no longer get onboard. Except, of course, on the ghost trains. There are quite a few abandoned train stations in Belgium, such as in Montzen close to the border with Germany where the train yards that surround the grounds were bombed by British forces in 1944. Also, the Belgian royal family's private depot, which was built in 1887, now stands abandoned and forgotten alongside the tracks. For more adventurous urban explorers, Belgium also has the rotting wreck of an old Orient Express - which was the most luxurious train of its time (and the site of an occasional murder).
The historic mansion known as Barbourville ruins in Virginia, USA.
Barboursville was designed by Thomas Jefferson, you know, the guy who is on money. It was constructed between 1814-1822 for Jefferson's friend James Barbour and was one of the largest and finest residences in the region. Barboursville was a brick Flemish-bond mansion with a hipped roof. So what the hell went wrong? The mansion was destroyed in a fire on December 25, 1884. That's right Christmas day. The fire destroyed everything but the brick walls, the interior masonry partitions, and the grand fluted columns. Today the estate is run as a vineyard and is one of the oldest and most prestigious wineries in Virginia.
An abandoned house overlooking Skálafellsjökull outside of Vatnajökul national park in Iceland.
The twin peaks near Vatnajökul national park were made famous in the Jules Verne’s novel: A Journey to the Centre of the Earth. Which is strange, because being in Iceland feels almost looks like you're on the moon. Vatnajökull National Park is one of three national parks in Iceland and has an interesting variety of landscape features, created by the combination of forces from rivers, glacial ice, and volcanic and geothermal activity. It's so beautiful here that the house in the photo literally flipped its lid. Vatnajökull National Park was established on June 7th 2008.
An old coal loading place in in the middle of the Danube in Hungary, picture taken from a ship.
It looks like the rest of the world already knows the coal jobs aren't really coming back; as seen here with this abandoned coal loading platform on the Danube in Hungary. In 1990, there were eight coal mine companies in Hungary. In 2011 only a few are left in operation. This is largely due to the collapse of the Soviet Union which forced a dramatic restructuring of the Hungarian coal industry. The majority of smaller underground mines have been closed while others were privatized. Approximately 90% of coal production is brown coal and lignite - and any future expansion of coal would be imported. Plus, it doesn't help that water levels on the Danube dropped to record lows on three sections of the river in Hungary due to a recent drought, causing losses to freight shipping companies that would be delivering coal. The Danube, by the way, is Europe's second longest river and is located in Central and Eastern Europe.
Abandoned Water Wonderland - Hero's Waterworld, Midland, Odessa, Texas.
There's something very eerie about abandoned amusement parks. Just because there's no amusement in rotting, broken rides. Water Wonderland was opened in 1980. It was said to be the dream destination for every kid growing up in West Texas. Not anymore; unless the kid is an urban explorer. A waterpark without water is not a water park. I think Confucius first said that. Water Wonderland has been closed since 2003 due to defaulting on high maintenance costs. This past August, it was reported that the waterpark was sold. And guess what plans the new owner has for the property? That's right, he is going to turn it into...A WATERPARK!
Harlem Plantation - Near Phoenix, Louisiana - Built 1840
I can't think of anything more haunted than an old Southern plantation house. Harlem Plantation House is located in Louisiana between the towns of Davant and Phoenix on the east bank of the Mississippi River. It was built in 1840. It was added, in 1982, to the National Register of Historic Places. Many of Louisiana's plantation buildings remain intact and have tours. It's a bit unsettling when a Louisiana tour travel site kind of glosses over what happened on the plantation, i.e. slavery, but trumpeting the merits:
Abandoned Diplomat Hotel in Baguio, Philippines.
The Diplomat Hotel is said to be haunted by paranormal believers due to the brutal goings on during World War II. And now it stands, very much abandoned. The hotel stands atop of Dominican Hill in Baguio, Philippines. On the outdoor patio of the hotel's second floor unfolds a panoramic view of the city. The hotel was built in 1913. During World War II, people fleeing from the Japanese army sought refuge within the hotel. When the Japanese Imperial Army invaded, they turned the hotel into their headquarters. It gets worse; their secret police, known as the Kempeitai, committed such heinous acts in the hotel such as torture, rape, and decapitating priests, nuns, and refugees. In April of 1945, American forces bombed the hotel and hit the right wing of the building while while Japanese forces committed suicide. Now do you see why it's said to be haunted?
The station was opened on 10 August 1896 by the Glasgow Central Railway. The station building was on ground level, and the platforms were underground, beneath the Glasgow Botanic Gardens.
This is a great chapter in the history of hidden Glasgow. If you go to the city's 19th century Botanic Gardens, in a quiet corner of the gardens, close to the main entrance, lies a slice of Glasgow history. That's right, an abandoned underground railway station built in Victorian times. Opened in 1896, it was start of what would become the Caledonian Railway. Still, the Glasgow Botanic Gardens railway station have remained abandoned since the start of World War Two; permanently closing on 6 February 1939. The station building was destroyed by fire in 1970 when, at the time, it was a nightclub called: Sgt. Peppers. The platforms are still underground and can be seen intact through open air vents in the Botanic Gardens. The site is overgrown with vegetation and sounds like it could be used in a new movie rendition of Trainspotting.
Villa Violet, an abandoned hotel, set in the wooded hills above Lake Lugano, at Lanzo d'Intelvi, Italy.
Another destination spot for your holiday in hell. This time set in Italy. Lanzo d'Intelvi is in the Province of Como in the Italian region of Lombardy. It's located 37 miles north of Milan and just 12 miles from the Swiss border. You can see the need for a hotel in this region. Lake Lugano is a glacial lake, named after the city of Lugano, and is a popular tourist destination. Another selling point; the southern shores of Lake Lugano is rich in fossils dating as far back as he mid-Triassic period. Just add the abandoned hotel, Villa Violet, as yet another fossil found in this region.
A 2300 year old Roman road in Italy.
Romans were really good at was building roads. It helped them to do all their conquering. The Appian Way is one of the earliest and most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. The road is named after Appius Claudius Caecus and served as a military road in 312 BC during the Samnite Wars. The Appian Way connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. This ancient road was used a main route for military supplies and was first long road built specifically to transport troops outside of Rome. Thus why we nave the expression: "All roads lead to Rome." Get it?
Monumental Olympic Stadium built in 1954, Porto Alegre, in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul.
There's something really depression about abandoned sports stadiums. At one time, it was the site of glory and victory. And now its just a plain rotting eyesore. Monumental Olympic Stadium is located in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre. It opened its gates in 1954 and had an original maximum capacity of 38,000 people. It was later expanded to accommodate 85,000 people. The stadium was once the home field of the Grêmio football club. But the club ended up moving to Arena do Grêmio and the stadium closed in December 2012. Footnote, the band Rush once played a sold-out concert in this stadium.
An abandoned railroad track and tunnel hill located in Shawnee Forrest, Illinois.
Another site of a ghost train. The state of Illinois did good with this abandoned train track and tunnel. They turned it into the Tunnel Hill State Trail; which is now a bike and running trail. Nicely done! The trail goes along the former tracks of the Cairo and Vincennes Railroad; which was used during the Civil War by the unit led by General Ambrose Burnside. The Cairo & Vincennes was a branch line of the Southern Railway, and it shut down in the late 1900s. Now, the trails run 45 miles long and have a surface of crushed limestone.
Abandoned West Virginia amusement park with a bloody history, closed in 1966.
This abandoned West Virginia amusement park looks like the home of Pennywise from the movie, It. No amusement here; once a popular summertime leisure spot for coalfield families, this former amusement park has a bloody history. The park was abandoned in 1966 after the accidental deaths of two young patrons. Now the site is said to be haunted. But the horrors go farther back. In 1783, a European family settled on the land that was home to a Native American tribe. This sparked a turf war. While the landowner was out hunting, it was reported that a band of Native Americans killed his family. The farmer enlisted other white settlers and, in an act of vengeance, they murdered several Native Americans. And then, in the 1920s, a businessman named Conley T. Snidow purchased the site and turned it into an amusement park. The park's rides were responsible for a total of six deaths.
No bad karma here...
Rock of Dunamase, county Laois in Ireland.
Here's some real old-timey stuff: The Rock of Dunamase was first settled in the 9th century back when the Vikings were doing all their pillaging. The fort was first a Christian settlement that was pillaged in 842. The castle portion was built in the second half of the 12th century. When the Normans arrived in Ireland, Dunamase became one of the most important Anglo-Norman strongholds in Laois. Dunamase is also given a shout-out in a 19th-century poem entitled, Transplanted:
But vain I wait and listen for Rory Og is dead,
And in the halls of Dunamase a Saxon rules instead,
And o'er his fruitful acres the stranger now is lord
Where since the days of Cuchorb a proud O'Moore kept ward.
What's left of Boblo island - An old amusement park on an island between Windsor, On. Canada and Detroit, MI.
Boblo Island Amusement Park has been closed for 25 years. It opened for family fun in 1898 and shut its gates in 1993. Part of the thrill of going to Boblo Island was the long boat ride to the park. The passageway is still intact as you can see in the photo above. In 1952, a dwarf named Joe Short was employed as 'Captain Boblo.' He'd travel on the ferry boats entertaining the passengers. He previously worked for Ringling Brothers Circus - and kept with his job on the ferry until he retired in 1974, at the age of 90. Henry Ford financed a dance hall at the park and was the second largest in the world. It could hold up to 5,000 dancers.
An abandoned bridge on the Suwannee River in White Springs, Florida.
The Suwannee River runs through South Georgia into Florida. The river is 246 miles long. So you can imagine the need for a bridge here and there. Roughly ten major bridges cross the river. There's also several abandoned bridges along the way. Some of the abandoned bridges were used only for railroads while others were for pedestrians. This bridge in this photo looks like where you'd find the kid with the banjo hanging out from the movie, Deliverance. An interesting feature to note on the abandoned bridges along the Suwannee River is the high level of water marks from past flooding.
