Monday, December 30, 2013

13 Deserted Places From 2013!

2013 was the second year of this blog and a great one. Just a couple of days before it's over, I went through the 49 posts of this year and I chose the 13 best ones; some of them among the most popular and other were my personal favourites. 

Thanks everyone for visiting the blog during the past year. Remember you can always follow us on twitter or like us on facebook to stay in touch.

Wishing a happy 2014 to each one of you! :-)

Alex.

1. Holy Land USA: An abandoned Bible theme park


Holy Land USA used to be the largest tourist attraction in Connecticut during the 60's and 70's. The Bible-inspired theme park remains now abandoned and slightly creepy.


2. An abandoned mansion in the Philippines


"The Ruins" as the locals call it, is an abandoned mansion located in Talisay City, Philippines. Build in the 1900's by a sugar baron, it was set alight by US forces during World War II and left abandoned for many decades.


3. The abandoned Six Flags New Orleans amusement park


The New Orleans Six Flags amusement park was a victim of hurricane Katrina which left the city in ruins in 2005. The park was damaged heavily by the flooding and until today its fate remains uncertain


4. Mike Tyson's abandoned mansion


Mike Tyson made a lot of money during his career but his lifestyle led him to declare bunkraptcy in 2004. A few years earlier he had already lost ownership of his 5-bedroom luxurious villa in Ohio, which was subsequently left abandoned for many years.


5. Saddam Hussein's abandoned palaces


Saddam Hussein built dozens of palaces around Iraq for himself, his family, his party officials and his mistresses. After the US-led invasion of 2003, many of the palaces were occupied by the American army while other were left abandoned


6. Detroit, a city in decay


During last year, the city of Detroit, Michigan filed the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. French photographers Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre spent 5 years in Detroit photographing the ruins of a once prosperous city


7. 25 abandoned former Yugoslavia monuments


These futuristic monuments found around former Yugoslavian countries were commissioned by president Josip Broz Tito in the 1960's and 1970's to commemorate sites where World War II battles took place or where concentration camps stood. 


8. Inside the Fukushima evacuation zone

Damir Sakolj/Reuters

Two and a half years after the devastating Japan earthquake and tsunami, as well as the nuclear disaster that followed, Reuters photographer Damir Sagolj returned to the region to document the lives of those affected by the tragedy. Even today, tens of thousands of survivors live in temporary housing as the area surrounding the nuclear plant remains too contaminated by radiation.


9. An abandoned railway in the middle of Paris


The 'Chemin de fer de Petite Ceinture' or "little belt railway" run around the French capital, on tracks built between the city's forts, encircling 19th century Paris. The railway fell into decline from the 1930's and by 1985 all parts of the line were shut down


10. Kolmanskop, the ghost town of the desert


The ghost town of Kolmanskop lies in the middle of the Namibian desert. It used to house approximately 1,000 diamond miners and their families but as it usually happens, the town was left abandoned once the diamond field was exhausted.


11. SS Ayrfield, Sydney's floating forest



SS Aurfield, an old Ship floating in Homebush Bay, west of Sydney, Australia has been turned into a floating forest by nature


12. An abandoned morgue in Belgium


Mortuarium Schoonselhof in Antwerp, Belgium was left abandoned during the 90's. Tools and chemicals in the autopsy room, weren't moved before the location became known to photographers in 2006.


13. The abandoned mill in Sorrento, Italy


In the town of Sorrento in southern Italy, there's a deep canyon, also known as 'The valley of the mills'. There, between thick vegetation there's the an old mill, functioning from the middle ages till sometime around 1866

~

Monday, December 16, 2013

The abandoned mill in Sorrento, Italy


In the town of Sorrento near Naples, southern Italy, there's a deep canyon, also known as 'The valley of the mills'. There, between thick vegetation there's the old mill, functioning since the beginning of the 900's and used to produce flour. The mill was abandoned around 1866 when the creation of Tasso square isolated the mill from the sea, provoking a rise in the humidity, which soon forced the mills abandonment.  Today the mill is among the tourists attractions of Sorrento.


SEE ALSO: More abandoned places in Italy // LIST OF ALL DESERTED PLACES 
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Monday, December 9, 2013

An abandoned mall in St. Louis


Crestwood Court, previously known as Crestwood Plaza, was the first major shopping mall to open in the St. Louis area back in 1957. It was such an important landmark for the city, that John F. Kennedy gave a speech in the mall's parking lot during his 1960 campaign. Crestwood was originally an open-air mall but it was enclosed in 1984. 

During its last 15 years, Crestwood Court changed ownership twice but this didn't help with its decreasing number of visitors who probably prefered to visit newer open-air malls. Tenants started abandoning the mall and on September 2013, the last remaining store shut down. Since then, Crestwood Court has remained completely vacant. Digital artist Dan Wampler visited the mall and took a series of fascinating photos. 




SEE ALSO: More abandoned malls around the world // More abandoned places in Missouri // More abandoned places in the United States // LIST OF ALL DESERTED PLACES 
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Monday, December 2, 2013

China's newest -and emptiest- airport terminal


Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport's Terminal 3 opened last week receiving much praise for its design. The terminal, which cost 740 million euros (1.01 billion US dollars) was seen as a symbol of China's explosion onto the world stage of global travel. Rome based Studio Fuksas designed an enormous terminal covering 400,00 sq. meters (4.3 million sq. feet). It can handle up to 45 million passengers a year but so far nobody seems to want to go there. Only one European airline is operating from the airport offering trips to Helsinki, and the only flights to the US are cargo planes to Anchorage in Alaska.

One of the reasons for the low interest could be that Shenzhen (which is in close proximity to Hong Kong) doesn't allow visa-free stop overs, unlike other Chinese cities. If more airlines will choose to use Terminal 3 in the future remains to be seen. Until then, it will remain a shiny but empty space.




SEE ALSO: More abandoned airports around the world // More abandoned places in China // LIST OF ALL DESERTED PLACES 
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Tuesday, November 26, 2013

An abandoned morgue in Belgium

Mortuarium Schoonselhof in Antwerp, Belgium was part of the Schoonselhof cemetery but was left abandoned during the 90s. Tools and chemicals in the autopsy room, including a freezer with place for 12 bodies, electric bone saws and medical files weren't moved before the location became known to photographers in 2006. The building was finally demolished a year later. 



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Monday, November 18, 2013

An abandoned sanatorium near Moscow

The area of the river Istra in the region of Moscow is known for the beauty of its scenery. This is why many sanatoriums (medical and recreational facilities) and boarding houses were built in the area. With the political and economical situation changing in the 90s though, many of them had to shut down. Some were destroyed, while other were turned into houses or holiday homes. Only a few still remain in their almost preserved in their original condition. 



SEE ALSO: More abandoned hospitals around the world // More abandoned places in Russia // LIST OF ALL DESERTED PLACES 
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Monday, November 11, 2013

SS Ayrfield, Sydney's floating forest


Homebush Bay, west of Sydney, Australia, is home to a few decommissioned ships as the area was once used as a ship-breaking yard. The most famous and unique among them though is SS Ayrfield


Originally launched as SS Corrimal, it was built in the UK in 1911 and commissioned in Sydney in 1912. She was purchased by the Commonwealth Government and used to transport supplies to American troops stationed in the Pacific region during World War II. After the war, it was sold to Miller Steamship Company Ltd and renamed Ayrfield. For 20 years, SS Ayrfield operated as a collier between Newcastle and Miller’s terminal in Blackwattle Bay. 

In 1972 SS Ayrfield was sent to Homebush Bay for breaking up, where its hall still remains floating, covered by lush vegetation. 




SEE ALSO: More abandoned ships // More abandoned places in Australia // LIST OF ALL DESERTED PLACES 
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Monday, November 4, 2013

Kolmanskop, the ghost town of the desert


In the Namib desert, a few kilometers away from the Namibian port town of Lüderitz, there's the ghost town of Kolmanskop. Built by Germans in the beginning of the 20th century, Kolmanskop used to house approximately 1,000 diamond miners and their families. As it usually happens though, the town was left abandoned once the diamond field was exhausted. 

The story began in 1908 when German Zacharias Lewala found a diamond while working in the area and showed to his supervisor, the German railway inspector August Stauch. After realizing that this area was rich in diamonds, lots of German miners settled in this area and soon after the German government declared a large area as a "Sperrgebiet", starting to exploit the diamond field.

The town had a hospital, ballroom, power station, school, swimming pool, casino, and even a bowling It had the first x-ray-station in the southern hemisphere, as well as the first tram in Africa. A railway link connected the town to the port of Lüderitz. 

The decline began after the World War II when the diamond-field slowly exhausted, and the town was ultimately abandoned in 1954. In the following decades, the desert covered the streets and the tourists now walk through houses knee-deep in sand.


SEE ALSO: More abandoned ghost towns around the world // More abandoned places in the desert  // LIST OF ALL DESERTED PLACES 
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