Monday, December 29, 2014

10 Deserted Places we discovered in 2014

As 2014 draws to a close, it's time for our annual end of the year tradition. This time, I went through this year's 39 posts and selected the 10 best ones. Some of them are among the most read by you, while other are my personal favorites. 

I would like to take this opportunity and thank everyone who visited this blog during 2014. It is very encouraging to see how many of you were expecting our weekly updates. 

2015 will be somewhat different for Deserted Places as we won't be able to update the blog regularly for most of the year. However, there will still be new posts every now and then and of course there's an archive of more than 100 deserted places from all over the world you can (re)discover! And I promise that once I'm back home from my own adventures, regular updates will resume.

Meanwhile, you can always follow us on twitter or like us on facebook to stay in touch.

Wishing a happy and healthy 2015 to each one of you! 

Alex.  





For more than 60 years, Elliniko International Airport was the main airport of Athens. After it shut down in 2001, an Olympic Complex was construction inside the airport ground which itself was mostly left abandoned. Today, the old airport of Athens is still awaiting its fate. (More photos)




Maunsell Forts were erected during World War II to protect London and other Thames settlements. Decomissioned in the 50s, they were later used as offshore pirate radio stations and one of them even tried to become an independent nation. (More photos)




Part of this abandoned Russian military base on Kotlin island used to be coastline anti-ship complex during the Cold War. Today many military vehicles in good condition can be found inside. (More photos)



4.  Sathorn Unique: Bangkok's ghost skyscraper

Sathorn Unique tower's construction in the center of Bangkok began in the early 90s. The 49-store skyskraper was abandoned in 1997 though when the construction was 80% completed. (More photos)



5.  An abandoned NSA spying station in Berlin

In the early 60's, the American NSA built one of its largest 'listening stations' on top of an artificial hill in west Berlin. Until the fall of the Berlin Wall the station was spying on East Germany but it has remained abandoned ever since. (More photos)



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6.  Fort Jefferson: An abandoned island fortress off Florida

In the lower Florida Keys, there's the unfinished and abandoned Fort Jefferson. Built by the U.S. Army in 1846 to assist in the fight against piracy in the Caribbean Sea, it later served as a military prison. Due to lack of funds and an extremely inhospitable environment its construction was never finished and it was later abandoned. (More photos)


7.  Ordos, China: The world's largest ghost town

The Kangbashi New Area district of Ordos City in the Chinese Inner Mongolia is also known as the world's largest ghost town. It was supposed to be a town for the afluent but today 98% of it remains empty. (More photos)


8.  Nara Dreamland, an abandoned theme park in Japan

Nara Dreamland, built in 1961 as a Japanese version of Disneyland, was a popular theme park but it closed down in 2006 due to low visitor numbers. Today it looks more like a ghost town. (More photos)


9.  Hitler's hospital: The abandoned Beelitz Sanatorium

Beelitz-Heilstätten hospital outside Berlin, Germany, is also known as "Hitler's hospital" because that is where he, as a young soldier, was treated during World War I. A few of the hospital's 60 buildings are still open but most of them remain abandoned. (More photos)


10.  NASA's abandoned launch sites

A collection of abandoned and decomissioned NASA facilities from around the United States. (More photos)



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