Deserted Places: France

Showing posts with label France. Show all posts

Thursday, April 27, 2017

The abandoned Château de la Mothe-Chandeniers castle in France

Encircled by a moat in the midst of a large wood, Château de la Mothe-Chandeniers can be found at the at the town of Les Trois-Moutiers in the Poitou-Charentes region of France.

Originally called Motte Bauçay (or Baussay), the stronghold was built in the thirteenth century by the Bauçay family, lords of Loudun. In the Middle Ages, the castle was taken twice by the English and it was devastated during the French Revolution.

In 1809, Château de la Mothe-Chandeniers was bought by wealthy businessman François Hennecart who restored the castle to its former glory, an in 1857 it was passed to Baron Joseph Lejeunea. After a major fire destroyed most of the buildings in 1932, the castle has been abandoned.

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Monday, October 17, 2016

An abandoned hotel in the south of France

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Squeezed between the train tracks and a street, Hotel Belvédère du Rayon Vert in Cerbère, France resembles an old abandoned ship. The hotel was designed in the art deco style by the Perpignan architect, Léon Baille, and built between 1928 and 1932 in a triangular plot.

The hotel has four levels and it was built using reinforced concrete. Many details of the building resemble an ocean liner, like the exit of the staircase to the roof that looks like a funnel. The hotel had a restaurant, a cinema, as well as a tennis court built on its roof.

Hotel Belvédère served mainly travelers of the railway line between France and Spain. With the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War though, the borders were closed and the hotel finally shut down in 1983. A few years later the building was protected under the list of historic monuments. Although it stayed abandoned for the most time since, part of the hotel has been restored to be used as apartments.

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Bloovee/Wikimedia Commons

Jean-Claude Liehn/flickr.com

christil/flickr.com

Christian Lagat/flickr.com

lesseptpignons/flickr.com

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Monday, April 11, 2016

The abandoned human zoo of Paris

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Human zoos are a shameful chapter in the history of the western world. During the 19th and the 20th century indigenous people from societies Europeans and Americans considered primitive were often displayed in cities of the west emphasizing the cultural differences between them and the western civilization. Human zoos -or ethnological expositions- existed in many cities (Paris, Hamburg, Antwerp, Barcelona, London, Milan, New York, and Warsaw) attracting 200,000 to 300,000 visitors for each exhibition.

The ruins of the Paris Human Zoo can be found outside the city, in the region of Vincennes. It was built in 1907 as part of the Jardin d’Agronomie Tropicale and included six different villages, representing all the corners of the French colonial empire: Madagascar, Indochina, Sudan, Congo, Tunisia and Morocco.

Over one million visitors visited the human zoo from May until October 1907 when the exhibition ended. For most of the 20th century the site has been kept locked from the outside world and the buildings, where humans were treated like animals, have been left to decay. Starting in 2006, the ruins of the Paris Human Zoo opened to the public.

SEE ALSO: More abandoned places in France // LIST OF ALL DESERTED PLACES
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messynessychic.com

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Thursday, March 31, 2016

Abandoned French churches

French photographer Quentin Chabrot U-derzho, has an obvious passion for abandoned places. Here's a collection of photos of abandoned churches and chapels from around France he has shared.

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Quentin Chabrot U-derzho Photographe

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Saturday, November 14, 2015

A deserted Paris is mourning

On the evening of Friday 13 November 2015, a series of terror attacks across the city of Paris left at least 129 people dead while more than 350 were injured.

In response to the attacks, France was put under a state of emergency and security was heightened. Public schools and universities in Paris remained closed on Saturday while sport events were postponed. Many tourist attractions, including Eiffel tower and Disneyland, remained closed. Paris residents were advised to remain indoors for their safety.

SEE ALSO: November 2015 Paris attacks // More abandoned places in France // LIST OF ALL DESERTED PLACES
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REUTERS/Reinhard Krause/citylab.com

AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu/citylab.com

REUTERS/Reinhard Krause/citylab.com

AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu/citylab.com

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Friday, October 25, 2013

An abandoned railway in the middle of Paris

Before the Paris Métro, there was the 'Chemin de fer de Petite Ceinture' or "little belt railway". Its steam engined trains 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 30km (19 miles) line were shut down. The ancient walls through which the trains were running kept the Petite Ceinture isolated and allowed nature to reclaim the space. Recently, a small part of the railway opened as a park, with Parisians debating the fate of the rest of the line.