Deserted Places

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Rio's Maracana Stadium, left deserted after the Olympics

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Rio de Janeiro's iconic Maracanã Stadium has a very long history dating back to 1950. That was when it was inaugurated to host the 1950 World Cup where Brazil was beaten 2-0 from Uruguay. The total attendance of that game was 199,854, making it the world's largest stadium.

In the following decades, Maracana hosted football matches between the major football clubs in Rio, domestic football cup finals, concerts, and sporting events, including the final round of 1989 Copa América, the 2007 Pan American Games, the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Although it was inaugurated in 1950, Maracana's construction didn't officially finish before 1965. In 1992, after the collapse of an upper stand during a football match which resulted in the death of 3 spectators, Maracana's capacity was greatly reduced and it was converted into an all-seater stadium. Another renovation in 2000 increased its capacity to 103,000, while a renovation that kept the stadium closed between 2005-2006 reduced it to 87,000.

Another major and costly reconstruction, which included the construction of a new roof, was launched in 2010 to prepare the stadium for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.

After the Olympics, Maracana has remained empty and unused, as clubs and authorities argue over who should manage it. Although it is owned by the Rio de Janeiro's state government, officials have stopped paying for maintenance and security as the government has been hit hard by Brazil's deep economic crisis. According to media reports and photos, Maracana stadium has been looted and even cables have been stolen.

Maracana Stadium is the latest victim of the Olympics curse, with sport venues and facilities left abandoned after a city hosts the Olympic Games.

Guito Moreto/Agencia o Globo/thesun.co.uk

SEE ALSO: More abandoned Olympic venues around the world // More abandoned sport facilities // More abandoned places in Brazil // LIST OF ALL DESERTED PLACES
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Monday, August 8, 2016

Inside the abandoned Nazi Olympic village of Berlin

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The 1936 Berlin Olympics hosted in Nazi Germany was home to the first permanent Olympic village in history, which today is the oldest one to be partially still standing.

Built in Wustermark, in the west edge of Berlin, the Olympic village hosted about 4,000 athletes from all over the world, guarded by men in Nazi uniforms. The athletes were impressed by the village, as each house had its own steward and there had never been a swimming pool before at an Olympic village.

Inside the "Restaurant of the Nations", the main eating hall, the athletes consumed 100 cows, 91 pigs, over 650 lambs, 8,000lb of coffee, 150,000lb of vegetables and 160,000 pints of milk during the 3 weeks of the Games. However, no alcohol was not served as Hitler himself was a teetotaler.

After the Olympics, the Olympic village became a hospital during World War II and with the fall of Nazi Germany it was captured by Soviet troops. The Soviets used it as a base for SMERSH torturers and KGB interrogators. Inside the main amphitheater a drawing of Russian revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin overlooks the room where functions and cultural shows were held.

When the Soviets forces abandoned it in 1992, only 25 of the 145 original buildings of the Olympic village were still standing - including the crumbling swimming pool, gym, theater and dining hall. For the next 20 years the village fell in disrepair with most Germans ignoring it due to its connection with Nazism.

Its new owner however, DKB Bank, decided to restore it as an exhibition space. One part that was restored first was the original room of black American athlete Jesse Owens -No 5, in block 39- who became the star of the Games when he won 4 gold medals in front of Hitler, a man that considered him inferior because of his color.

John MacDougall/ AFP/francetvinfo.fr

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Sylvain Margaine/Forbidden-Places/techinsider.io

Roger Allen/dailymail.co.uk

Monday, August 1, 2016

Beijing's abandoned Olympic venues

To host the 2008 Summer Olympics, China constructed 12 new venues as well as eight temporary ones. Although Beijing received international accolades for its new architectural icons, many venues fell in disrepair after the games as there were no plans for future use.

The largest venue, Beijing's Olympic Stadium, known as 'Bird's nest' costed $471 million to be built which might take China 30 years to pay off. Even though there are plans for it to be used for the 2022 Winter Olympics, again hosted in Beijing, it hasn't been used much since the Olympics. Meanwhile, the Water Cube, as Beijing National Aquatics Center was nicknamed, lost about $1 million in 2011 even after public financial assistance and the addition of a water park.

At the same time, many other venues, like those for kayaking, beach volleyball, BMX, and baseball have been sitting untouched since 2008. In photos, taken the years after the Games, signage and landscaping appear to have gone without maintenance since the closing ceremonies.

Beijing followed in the footsteps of other Olympic cities like Athens and Sochi where sport venues have remained abandoned following the games due to lack of planning.

SEE ALSO: More abandoned Olympic venues around the world // More abandoned sport facilities // More abandoned places in China // LIST OF ALL DESERTED PLACES

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REUTERS/David Gray

Monday, December 14, 2015

Deserted places around crisis-hit Greece

Starting in 2009, the Greek debt crisis and the subsequent policies of austerity, have taken their toll all over Greece. Unemployment and homelessness have soared, while state-provided health, education and welfare services have deteriorated.

Even though the country's de-industrialization began back in the 1980s, the economic crisis was the last nail in the coffin for Greece's factories. Many of them went bankrupt while other were moved to neighboring countries with growing economies and lower wages.

The country is now dotted with the hulks of formerly flourishing factories that for decades churned out wealth for their owners and provided a sure if modest livelihood for multitudes of workers.

Some of the plants are guarded by former staff, others padlocked or open to anyone prepared to dirty a pair of trousers. Inside are the relics of their former activity: Piles of wine bottles, stacks of crockery, idle machinery. Scattered among them are the imprints of the people who worked there — rotting boots and gloves, personnel files, dust-infused jackets left hanging on nails and never reclaimed.

The crisis, combined with political incompetence, was also the main reason why other infrastructure, such as the former Athens airport or the former Olympic Games sites remained deserted and weren't put to use for years.

Associated Press photographer Petros Giannakouris travelled around Greece to capture those abandoned places.

SEE ALSO: More abandoned industrial sites around the world // More abandoned airports // More abandoned sport facilities // More abandoned Olympic venues // More abandoned places in Greece // LIST OF ALL DESERTED PLACES
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A meat factory in Corinth, destroyed by fire in August 2014 while it had stopped working months before

An abandoned Hellenic Ceramics (ELKE) factory in Halkida

An abandoned factory of The Chemical Products and Fertilizers Company in Piraeus, shut down in 1999

Abandoned strawberry hothouses near the village of Manolada

A plane in the former Hellinikon International Airport

Monday, September 29, 2014

Sochi, 6 months after the Winter Olympics

Six months after the 2014 Winter Olympics were held in Sochi, Russian photographer Alexander Belenkiy visited Rosa Khutor, the town where the alpine events were held. Of course, visiting a winter resort during summer adds to the atmosphere of abandonment, with empty streets and closed hotels.

Alexander Belenkiy/macos.livejournal.com

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Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Athens Olympic Games sites, 10 years later

Two years ago, we took a look at the 2004 Athens Olympics venues, 8 years after the Games, and found most of them to be abandoned and in disrepair.

This summer, 10 years after the Olympic Games, we find that almost nothing has changed. Even though the Games were considered a success back in 2004, there were no plans whatsoever for the future use of most of the sporting facilities. Many of them were never used again in the last 10 years, while others, such as the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, don't receive proper maintenance due to lack of funding.

Meanwhile, just last week the Greek government announced that it has no responsibility for the condition of the Athens Olympic facilities and that most of them will be sold to private investors soon.

SEE ALSO: Athens Olympic Games sites, 8 years later // More abandoned Olympic venues around the world // More abandoned sport facilities // More abandoned places in Greece // LIST OF ALL DESERTED PLACES
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Yorgos Karahalis/Reuters

Yannis Behrakis/Reuters

Yorgos Karahalis/Reuters

Yannis Behrakis/Reuters

Yorgos Karahalis/Reuters