Inspiration

45 Abandoned Places Around the World That Are Eerily Beautiful

Beautiful yet stark reminders of what used to be—across the globe.
abandoned places Kolmanskop Namibia
Gleb Tarro/Getty

There is something both eerie and striking about abandoned places. Whether it’s a train cemetery in Bolivia, an Art Deco subway station underneath New York City, or a village overtaken by sand dunes on the coast of Namibia, each location is a snapshot of history frozen in time. Take a tour of these mesmerizing sites around the world—stark reminders of what used to be, with beauty seeping through the broken glass and dust.

Here, 45 abandoned places around the world that will have you both awed and creeped out at the same time.

This gallery has been updated with new information since its original publish date.

  • Bodie California
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    Bodie, California

    Once home to 10,000 people, Bodie boomed in the 1870s and 1880s, when gold was found in the hills surrounding Mono Lake. It’s now a State Historic Park, with some parts of the town preserved in a state of “arrested decay”—think tables with place settings and shops stocked with supplies.

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    Power Plant IM, Belgium

    Originally built in 1921, the Power Plant IM in Charleroi used to be one of the largest coal-burning power plants in Belgium—its massive cooling tower (pictured) was able to cool down 480,000 gallons of water per minute in its heyday. But with great power comes great pollution, and this particular plant was responsible for 10 percent of the total carbon dioxide emissions in the entire country. Greenpeace protested, and the site was shut down in 2007. And while they may no longer provide any electricity, the abandoned towers still provide plenty of eerily beautiful vistas.

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    The Maunsell Sea Forts, England

    Although they look like props from an H.G. Wells film adaptation, these giant metal towers in the Thames estuary were actually constructed to protect England from German air raids during WWII. The forts were decommissioned in the 1950s, and the abandoned towers were used by pirate radio operators in the following decades. Today, one nearby fort is managed by micronation Principality of Sealand; the rest can be seen safely from a boat or, on a clear day, the shores of Shoebury East Beach.

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    Haludovo Palace Hotel, Croatia

    Haludovo Palace Hotel is clearly not of our time, but it’s hard to tell exactly when it is from. The design and modular shapes feel futuristic, but the state of decay places it firmly in the past. In reality, the hotel complex was built on the island of Krk in 1971, in a style typical of Communist-era architecture (the asymmetrical concrete, the brutally modern facades) and spent a few golden decades hosting actors and world leaders visiting former Yugoslavia. When war hit in the 1990s, tourism dwindled, and the hotel hosted its last guests in 2001 before closing its doors for good. The casinos, saunas, and tennis courts have fallen into disrepair, but visitors can still appreciate the hotel's skeletal buildings—and let’s face it, any day spent on a Croatian island is a good one.

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    Fordlândia, Brazil

    Back in the 1920s, Henry Ford had grand plans to establish a rubber plantation in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. The American industrialist secured a massive plot of land from the Brazilian government and built a rather impressive micro-city—complete with a power plant, hospital, golf course, thousands of houses, and more—that he named Fordlândia. Unfortunately, a combination of malaria, unproductive plants, and rioting workers led to Fordlândia’s downfall, and the strange riverside establishment was sold back to Brazil in 1945. Many of the original buildings still stand (including the iconic water tower), and some Amazon tours will take travelers to explore the ruins.

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    Houtouwan, China

    Houtouwan—a former fishing village located about 87 miles southeast of Shanghai on Shengshan Island—has been uninhabited for several decades, but this is not your average ghost town. Instead of being covered in dust and rubble, these buildings are almost entirely occupied by creeping ivy and lush vegetation, creating a green landscape that is more spectacular than devastating. While most of the village’s original residents moved inland in the early 1990s, a few people do still live on the island, selling water to curious tourists and photographers.

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    Great Train Graveyard, Bolivia

    Uyuni is mainly known for its salt flats and red lakes, but the Bolivian region has another unusual tourist attraction—a “cemetery” of abandoned, antique trains. In the early 19th century, plans were made to extend Uyuni’s transportation network and build more train tracks through the city, but the project was abandoned due to technical difficulties and tensions with local indigenous people. The trains were still used to transport minerals to port cities on the Pacific, but the minerals ran out in the 1940s, the miners left town, and the equipment was left sitting out in the desert. Time and salty winds have since corroded the trains, resulting in the Great Train Graveyard you see today.

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    City Methodist Church, Indiana

    Famous for being the birthplace of Michael Jackson, Gary, Indiana, also happens to be the site of one of the prettiest (and eeriest) abandoned churches in the country. Originally built in 1926 with money donated by U.S. Steel, the City Methodist Church is a nine-story marvel complete with Gothic architecture, stone pillars, and stained glass windows. Over the next several decades, the steel industry continued to falter and Gary's population dwindled, and the church was completely shut down in 1975. The structure is crumbling but still beautiful today, and is a popular spot for film directors—you might recognize it from movies like A Nightmare on Elm Street, or, less likely, Transformers: Dark of the Moon (that’s the third one).

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    Poveglia, Italy

    Less than half a mile from the canals of Venice, Poveglia Island has served as a quarantine zone for bubonic plague victims, storage space for Napoleon’s weapons, and the site of an early 20th-century mental institution. The asylum played host to horrific medical experiments, reports The Travel Channel, and finally closed for good when a doctor threw himself off the institution’s bell tower. It’s illegal to visit Poveglia today, but you can see the island and its decaying hospital safely from the beaches of nearby Lido.

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    Gereja Ayam (“Chicken Church”), Indonesia

    If you ever find yourself in the jungles of central Java, you might stumble upon a dilapidated church that’s equal parts awesome and confusing: Gereja Ayam, also known as the “Chicken Church.” The church (which the architect intended to be in the shape of a dove—nice try!) opened its doors in the 1990s, serving as both a rehab center and place of worship for all religions; unfortunately, construction costs soon became too high and the project—and building—were abandoned in 2000. The foul fowl has become something of a tourist destination these days, with murals adorning the interior, incredible views of the surrounding forests through the beak, and even a small cafe selling treats near the tail feathers.

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    Tianducheng, China

    No, this isn't a picture of post-apocalyptic Paris. It’s China’s Tianducheng district, a miniature replica of France’s capital located about 40 minutes away from Hangzhou. The ambitious (yet failed) real estate development was built in 2007, complete with its own Champs-Elysées and 300-foot Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately, China’s attempt to recreate the City of Light ended up being more creepy than romantic, as if the real Paris suddenly entered the Upside Down. Only a couple thousand residents remain (the city was built to house 10,000), and the streets are typically empty—save for the occasional bridal party posing for faux Parisian wedding photos. 

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    Michigan Theatre, Detroit

    Built in 1926 on the spot of Henry Ford's first workshop, the Michigan Theatre was once an opulent downtown Detroit institution with seven stories, 4,000 seats, and a construction price tag of $5 million. The theater closed its doors in 1967, following the boom of suburban movie theaters and living room televisions. Since then, the space has served several purposes until it was finally repurposed as a parking garage in the late 1970s. The cathedral ceilings and frescoed walls of the once-majestic playhouse have certainly seen better days, but it sure beats your average concrete parking structure.

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    SS Ayrfield Shipwreck, Sydney

    The area of Homebush Bay was once an industrial crossroads of Sydney, filled with ships transporting coal and oil during the early 20th century. Unfortunately, the waters soon became contaminated and toxic (probably because of all that coal and oil), a problem that only got solved after the commercial boom following the 2000 Olympics. The area is now a fully-functional residential suburb, but you can still catch a few glimpses of Homebush Bay’s industrial past—and they’re much prettier than you might think. Most notably is the SS Ayrfield, a rusted abandoned freighter that has miraculously become overgrown with mangrove trees. Can anyone else imagine this as a pop-up tiki bar in Brooklyn?

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    Ponyhenge, Massachusetts

    Anything that ends with -henge tends to be shrouded in weirdness and mystery, but “Ponyhenge” in Lincoln, Massachusetts, might just be our new favorite. As its name suggests, Ponyhenge is a collection of plastic ponies and rocking horses sitting pretty (and nightmarish-ly) in a field about 14 miles west of Boston. The first ponies started appearing sometime around 2010; over the years, the collection has grown exponentially and will frequently rearrange into circles and rows. How did the first pony appear? Who adds and organizes the collection? Do the ponies come alive when we're asleep? No one knows. It’s Ponyhenge.

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    Beelitz-Heilstätten Hospital, Germany

    If this old German hospital looks disturbing, well, it is. Just check out its chilling resume: Between 1898 and 1930, the Beelitz-Heilstätten complex served as a tuberculosis sanatorium. It also housed mustard gas and machine gun victims during World War I, including a young soldier named Adolf Hitler. The hospital later went on to be a major treatment center for Nazi soldiers during World War II, and it was used as a Soviet military hospital from 1945 until the fall of the Berlin Wall. Today, a few wards are used as a neurological rehabilitation center, although the majority of the complex is abandoned. The surgery and psychiatric wards have both been left to decay and give way to nature (and vandals), and the result looks like something straight out of American Horror Story: Asylum.

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    Kennecott, Alaska

    Nearly $200 million worth of copper was processed in Kennecott (located in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park) from 1911 to 1938, a self-contained mining town with its own hospital, skating rink, tennis court, and dairy. But most of the buildings have now been abandoned for around 60 years, some of which have deteriorated past the point of salvation—but are still quite lovely. The National Park Service acquired many of Kennecott’s buildings and lands in 1998; the visitor center is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day, and the recreation hall is available to rent for events.

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    Rummu Prison, Estonia

    Of all the underwater sites around the world, Estonia’s semi-emerged Rummu Prison might just be the creepiest. The prison was built by the Soviet Union and filled with inmates in the 1940s, where the prisoners were forced to work in the nearby limestone quarry. The jail was abandoned when Estonia gained its independence in 1991, and the lack of supervision caused the quarry to quickly fill up with water. Rummu Prison is now a popular beach, especially among scuba divers who want to explore the submerged buildings and mining equipment below the surface.

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    Marco Island Dome Homes, Florida

    If Luke Skywalker lived in Florida, you could probably find him meditating in one of the Dome Homes off the tip of Marco Island. The alien-looking houses were actually the brainchild of a retired oil tycoon, who built the structures in 1981 to be an eco-friendly vacation home for his family. But Florida will be Florida, and harsh weather and eroding shorelines surrounded the Dome Homes with water and rendered them unlivable. There’s no plan to try to re-occupy the futuristic buildings, but it sure is fun to make up legends about where they came from and what purpose they serve—the Stonehenge of Southern Florida, if you will.

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    Kolmanskop, Namibia

    You wouldn’t guess by looking at it now, but the town of Kolmanskop was once the spot of diamond mining and extravagance in 1908. But once the fair-weather inhabitants discovered more diamonds south of Kolmanskop, the site instantly became a ghost town. It is now famous for its eerie, sand-filled houses, which have appeared on screen several times, notably in Dust Devil (1993) and The King Is Alive (2000).

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    Łapalice Castle, Poland

    Imposing and ornate, Łapalice Castle resembles many of Eastern Europe’s legendary spooky castles. Only Łapalice Castle was built in 1979—and it’s not even technically a castle. The grand building was originally built as a studio for artist Piotr Kazimierczak, which for some reason needed a swimming pool, ballroom, ramparts, and a dozen towers. Unfortunately, Kazimierczak had to abandon his project before it was ever completed, thanks to the double threat of not having enough money and not having necessary permits for the land. Now, the “castle” is merely a shell of what could have been, with graffiti adorning the crumbling walls.

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    Kangbashi, China

    Welcome to the most modern ghost town you’ll ever see. Located in the city of Ordos (a subdivision of Inner Mongolia), Kangbashi New Area was intended to be a 130-square-mile residential area built to accommodate some one million people. Construction of the futuristic city-within-a-city began in 2003, but city officials had trouble filling the super-expensive apartment buildings—and the remote desert location certainly didn’t help matters. It’s almost as if Kangbashi was built for a Ridley Scott movie, and then completely abandoned once shooting ended. Today, people can still visit the area and wander through the surprisingly intact buildings and art installations.

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    Tskaltubo, Georgia

    Once a lavish spa town in Georgia, Tskaltubo fell into disarray when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Before that, the lavish retreat was a hot spot for the elites of the Communist Party (including Joseph Stalin himself), with an array of bath houses (or sanitoriums), and hotels. The abandoned wellness destination has served as a refuge for displaced Abkhazian people since the Abkhaz-Georgian conflict of 1992, as well as a popular spot for urban explorers and photographers.

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    Hashima Island, Japan

    Hashima Island was once the most densely populated island in the world; now it’s completely empty. People became interested in the Nagasaki island after finding an underwater coal deposit directly under it. As time went on, tightly packed apartment complexes were constructed for the miners and laborers, providing its density record. But folks left as quickly as they came when the coal ran out, resulting in a rock and concrete ghost town in the middle of the ocean.

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    St. George’s Church, Czech Republic

    Originally built in 1352, St. George’s Church (Kostel Svatého Jiří) in Luková has had quite the history. The church was nearly destroyed by fires many times over the centuries, and its roof partially collapsed during a funeral service in 1968. After that event, the congregation became convinced the church was haunted (we get it) and refused to enter; as a result, the building was stripped by robbers and fell prey to vandalism. That all changed in 2012, when an art student at the University of West Bohemia had an idea to draw visitors back to the church: a collection of 30 ghost sculptures sitting in the pews with their heads bowed. Today, tourists have flocked to the “Ghost Church” to snap photos and even sit among the unmoving specters while praying (as of now, there are no signs of the installation being removed).

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    Michigan Central Station, Detroit

    What was once a bustling business hub is now a ghostly reminder of Detroit’s economic status (although the city is once again on the up-and-up). The Michigan Central Station welcomed hundreds of trains every day after officially opening in 1914. Rail traffic began to dwindle, however, and the station struggled for several decades before closing in 1988.

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    Lake Reschen Bell Tower, Italy

    Beginning in 1940, Italian electric company Montecatini built a dam to unify two lakes in South Tyrol—Reschensee and Mittersee. The area was once home to several villages, but the towns were flooded (intentionally) during the dam-building process. The only visible reminder of the drowned cities is a 14th-century bell tower—sort of like Rapunzel meets the Quarter Quell. The surrounding mountains are popular among hikers, and you can even walk right up to the tower when the lake freezes over in the winter.

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    Nicosia International Airport, Cyprus

    Nicosia International Airport was a busy, successful airport from the time it opened in 1930 until it was abandoned in 1974, due to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. In the past nearly 50 years, planes have turned to rust outside, while the airport’s check-in counters and boarding areas have accumulated thick layers of dust and bird droppings.

  • Photo by Seph Lawless

    Six Flags (formerly Jazzland), New Orleans

    The Six Flags in New Orleans was one of the architectural casualties of Hurricane Katrina. The park was flooded, and the water remained stagnant there for several weeks. The park is currently a pastel wasteland, full of skeletal roller coasters, upside-down concession stands, and terrifying decapitated clowns.

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    City Hall Subway, New York City

    It might seem impossible to find vaulted ceilings and chandeliers in a NYC subway stop. But that wasn’t the case in 1904, when this Rafael Guastavino-designed station opened directly below City Hall. Unfortunately, commuters chose speed over style, so the stop closed in 1940, as the Brooklyn Bridge station grew. Today, Transit Museum members can tour the station, and some passengers might get a lucky viewing: Take the downtown 6 at Brooklyn Bridge and try to catch a glimpse as the train moves past the underground gem before switching to uptown.

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    Kayaköy, Turkey

    Located in ​​southwest Turkey, the abandoned village of Kayaköy was once a thriving community of about 10,000 residents living in religious harmony. Both Greek Orthodox Christians and Muslims built homes here in the 14th century, and the two groups lived peacefully side by side until most of the population was exiled following the Greco-Turkish War in the 1920s. This forced exodus—not to mention a damaging earthquake in 1957—turned Kayaköy into the ghost town you see today. The hillside town is still quite beautiful, with several hundred homes and a few churches standing in quiet defiance and remembrance of a once-peaceful society.

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    Teufelsberg, Berlin

    Adjacent to bustling Berlin lies Teufelsberg, a now-abandoned Cold War listening station. The station sits on top of a 262-foot artificial hill called Devil’s Mountain—basically a pile of WWII rubble covering up a Nazi military college. NSA built the station on the mountain so they could eavesdrop on East Berlin; it was abandoned after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Today, it is a graffiti-covered ruin overlooking the city. Historical tours are offered almost every day, providing visitors with views of both the radar domes and the city below.

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    Anping Tree House, Taiwan

    Originally a British-owned merchant warehouse, this crumbling complex in Tainan City has been overtaken by nature—much to our visual delight. After the warehouse was vacated sometime in the 19th century, a nearby banyan tree forced its way through the building’s brick walls and concrete floors, creating a “treehouse” that looks like one of Angkor Wat’s baby cousins. Visitors can explore the whimsical site for a few dollars—there’s even an elevated walkway to help you navigate.

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    New York State Pavilion, Queens

    Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens has hosted two World’s Fairs: one in 1939 and one in 1964. After the second fair closed, many of the buildings and pavilions were knocked down. A few still remain, however, which you might have unknowingly seen from your plane window if you’ve ever landed at LaGuardia. Aside from the 12-story Unisphere, the most famous standing landmark is the New York State Pavilion, a UFO-shaped structure with an accompanying trio of observation towers. The pavilion may not be used anymore, but it proudly serves as a reminder of the futuristic themes of bygone World’s Fairs.

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    The Island of the Dolls, Mexico

    Despite its status as a World Heritage site (along with Mexico City, it’s a well-preserved example of Aztec life), Xochimilco has reached a certain amount of internet fame for its Isla de las Munecas, or the Island of the Dolls. Hidden among the area’s many canals, the site is famous for the hundreds of dolls—and doll parts—hanging from trees and scattered among the grass. Although it looks more like a horror movie set than anything else, the chinampa (akin to an artificial island) used to be the actual residence of a now-deceased man named Julian Santa Barrera. After finding a dead girl’s body in a nearby canal, Barrera collected and displayed the toys in the hopes of warding off evil spirits. Daring souls can hire their own boat, try to convince the driver to pay the island a visit, and view it—along with the decaying house and dangling dolls—safely from the water.

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    Buzludzha Monument, Bulgaria

    The Buzludzha Monument was built toward the end of the Cold War by the Bulgarian communist regime, who hoped it would serve as a prominent and official headquarters for the Bulgarian Communist Party. The UFO-esque building was the site of many state functions, with Lenin and Marx posters and a red-star ceiling setting the ambiance. The monument was abandoned and closed to the public in 1989, (sadly) preventing sneaky explorers from venturing in to gaze at the otherworldly dome.

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    Varosha Beach Resort, Cyprus

    Once a popular beach destination for stars like Brigitte Bardot, the resort town of Varosha was abandoned during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974. Inhabitants never returned to the beach-side resort, which stands just two miles away from the United Nations Buffer Zone separating Greece and Turkey’s administrative areas. The city of Famagusta is currently experiencing a meteoric rise in tourism, but Varosha has remained abandoned since it was hastily evacuated back in the 70s, with model cars still sitting in garages and clothing still hanging in shops. The only visitors today are members of the Turkish military, journalists, scientists, and the occasional UN official.

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    Griffith Park Zoo, California

    When it opened in 1912, the Griffith Park Zoo had a collection of 15 total animals and big plans to become a premiere destination in Los Angeles. Despite several expansions and a consistent stream of tourist numbers, the site closed in 1966 and the animals were transferred over to the shiny new Los Angeles Zoo. As a result, Griffith Park Zoo transformed into an abandoned network of secret stairways, empty cages, and ruinous bear grottos that now have picnic tables set up so visitors can chow down like a grizzly.

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    Al Madam, United Arab Emirates

    Closely resembling Namibia’s Kolmanskop, Al Madam is yet another sand-buried village, this one located in a desert about 40 miles southeast of Dubai. The village—which was most likely built in the 1970s and abandoned shortly after—is made up of two rows of houses and a mosque, all at least partially covered by the encroaching dunes. As with all ghost towns, Al Madam has a sort of haunted quality to it, made even spookier by the surrounding, seemingly endless sea of ochre sand.

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    Villa Epecuén, Argentina

    Villa Epecuén was a popular resort village back in the 1920s. Buenos Aires vacationers could take the train to town, relax in the lavish accommodations, and soak in the adjacent salt lake, which was rumored to have healing powers. Villa Epecuén could host up to 5,000 guests in its prime, but it met a strange demise in 1985 when a wave broke a dam and flooded the village with salty lake water. The town was eventually covered by over 30 feet of water that only receded in 2009, revealing an eerie, bleached landscape of bare trees and ruinous buildings covered in a layer of white salt.

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    Deception Island, Antarctica

    Deception Island is a tourist destination in Antarctica’s freezing South Shetland Islands, famous for its deserted whaling and research station. The whaling station was abandoned many times between 1931 and 1969 due to volcanic eruptions, leaving behind the beached boats and rusting boilers you see today. Book a cruise with Lindblad Expeditions to explore the deserted site for yourself—if you’re lucky, you might even spot some chinstrap penguins and get to soak in a natural hot tub (yes, seriously).

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    Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia

    The castle-like Eastern State Penitentiary was built in 1829 and immediately took solitary confinement to new levels. Prisoners lived alone, exercised alone, and ate alone; when an inmate left his cell, a guard would cover their head with a hood so he couldn’t see or be seen. The prison had to abandon its solitary system due to overcrowding from 1913 until it closed in 1971, although the forms of punishment did not get any less severe (chaining an inmate’s tongue to his wrists is one example). The site remained empty until it opened its doors to curious visitors in 1994, and now welcomes thousands of visitors every year, both for its museum and ghost tours.

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    Craco, Italy

    Founded in the 8th Century, the hilltop town of Craco had a rough go of things for several centuries (give or take), falling victim to earthquakes, wars, and the Black Plague. The final straw was a 1963 landslide, which forced all remaining residents to evacuate the city. The original city sits in a state of slow decay, although it’s still a popular site for visitors. There are even a few annual religious festivals held in Craco from May to October, while off-season tourists can enjoy the city ruins and cliffside views.

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    Crystal Palace Subway, London

    Hidden under a four-lane road in south London, this subway station was originally built to connect the Crystal Palace High Level Station with the famous Crystal Palace, which was built for the World Fair in Hyde Park in 1851. The Palace was sadly destroyed by a fire in 1936, rendering the subway station completely useless—but not destroyed. The station’s gorgeous red-and-cream tiled roof and octagonal pillars have remained standing, resembling architecture you might find in a Byzantine church. The Friends of Crystal Palace Subway organization arranged tours of the station just a few times a year—other than that, this remains one of London’s most beautiful hidden gems.

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    Balaklava Submarine Base, Crimea

    Nothing to see here folks, just an abandoned Soviet submarine base built during the Cold War. Hidden under the Crimean city of Balaklava (made famous by Alfred, Lord Tennyson‘s narrative poem, “Charge of the Light Brigade”), the structure is covered by 56 meters of concrete and filled with now-empty tunnels that once housed some of the Cold War’s most destructive weapons. Ever since the base was completely abandoned around 1993, visitors have been able to take tours of the derelict and mysterious site.

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    Hartley Mauditt, England

    At first glance, St. Leonard’s Church in East Hampshire is nothing more than an average (albeit charming) building sitting by a pond. In reality, it is all that remains of Hartley Mauditt, a now-abandoned village with a history dating back to at least the 11th century. In its modest prime, the hamlet consisted of farmlands, about a dozen homes, and a manor house that passed through several families before being demolished in the 18th century. The rest of the buildings met their demise shortly after, with only the stone church—and a few ghost stories, of course—remaining.