On the territory of the former USSR, you can find a large number of abandoned objects that remind us of the greatness of the Soviet Union. Military facilities, equipment, factories, submarines and spaceships turned out to be unnecessary to anyone, and therefore their fate was not in the best way. Let's take a look at the legacy of the Soviet Union during the Cold War, which is found in Russia and neighboring countries.
Abandoned Collider. Protvino, Moscow region.
Aralsk-7, Renaissance island. A ghost town where biological weapons were rumored to be tested. A completely autonomous city was urgently abandoned in the early 90s.
Over-the-horizon radar station Duga (radar station Duga, Pripyat, Ukraine) was created for early detection of launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles. Construction was completed in 1985 near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Radar Duga had cyclopean dimensions! Height - 140 m, length - 500 m. 200 thousand tons of metal were used for construction. The station was not on combat duty and did not pass the tests.
The Kola superdeep well (Murmansk region) is the deepest in the world. Its depth is 12,262 meters; diameter of the upper part - 92 cm, diameter of the lower part - 21.5 cm. (Archival photo of 1974).
Kola superdeep well. This is how the object looks today. In 2008, the facility was abandoned, the equipment was dismantled, and the destruction of the building began.
Station for the study of the ionosphere (Ukraine, Zmiev). It was built as an analogue of the American HAARP project in Alaska in the late 80s.
Kyiv Electric Transport Plant has a long history. The opening took place on May 1, 1906. In the photo: Factory shop in the 80s.
During 1974 - 1985. about a hundred new KTG cargo trolleybuses rolled off the assembly line every year. And this is how the Kyiv Electric Transport Plant looks today.
Nuclear power plant in Shchelkino. There are many Crimean secret (and not so) abandoned objects, because the peninsula was a frontier of defense in the south of the USSR and the Russian Empire. This nuclear power plant, for example, was supposed to supply electricity to the entire Crimea.
They began to build the station in 1974, and in 1987, after the Chernobyl tragedy, the construction site was frozen. The station had already managed by that time to take a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the most expensive nuclear reactor in the world.
Object No. 221, Crimea is a truly secret object. The photo shows a dummy building that hides a chain of bunkers underground. Fearing a nuclear strike, the leadership of the USSR built a bunker for the Reserve Command Post.
Tunnels of object No. 221 (Crimea). In addition to the command post, 10,000 people, officers and their families, were to be evacuated underground in the event of a nuclear threat.
The Crimean bunker was abandoned in 1992. According to some reports, he was 90% ready.
Object 825 GTS - underground submarine base in Balaklava. Secret military facility during the Cold War. The underground complex was built for 8 years - from 1953 to 1961. After closing in 1993, most of the complex was not guarded.
Object Object 825 GTS is located in Mount Tavros and is a structure of the first category of protection (direct hit by a 100 kt atomic bomb).
Object 825 anti-nuclear doors.
It's hard to believe, but there are whole cemeteries of equipment left for various reasons back in the days of the USSR. In the photo: Equipment involved in the liquidation of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. A familiar sight for fans of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
This sad picture in the photo is an abandoned hangar near the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. A few years ago, photographer Ralph Mirebs visited the hangar. Assembled space shuttles Izdeliye 1.02 "Buran-2" - the answer of the USSR to the American Shuttles.
In 1988, the space shuttle Buran (product 1.01) made an automatic flight into space. In 2002, during the collapse of the assembly and test building No. 112, Buran was destroyed.
The collapse of the USSR and the growth of budget cuts forced the reduction of the space program.
Spaceships have remained frozen in time.
The building cannot be called destroyed, despite the deplorable state.
This is what the hangar looks like from the outside.
The Project 903 Lun ekranoplan missile ship is a Soviet aircraft carrier killer, as it was called in the United States. And that was not far from the truth. The ekranoplan was designed to deal with surface ships by launching a missile attack.
The harrier, due to its high speed of movement and invisibility to radars, can swim up to aircraft carriers at a distance of an accurate missile launch.
Lun has come a long way from the start of development in the 70s to the transfer to trial operation in 1990. And already in 1991, the operation was completed.
This is how the ekranoplan looks today. It was mothballed at the dock in Kaspiysk. All secret electronics have been put into storage.
Amderma, Lena-M radar. The settlement on the coast of the Kara Sea in Soviet times was the center of the largest military infrastructure in the Arctic. Large radar installations were installed here and fighter aircraft were based.
Amderma, control point of the radar complex.
Amderma. Spheres of radio-transparent shelters for mobile radars.
And this is the suburbs, our days. A whole arsenal of military equipment abandoned in the forest.
Such a picture, they say, is not so rare in our country. Entire military bases are completely abandoned.
Skrunda - once a secret military unit of the USSR - the whole city of Latvia is abandoned. There are many such ghosts throughout the former union.
The abandoned Eighth shop of the Dagdiesel plant in the city of Kaspiysk. Naval weapon test station, which was put into operation in 1939. Located at a distance of 2.7 km from the coast.
If desired, abandoned aircraft can also be found in the expanses of the former USSR. This one, for example, is not far from the airport in Riga.
Yes, there are planes! Entire airfields are abandoned. Here, for example, in the city of Vozdvizhenka, Primorsky Krai.
Airport, Vozdvizhenka, Primorsky Krai.
Abandoned planes, Vozdvizhenka, Primorsky Krai.
Missile system R-12 Dvina (Postavy). The complex was built in 1964 and was in service until 1994. One of the objects of the Cold War.
According to some reports, this picture was taken the day before the death of the K-159 during transportation for disposal.
Project 613 submarines - a series of Soviet medium diesel-electric submarines built in 1951-1957.
These creepy images of abandoned places on our planet give us an idea of what this world would look like if people left it.
A tree grows in an abandoned piano
Click on the pictures to enlarge the image.
UFO houses in Sanzhi, Taiwan
Also known as the Sanzhi Skeet Houses, a futuristic complex of 60 durable fiberglass UFO-shaped houses in Sanzhi County, Xinbei, Taiwan. An unrealized project of groups of companies under the patronage of the state of a complex of ultra-modern houses for the capital's rich.
Overgrown Palace, Poland
In 1910 this palace was built as a home for the Polish nobility. Under the communist regime, the palace became an agricultural technical school, and then a mental hospital. The building has been empty since the 1990s.
Jet Star Amusement Park, New Jersey, USA
These coasters remained in the Atlantic Ocean after Storm Sandy in 2013. They rusted for six months until they were dismantled.
Abandoned house in the forest
Church in Saint-Etienne, France
Abandoned church with dummies of parishioners, Netherlands
Puppet factory, Spain
tree sprouting through bike
Shipwrecks on a sandbar, Bermuda Triangle
Floating forest, Sydney, Australia
Cinema in Detroit, Michigan, USA
As Detroit deteriorated, many of its historic buildings were abandoned.
Shipyard in Vallejo, California, USA
The Mare Island Naval Shipyard served as a submarine port during both World Wars. In the 1990s, the building was abandoned and flooded.
House between two trees, Florida, USA
Titanic
The Titanic made its first and last voyage in April 1912. 73 years later, the largest ship in the early 20th century was found at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
Circular railway, Paris, France
The Petite Ceinture railway was built in 1852 and ran between the main stations of Paris within the walls of the city. During its operation, it connected five city highways. Since 1934, the railway, as well as some of its stations, has been partially abandoned.
Spreepark, Berlin, Germany
In 1969, an amusement park with rides, cafes and green lawns was built on the banks of the Spree in the southeast of the city. After the unification of the two Berlins, the park lost its relevance and closed due to insufficient funding.
Library, Russia
Island house, Finland
Turquoise Canal, Venice, Italy
Like any other city, Venice has abandoned places. But there they look even more picturesque.
Stairway to nowhere, Pismo Beach, California, USA
Nara Dreamland Park, Japan
Nara Dreamland was built in 1961 as the Japanese answer to Disneyland and even included its own version of Sleeping Beauty Castle. Closed in 2006 due to low visitor numbers.
Abandoned Mining Road, Taiwan
abandoned pier
Bare footprints in an abandoned nuclear reactor
indoor water park
Elling, Lake Obersee, Germany
Abandoned administrative building in Italy
Methodist Church in Indiana, USA
Gary, Indiana, was founded in 1905 during the US steel boom. In the 1950s, over 200,000 people lived and worked in this city. After the fall of the dispute on steel, almost half of the city was empty.
Church in the snow, Canada
Blue spiral staircase in european castle
Soviet naval test station in Makhachkala, Russia
Church bell tower in frozen lake, Reschen, Italy
Lake Reschen is a reservoir in which several villages and a 14th-century church were flooded.
Glenwood Power Plant, New York, USA
This power plant, built in 1906, has long been outdated. After closing in 1968, it has been used as a location for filming thrillers and zombie films.
flooded mall
Train station in Canfranc, Spain
Canfranc is a small town located near the French border. In 1928, the largest and most beautiful railway station in the world at that time was opened here, which was called "the sparkling gem of modernity."
In 1970, the railway bridge on the road to Canfranc was destroyed and the station was closed. The bridge was not restored, and the former "pearl of modernity" began to fall into disrepair.
abandoned theater
Car cemetery, Ardennes, Belgium
Many American soldiers on the Western Front during World War II purchased cars for personal use. When the war ended, it turned out that it was very expensive to send them home, and many cars remained here.
Attraction in Chernobyl, Ukraine
Abandoned hospital. Chernobyl, Ukraine
The city of Pripyat was deserted after the disaster in 1986 at the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Since then it has been empty and will remain empty for thousands of years.
City Hall Subway Station, New York, USA
City Hall Station was opened in 1904 and closed in 1945. Only 600 people a day used it when it was in operation.
Abandoned house in Virginia, USA
Poveglia Island, Italy
Poveglia is an island in the Venetian lagoon, which during the time of Napoleon Bonaparte became an insulator for victims of the plague, and later an asylum for the mentally ill.
Gulliver's Travels Park, Kawagushi, Japan
The park opened in 1997. Lasted only 10 years and was abandoned due to financial problems
Lighthouse on Aniva rock, Sakhalin, Russia
The Aniva lighthouse was established in 1939 by the Japanese (then this part of Sakhalin belonged to them) on a small rock Sivuchya, near the hard-to-reach rocky Cape Aniva. This area is replete with currents, frequent fogs, underwater rocky banks. The height of the tower is 31 meters, the height of light is 40 meters above sea level.
Eilean Donan Castle, Scotland
A castle located on a rocky island in the Loch Duich fjord in Scotland. One of the most romantic castles in Scotland, it is famous for its heather honey and interesting history. Films were filmed in the castle: "The Ghost Goes West" (1935), "The Master of Ballantrae" (1953), "Highlander" (1986), "Mio, My Mio" (1987), "And the whole world is not enough" (1999) , A friend of the bride (2008).
Abandoned windmill, Ontario, Canada
Shicheng Underwater City, China
Hidden under the water of the Thousand Islands Lake in China is the underwater city of Shicheng City. The architecture of the city remained almost untouched, for which archaeologists called it the "time capsule". Shicheng or, as it is also called "Lion City", was founded more than 1339 years ago. During the construction of the hydroelectric power station in 1959, it was decided to flood the city.
Seaforts of Munsell, UK
In the shallow waters of the North Sea off the coast of Great Britain, abandoned air defense sea forts stand above the water. Their main tasks were to protect the large industrial centers of England from air attacks from the most vulnerable direction - from the sea - from the mouths of the Thames and Mersey rivers and to protect the approaches from the sea to London and Liverpool, respectively.
Christ from the Abyss, San Fruttoso, Italy
Statue of Jesus Christ, located at the bottom of the sea, in the bay of San Fruttuoso, near Genoa. The statue, about 2.5 meters high, was installed on August 22, 1954 at a depth of 17 meters. In addition, in different parts of the world there are several similar statues (both copies of the original and variations on its theme), also bearing the name "Christ from the Abyss".
Ryugyong Hotel, Pyongyang, North Korea
Now it is the largest and tallest building in Pyongyang and the DPRK as a whole. The hotel was supposed to open in June 1989, but construction problems and a lack of materials delayed the opening. The Japanese press estimated the amount spent on the construction at $750 million - 2% of North Korea's GDP. In 1992, due to lack of funding and the general economic crisis in the country, construction was stopped.
The main part of the tower was built, but windows, communications and equipment were not installed. The top of the building is of poor quality and may fall off. The current structure of the building cannot be used. The North Korean government is trying to attract $300 million in foreign investment to develop and build a new hotel design, but for now it has removed the long-term construction from maps and postage stamps.
, .Russia can easily surpass many countries in terms of the number of creepy places. I bring to your attention a list of abandoned hospitals, factories and even castles in Russia where you can shoot horror films.
The lighthouse was built with great difficulty in 1939 according to the project of the architect Miura Shinobu, it was a unique and most complex technical structure in all of Sakhalin. It operated on a diesel generator and backup batteries until the early nineties, and after it was re-equipped. Thanks to the atomic energy source, maintenance costs were minimal, but soon there were no funds left for this either - the building was empty, and in 2006 the military removed two isotope installations that powered the lighthouse from here. Once it shone for 17.5 miles, but now it has been plundered and fallen into disrepair.
Fairy tale castle in Zaklyuche
It can be found in a picturesque forest area, on the high bank of a small lake, between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Manor of the architect A.S. Khrenova was built at the end of the 19th century according to his own design. A distinctive feature of the house is complete asymmetry, as well as a combination of natural and artificial materials during construction. What you see is either a medieval castle, or a classic city estate, in which there was a sanatorium in Soviet times. Currently, the house is being restored very slowly, so it cannot be considered completely abandoned.
Five-star hotel "Northern Crown"
The construction of the Northern Crown Hotel began in 1988 by a Yugoslav company. They wanted to build a five-star hotel with 247 rooms with a total area of about 50,000 square meters. m. Construction work stopped at the end of 1995, when the object was almost ready. It has been going to be demolished for several years, but still nothing. And so it stands, damp, attracting outsiders with its roof of unusual configuration, light interiors and mold on plasterboard stucco molding.
Eighth workshop of the Dagdiesel plant, Makhachkala
Naval weapon test station, commissioned in 1939. It is located at a distance of 2.7 km from the coast and has not been used for a long time. Construction was carried out for a long time and was complicated by difficult conditions: the foundation was made on the shore, and then delivered to the construction site. The walls are 14 meters deep and 1.5 meters thick. Unfortunately, the workshop did not serve the plant for long. The requirements for the work carried out in the workshop changed, and in April 1966 this grandiose structure was written off from the factory balance. Now this “Massiv” is abandoned and stands in the Caspian Sea, resembling an ancient monster from the shore.
Diamond mine "Mirnaya", Yakutia
At the time of its closure in 2004, the shaft was 525 meters deep and 1,200 meters wide, making it the second largest excavated hole in the world after the Bingham Canyon mine. The hole is so large that the airspace above the shaft is closed to helicopters due to accidents in which they were sucked into the downdraft. The landscape around looks deserted and completely alien.
Khovrinskaya hospital, Moscow
A huge multi-story hospital began to be built on the site of the cemetery in 1980, and construction was stopped five years later. Now the cellars are flooded, and the building is slowly sinking underground. "HZB", "Umbrella", "Unfinished", "Nemostor": the place is more than famous, overgrown with a huge number of urban legends and attracts a variety of personalities. The resident of evil and the gate to a parallel world in the middle of Moscow. Popular with young thrill-seekers, and already has its own folklore and "locals".
The village of Kadykchan, Magadan region
Kadykchan (translated from the Evenki language - "Valley of Death"), the settlement was built by prisoners. In January 1986, the population was 10,270 people, and by 2006 there were not even a thousand left; in 2012, one elderly man lived here. Coal was mined here, due to which most of the Magadan region received energy, but after the explosion at the mine, people began to leave, the village was closed and disconnected from heat and electricity. Now it is an abandoned mining "ghost town". Books and furniture have been preserved in the houses, cars in the garages, the streets of five-story buildings are gradually being destroyed.
Abandoned naval submarine base Bechevinka
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky-54, Finval Bay was founded in the 1960s as a military camp, a base for submariners. Once a week a ship went to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, there was no land communication with other settlements. The brigade was completely disbanded in 1996. All military equipment was removed, electricity and water supply were cut off. Simultaneously with the village of Bechevinka, the Shipunsky missile settlement, located on a hill on the other side of the bay, ceased to exist. The village is surrounded by mountains and the incredible beauty of Kamchatka.
Building of the sanatorium "Energy" in the Moscow region
On the territory of the sanatorium there is a new building that regularly receives guests who want to go fishing in local ponds, but the old building was partially burned down and was abandoned. There was a movie theater in the burnt part. The rooms are filled with mountains of garbage - TVs and furniture. The main attraction of the building is the palace-style staircase. There are a huge number of similar institutions in Russia, abandoned pioneer camps and sanatoriums are a common occurrence.
Maternity hospital in the Vladimir region
What could be more mysterious and darker than overgrown medical institutions? Even operating hospitals terrify many people simply because of their specificity. The building was built at the end of the 19th century and housed the maternity ward of the city hospital. It functioned, judging by the calendars and documents, until 2009, and there was some protection until 2012. Broken windows were regularly repaired, and in 2013 the building was going to be repaired. Much of the building remained untouched, and it seems that until recently in these spacious halls people were waiting for good news from doctors.
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website with bated breath presents a selection of the most mysterious places on the planet that cause quiet horror and interest at the same time.
The combination of mystery and danger arouses interest and unwillingly attracts attention, and the view of nature, which calmly captures what people have created, returns us to an understanding of our own insignificance in the face of time.
San Ji ghost town, Taiwan
A luxurious resort on the sea coast was built specifically for the local rich. But already during the construction, a strange thing began. Dozens of workers died: broke their necks, falling from a height (even with safety ropes), died under collapsed cranes. The surrounding residents were sure that the town was inhabited by evil spirits. There were heartbreaking stories about a Japanese "death camp" that was once located there. In the late 1980s, construction stalled. The apartments never found buyers, and the authorities do not demolish the city, because people believe that in this way they will release evil spirits outside.
Abandoned military hospital in Belitz, Germany
The city of the same name is located 40 kilometers from the capital of Germany. During the First and Second World Wars, the hospital was used by the military, and in 1916 Adolf Hitler was treated there. In 1995, people left the city, since then it has been gradually destroyed.
Eighth workshop of the Dagdiesel plant, Makhachkala
Naval weapon test station, commissioned in 1939. It is located at a distance of 2.7 km from the coast and has not been used for a long time. Construction was carried out for a long time and was complicated by difficult conditions. Unfortunately, the workshop did not serve the plant for long. The requirements for the work carried out in the workshop changed, and in April 1966 this grandiose structure was written off from the factory balance. Now this “Massiv” is abandoned and stands in the Caspian Sea, resembling an ancient monster from the shore.
Lier Sikehus Psychiatric Hospital, Norway
The Norwegian psychiatric hospital, which is located in the small town of Lier, half an hour from Oslo, has a dark past. Once, experiments were carried out on patients here, and for unknown reasons, four buildings of the hospital were abandoned in 1985. Equipment, beds, even magazines and personal belongings of patients remained in the abandoned buildings. At the same time, the remaining eight buildings of the hospital are still working today.
Gunkanjima Island, Japan
In fact, the island is called Hashima, nicknamed Gunkanjima, which means "cruiser island". The island was settled in 1810 when coal was found there. Within fifty years, it has become the most populated island in the world in terms of the ratio of land and the number of inhabitants on it: 5300 people with a radius of the island itself of one kilometer. By 1974, the reserves of coal and other minerals on Gankajima were finally exhausted, and people left the island. Today, visiting the island is prohibited. There are many legends about this place among the people.
Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong, China
The city was in Hong Kong, but did not obey the authorities, being run by the mafia. Inside, not only prostitution and drug trafficking flourished, but there was also self-government. In addition, the region had its own industry: semi-handicraft production of noodles and all sorts of small things. The products of enterprises were inexpensive: there were no taxes, and local entrepreneurs did not comply with labor laws. They had their own nursing home, kindergarten and school. In the early 1990s, the population density reached two million people per square kilometer.
After a complex process of eviction of the people living there, in 1995 a park of the same name was opened on this site. Some of the city's historical artifacts, including the yamen building, and the remains of the South Gate have been preserved.
Abandoned Salto Hotel in Colombia
In 1924, the luxurious Refugio El Salto was built in the city of San Antonio del Tekendama. After some time, the hotel was closed due to the increasing cases of suicides of visitors. Sinister legends and rumors circulate around this place.
Church of San Juan Parangaricutiro, Mexico
The church, located in the village of the same name, was buried under the lava of the Paricutin volcano in 1944, the village was completely destroyed. Miraculously, the altar and the church bell tower remained untouched, surrounded by the ruins of the temple complex, protruding cones of solidified lava resemble foreign paintings.
The underwater city of Shichen in China
Ghost town Kolmanskop, Namibia
The ghost town of Kolmanskop, built in a place where small diamonds were found in the sand, which the wind brought from the ocean. Large beautiful houses, a school, a hospital, a stadium were built in the city, and the settlement quickly turned into an exemplary German city. Everyone counted on long-term prosperity, but alas, the “diamond supply” quickly dried up. In addition, it was hard to live in the city due to problems with water and sandstorms, and people left it. Most of the houses are almost completely covered with sand and make a depressing impression.
Pripyat, Ukraine
An abandoned city located three kilometers from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. After the accident in 1986, he fell into the exclusion zone and became a frightening ghost of the power of nuclear energy. Now organized excursions are led there, and stalkers come there for walks, but interest in this place does not subside, and new "urban legends" are born.
The railway passes under the bridge into the tunnel, makes a loop and exits from the top of the hill to the bridge at a height of 38 m. The Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk - Kholmsk railway was built under the Japanese by Korean forced laborers after the conquest of South Sakhalin. The construction process was extremely difficult, because most of the road passed through difficult places - high hills, mountain rivers, forests. There are versions that for every sleeper laid there is one dead worker.
The route can be started in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk: by bus number 105a or by private transport to the village of Klyuchi.
Spy radio station Teufelsberg in Berlin, Germany
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| Photo: Orange "ear (flickr) | Photo: fiebre (flickr) |
The "devil's mountain" Teufelsberg appeared in Berlin after the Second World War: the fragments of almost 400 thousand destroyed buildings were brought to one place, covered with earth, and then the resulting hill was planted with trees. The Americans, in whose sector the new height turned out to be, built a radar station on its top to wiretap the Soviet neighbors. When Germany was united, the station was closed. For a long time, it was only possible to get inside illegally, but now the owners of the territory have opened official access, lead organized tours and even give a discount on the VisitBerlin card. At the top, picturesquely painted graffiti ruins await, huge skeletons of locators with ragged tarpaulin spectacularly flapping in the wind, and a great view of Berlin as a bonus.
Visiting cost - 7-15 euros.
Missouri State Penitentiary, USA
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| Photo: tourist41 (flickr) | |
One of the oldest correctional institutions in America had a bad reputation even for a prison: in an institution that opened in 1836, suicide bombers were kept, riots and mass fights with a bloody outcome constantly broke out here. In 2004, it was closed, for several years the gloomy building was quietly dilapidated, but then the prison was converted into a museum. Now organized tours are led here, in which you can walk around the prison yard with your hands behind your back, sit on the bunk and even look into the gas chambers where the death sentences were carried out. For the most daring, there are night tours and ghost-hunting workshops.
Hashima Mining Island, Japan
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| Photo: Xavi Serrano | Photo: Iloé C. PARDO |
The island, 15 km from Nagasaki, was nicknamed Gunkanjima ("cruiser") - from the side it resembles a warship. About a hundred years ago, coal was found on this tiny piece of land polluted by birds, and within a few years, Hasima turned into one of the largest industrial centers in Japan. Mines, coal processing and industrial plants, residential buildings, shops, schools, cemeteries, swimming pools and more than 5,000 people - and this is on an island 200 m long and 500 m wide. When the coal reserves were exhausted, the mines were closed, people were taken out, allowing them to take with only the essentials, and Hasima turned into a ghost town: what it looks like today can be seen, for example, in the film “007: Skyfall Coordinates” (the lair of the villain Raul Silva is copied from Hasima).
The cost of visiting - from $ 33
Power Plant IM power plant in Charleroi, Belgium
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| Photo: Markus Horn | Photo: James Charlick |
The old coal-fired power plant regularly supplied energy to the entire Belgian region of Montceau-sur-Sambre, but was closed under pressure from environmentalists in 2007: their studies showed that it was Power Plant IM that generated 10% of all CO2 emissions in Belgium. The station is always promised to be demolished, but so far they have not gathered. In the meantime, the bottom line is that it is illegally visited by lovers of industrial ruins, photographers and curious tourists. The cooling tower looks especially impressive - a grandiose well with a funnel overgrown with moss in the center.
More: Charleroi is located 50 km from Brussels, the station is easy to find by the cooling tower sticking out above the town.
Amusement park Six Flags-Jazzland in New Orleans, USA
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| Photo: zack luther | Photo: Darrell Miller |
Hurricane Katrina put an end to the local fun: Jazzland remained flooded with water for more than a month and, as a result, was almost completely destroyed. New Orleans has recovered from the disaster, but the park is still in ruins and desolation, although the owners regularly report that they are about to start putting it in order. In the meantime, Hollywood directors are actively filming him in films about zombies and the post-apocalyptic world.
More: The park is located 25 minutes from the city center.
Maunsell tower forts, England
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| Photo: doctor.boogie (flickr) | Photo: Keith Marshall |
Anti-aircraft defense towers at the mouth of the Thames near Essex were built to protect London and Liverpool from the sea. After the war, some of them housed meteorological centers, others - pirate radio stations, and one of the platforms even managed to visit the self-proclaimed Principality of Sealand. Today, the forts are abandoned, the iron bridges connecting them largely rusted and crumbling to dust. Only a couple of towers are suitable for safe visiting - from one of them Red Sands Radio, supported by enthusiasts, sometimes tries to broadcast.
More: special cruises are organized to the forts from Whitstable Harbor - on the historic Greta sailboat (48 pounds, www.greta1892.co.uk) or tugboat (x-pilot.co.uk). The operationredsandforts.com company takes from 45 pounds, and also offers to work in a volunteer team involved in the restoration and conservation of the forts - and this is perhaps the only opportunity to visit the towers legally.
The cost of visiting - 45 - 50 pounds
La Petite Ceinture railway in Paris, France
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| Photo: tc slowhand (flickr) | Photo: lepublicnme (flickr) |
The ring railway was built in 1852 - it was supposed to connect the Paris stations. But in the end, the metro took over its functions, and in the 1930s the road was closed. Paths overgrown with grass and bushes, bridges and tunnels have turned into a spontaneous park - gloomy, painted with graffiti, dangerous at night, but very impressive and completely unformatted for one of the most tourist-trampled cities in the world. The municipality is considering projects to revive La Petite Ceinture: for example, launching tourist trains or mobile shopping centers selling souvenirs and fast food along a branch that goes around the entire center of Paris, but so far these are only projects.
More: officially, several pieces of the road between the 12th and 16th arrondissement are open for walking.
Monument Buzludzha, Bulgaria
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| Photo: GregoireC (flickr) | Photo: les Johnstone |
For the Bulgarian communists, this Balkan peak was sacred: it was here that the local Communist Party was established at a secret congress. In 1981, a monstrous monument was built here for hard money in honor of those glorious events: a stele crowned with a star, two clinking torches and a concrete bunker that most of all looks like a lost UFO. Here they were accepted as pioneers, celebrated the achievements of Bulgarian socialism and organized mass festivities with barbecues and fireworks. When socialism ended in Bulgaria, the monument was plundered a little more than completely - even the decorative interior lining of granite and marble was taken out. Only the concrete skeleton strewn with slag remained - but it also makes an unforgettable impression.
More: The most convenient way to get to Buzludzha is from Gabrovo, combining a visit with a visit to the Shipka Pass.
Michigan Central Station in Detroit, USA
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| Photo: Thomas Hawk | |
A piece of the Great Railroad Era and the best illustration for the finale of Atlas Shrugged, Detroit's main railroad junction was once the tallest train station in the world. Every day, up to two hundred trains left from here to all parts of the country. But the railroads lost out to airplanes, the automobile boom ended, and with it the city of Detroit, along with its skyscraper train station. The last train left here in 1988, since then only vandals and film studios have been occupying the building - for example, some scenes from the movie "Transformers" and Eminem's video Beautiful were filmed here.
More: You can legally get inside the building only during extremely rare campaigns to draw attention to the architectural monument, when access is open to a limited number of visitors - mainly reporters and photographers.
Hospital Beelitz-Heilstätten, Germany
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| Photo: Andreas Hermanspann | Photo: Christina (flickr) |
The hospital complex consists of more than 60 buildings and is one of the ten most beautiful modern ruins. The hospital was built for more than 30 years - starting from 1898, initially it was supposed to treat tuberculosis here, but in the end a whole medical town came out - with hospitals, sanatoriums and an institute where doctors were trained and research was conducted. In 1916, Hitler was treated here, and in 1990, Honecker. Restoration work is underway in some buildings, but most of them are abandoned and looted - and against the backdrop of clean and ruddy restored buildings, the devastation is even more impressive.
More: the hospital is located 40 km from Berlin, you can get there by train from Berlin Hbf station (every hour).