There is something magical about desolate areas, even if they are abandoned and forgotten. In these places, the clocks have stopped ticking, and there are no souls in sight, but the shell remains of what used to be.
Abandoned sites show us what happens without constant human upkeep — and maybe what can happen to the places we love. While eerie, neglect and decay has a mystical beauty.
The following spots (though weathered somewhat over time), are some of the most impressive that we've ever seen. Check out the following places by reading this article.
Plymouth, Montserrat
Persons going to the Lesser Antilles fly right past Plymouth, Montserrat. In 1995, a possible volcanic eruption left this capital city abandoned.
Two years later, the volcano of Soufrière Hills exploded its peak, covering Plymouth under 40 feet of lava. Visits to the region are possible, but it depends on the degree of protection as the volcano is still active. If the risks are too high, you can go on a boat tour anyway.
Plymouth is situated in the Exclusion Zone (Zone V) because this area sits on the path of the highest active volcanic activity, there is restricted access to the public, although small vessels are permitted to circle the coast.
After being heavily burnt and primarily covered by a series of pyroclastic flows and lahars (a destructive mudflow on a volcano), Plymouth was finally given up permanently in 1997. There has been only point of entry to the island for decades.
Pripyat, Ukraine
Pripyat was the town most affected by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The event emitted large amounts of radiation and forced the people to leave.
The site is now one of the world's most well-known abandoned locations, due in large part to the ghostly reminders of what used to be: toys in a schoolhouse, frozen clocks all at the same time, and the popular disappearing amusement park.
In reality, the park has become so popular that Ukraine is making it an official attraction for tourists.
Willard Asylum, Willard, New York
The Willard Asylum For the Chronic Insane is a former state hospital near Seneca Falls, in Willard, New York. It was listed on the Historic Places National Register in 1975.
In 1995, the Willard Drug Treatment Center was opened on the campus of the former Willard Psychiatric State Hospital, a mental-patient facility. In 1995, some 400 suitcases were discovered in an asylum attic, which was brought in by patients.
Many people died and killed themselves in the location. The non-cremated bodies ended up in the asylum cemetery. They are there too, each grave marked by a numbered metal plaque - not by name. It was seen in those days as humiliating to have one's family name appear on a mental hospital's graveyard.
As such, none of the graves were marked with surnames, out of respect for the patients' families. Efforts are continuing today to find out who is buried in the graves and to substitute the numbers with names. But due to the lack of records, the process is very slow.
The Maunsell Sea Forts, England
Besides looking like props from an H.G. Wells story, these giant metal towers were initially constructed in the Thames estuary to defend England from German air attacks during WWII. During the 1950s, the forts were decommissioned, and in the following decades, pirate radios used the abandoned buildings.
Today, the micronation, Principality of Sealand, maintains one adjacent fort; the rest can be easily seen from a cruise or, on a clear day, from the shores of Shoebury East Beach.
Gulliver’s Travels Park, Kawaguchi, Japan
The park was built next to Mount Fuji near Aokigahara (the famed “suicide forest” of Japan), and next to Aum Shinrikyo's former headquarters. The religious cult's blamed for 13 deaths in the 1995 Tokyo sarin nerve gas attack.
Gulliver's Kingdom was a failed themed park near Kawaguchi-machi, prefecture of Yamanashi, Japan. The park opened in 1997, typifying the building ventures "road to nowhere" promoted by Japan's government and banking sector in the 1990s.
Conclusion
Some of these abandoned and haunted places will freak you out slightly, but you may want to see them anyway. They're sure to make your inner adventurer come out. These deserted landmarks are scattered throughout the world.
