8.
Abandoned Vehicles in Germany
In Northern Germany, a privately owned automobile and aviation museum, known as the Motor Technica
Museum was a hit for vehicle lovers who wanted to see vintage cars, airplanes, and motorcycles.
But the museum also had a secret area with other abandoned vehicles from the former Eastern
bloc left to rust in the open air.
It was first opened in 1973 and was a success until 2007 when the owners wanted to renovate
the buildings.
Sadly, the plan fell through and the museum continued to deteriorate as more delays kept
the owners from re-opening.
Over 100 old tanks and other military vehicles sit outside the main museum, which at one
time, had over 3,000 exhibits both inside and outside.
With over 1 million visitors every year, it was one of the biggest privately owned museums
in Europe.
It’s a bit of a shock to see once-mighty helicopters and old rail vehicles rotting
and scattered across the grounds.
But inside, modern vehicles, including a Concorde aircraft donated from Air France, a vintage
Mercedes, and even vintage Rolls Royce from the 1930s, are on display.
The site drew visitors to the rows of decaying trucks, helicopters, and buses kept behind
razor wire fencing.
It’s rare to see so many old military vehicles in one place.
And to see them covered in thorny vines and overcome by tall weeds makes them even more
haunting.
7.
The Train Graveyard, Bolivia
In the middle of the Bolivian desert, the rusted remains of the area’s collapsed mining
industry have become a haven for travelers.
But they aren’t just there to see the old locomotives.
Visitors come for the spectacle of the location, the world’s largest salt flat.
It might seem like a strange place to keep the trains, but at one time, the area was
bustling with activity.
A British company originally built the railway system in the South American town of Uyuni
in the late 1880s to connect the country to Pacific ports.
Minerals from nearby mines traveled through distribution depots in the town, sending tin
and other materials for use during the World Wars.
But once the wars ended, the mining industry collapsed, and the company abandoned the trains.
The location where the rusted trains now sit is stunning, with an area bigger than the
US state of Delaware.
They’re so massive that from space, the Uyuni Salt Flats look like a sprawling snow-covered
plain in the middle of the desert.
When local prehistoric lakes dried up, they left the flat white surface behind, and if
you are there after a storm, you might see an optical illusion while visiting.
During the rainy season, the flats look like a massive mirror reflecting the brilliant
blue sky overhead.
After the mining industry collapsed, local authorities built a hotel on the salt flats
to drive tourism.
It might not have been the best idea, though.
The walls, made entirely from salt blocks, only lasted 12 years before the hotel was
closed for being unsanitary.
Authorities opened another hotel in 2007 and it seems to be going strong.
After a day trip out to see the abandoned trains, guests can relax in the sauna or steam
room.
Just don’t lick the walls.
The hotel considers that a big no-no.
6.
Hebron Outpost, Canada
On the Canadian island of Newfoundland, a deserted German outpost sits close to the
Labrador Sea.
For almost 70 years, the site was a refuge that served as a missionary outpost where
the indigenous people of the Arctic, known as the Inuit, lived.
Hebron Mission had multiple missionary buildings, a church, and a store, all built with a Germanic
style that featured steep, elongated roofs and small dormer windows.
Residents were forced to deal with the harsh conditions of the Labrador Sea, where winds
lashed the landscape and waves battered the coast.
It took its toll on the buildings so that only a few of the original structures remain.
A group called the Church of the Brethren, German-speaking Protestants known as Moravians
whose origins trace back to the Czech Republic, constructed the mission buildings.
The leader of the group was a professor in philosophy named John Hus, who spoke out against
the Roman Catholic church and they eventually burned him at the stake for being a heretic.
The Church first traveled to North America in the 1700s, but it wasn’t until after
World War II that they made a new home in Newfoundland.
They might not have realized the treacherous conditions on the east coast of Canada.
Today, some remnants offer a glimpse into life for the missionaries, including two cemeteries
that had a bit of a curious tradition.
Instead of burying families together, they buried men with men and women with women.
You can see a stark reminder of the harsh conditions faced on the island on the headstones.
Most of them belonged to people who died in their mid-fifties, with a lot of younger women
who died in their 20s, as well as some who died during the Great Spanish Flu epidemic
in 1918.
Stone arrowheads unearthed at the site show that before the Moravians, natives traded
in the area for at least 500 years.
Even with its remote location, these remnants of the past show how the Canadian province
was once home to very different people whose legacies remain to remind us of their stories.
5.
Łapalice Castle, Poland
In the middle of the Polish countryside, a massive mansion has been rotting for two decades.
One look at Łapalice Castle near the tiny village of Kartuzy and you might think someone
built it hundreds of years ago.
But the owner started construction in 1979, and he never finished it.
He left behind a crumbling, half-finished skeleton that towers over Lake Rekowo.
The building was the controversial idea of a local artist named Piotr Kazimierczyk, who
got permission to build a small studio to work in.
But the artist took his idea for an ideal workspace and ran with it.
When the castle was finally revealed, local council members were stunned to see what Kazimierczyk
started.
He eventually ran out of funds, leaving the half-finished structure to crumble as it sat
empty.
Kazimierczyk’s design was inspired by another castle in another small Polish village.
The artist included 365 windows in the castle's design to represent the number of days in
a year.
He also created a beautiful garden, 12 observation towers to represent the number of apostles
in the Bible, and 52 chambers to represent the number of weeks in a year.
But all that time and energy has now gone to waste, with the building falling into disrepair.
It has also become a bit of a haven for urban explorers who leave their mark by tagging
the walls with spray paint and other artwork.
There were talks of a revival, but the project fell through after no one could afford the
hefty price tag for the property and its vast castle.
Soon after, the council ordered Kazimierczyk to demolish the castle he’d worked so hard
to build.
But it’s still decaying in the countryside as a reminder of one man’s vision and how
it changed the landscape of a quiet Polish village.
What do you think should be done with the castle?
Let me know in the comments and remember to hit that subscribe button if you haven’t
already.
4.
Kennecott Mines, Alaska
In 1900, prospectors at a remote Alaska glacier stumbled across a deposit of copper ore that
would completely change their lives.
Word quickly spread about the discovery and soon, an entire mill town grew from the initial
base camp.
It became known as the Kennecott Mines.
For 30 years, workers mined the area, stripping the land of all the ore deposits they could
find.
But the moment the riches dried up, the town did too.
It would be decades before the Alaskan tourism market saw the new potential for the site.
After doing some preservation work, they opened to the public.
But they also kept some of the original buildings the way they were, so visitors could get an
idea of what life was like for the miners who worked there.
Ruins of the mines sit high above the town below, with breathtaking views of the mountains,
a stark contrast to the dilapidated mills left to rot.
Old platforms have collapsed and equipment collects dust and debris after years of neglect.
Wandering the area, you can almost imagine the way life used to be there.
Walking through the empty structures has an eerie feeling where the ghosts of the old
mine are just a memory of how it once thrived.
Seeing so many buildings falling into disrepair is a shocking reminder of the prosperity of
Kennecott Mines and how they were so easily abandoned.
It was a sad end to a once-prosperous camp, one whose remains are a reminder of how fragile
natural sites can be.
Now that Alaska lists the Kennecott Mines as a National Historic Site, the area will
be around for generations to learn about its history.
3.
Lake Reschen Bell Tower
If you are ever traveling through the South Tyrol area of Italy, it might alarm you if
you spot a ghostly bell tower emerging from the middle of Lake Reschen.
It isn’t a figment of your imagination, though.
It’s a very real structure that once belonged to a tiny village that was purposefully flooded
in 1950.
The flood wiped out the town at the foot of the Vallelunga mountains.
Before city planners flooded it, the village of Curon was home to hundreds of people who
lived and worked there.
They spent their time in the church whose steeple remains.
In the Alpine regions bordering Austria and Switzerland, Curon seemed like the perfect
place to live until local planners joined the lake with two others nearby to create
a hydroelectric dam.
Even though residents didn’t want to leave their beloved town, there was no stopping
construction, and as soon as they evacuated all the villagers, they flooded the houses
and all the surrounding land.
Leaving only the haunting bell tower as a reminder that once, a bustling little town
was where the massive lake now stood.
For decades, the town lay submerged.
But in 2021, the hydro dam needed repairs, and the only way to get them done was to drain
the lake.
As the water receded, it revealed steps, cellars, and stone walls from the old town, allowing
some of the old residents who had settled in a new village nearby to see what is left
of their old lives.
Before they drained it, visitors could only get to the 14th-century church tower by walking
on the ice when the lake froze over.
Even if it was only temporary, draining the lake revealed Curon once again.
It gave its former residents one last chance to say goodbye to the place they so dearly
loved.
2.
Cape Aniva Lighthouse
Off the coast of Russia, a haunting beacon sits at the end of Cape Aniva, a nine-story
lighthouse built by the Japanese in 1936.
What started as a practical construction to keep ships from crashing into the rocky shores
of the 950 km (590 mi) long cape became a source of conflict between the Russians and
the Japanese, who each wanted control of the strategic location.
The Russians wanted to use the land as a penal colony, but the Japanese refused and ended
up spending years building up military forces in the area to take control.
Eventually, the two nations called a truce and agreed to split the land across the 50th
parallel.
They also added a ring of smaller lighthouses around the coast to signal nearby passing
carriers and merchant ships.
But the truce didn’t last that long.
50 years after signing the agreement, Russia changed its mind when World War II struck
and they kicked out half a million Japanese who had settled on the island.
The bickering continued over the smaller surrounding islands, but even after all the effort and
infighting, the lighthouse didn’t last.
After it became fully automated, there was no need for a lighthouse keeper or crew to
live there.
And when the nuclear source that powered the lighthouse was depleted, the structure was
abandoned.
Time and the elements took a toll on the lighthouse after that, with rain rusting the structure
and ocean water stripping away its facade and exposing the old radio and equipment rooms.
Seagulls have completely taken over the island, with thousands reclaiming the cape and making
it their home, and maybe even bringing back a bit of peace to the picturesque location
overlooking the bay.
1.
Balestrino Castle
If you’re afraid of ghosts, you might not want to live at the bottom of the hill in
Liguria, Italy.
Just above the village, an abandoned town named Balestrino lingers in a haze of mystery
and intrigue.
That hasn’t stopped visitors from flocking to the area to glimpse the ancient town.
Some believe it was first settled in the 11th century, but even that is only a guess.
We might find a clue to its origins and its age in the old Byzantine castle of Del Carretto.
It sits prominently in the little village, but it isn’t the first castle built there.
A family of nobles from Piedmont built the original structure.
They lived there until the 16th century when another family, known as the Del Carrettos,
built their castle on the land.
Sadly, the building suffered a devastating fire, killing the Lord in 1561, and throwing
the area into upheaval.
In response to the turmoil, the family established a court and torture chambers to maintain control
of the other villagers, giving the town an evil reputation for its harsh conditions.
But that doesn’t mean life was picture perfect.
When Napoleon came into power, his army came into conflict with the locals.
Many of them died during the fighting.
Already weakened, the population dwindled, even more, when a series of earthquakes struck
the region in the 19th century, forcing many of the villagers to flee.
As the castle and the small homes fell into disrepair, it became too dangerous to live
in Balestrino and authorities evacuated the last inhabitants.
Multiple stone churches, a mill, and soap-making buildings are all that remain alongside the
nightmarish old castle.
And for those who stayed and live in the village below, they only have to look up to see the
ghosts of the past.
Thanks for watching!
Which one of these abandoned places fascinated you the most?
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See you next time, bye! :)