50 Abandoned Places Around The World That Give Us The Creeps

This world is a gigantic place, so much so that it is nearly impossible for us to inhabit every square inch of it, even with the population size we have today. This has lead to some places being abandoned or left behind for one reason or another, but the ironic part is that some of these places can be even more beautiful than the cities and land we inhabit. Scroll through this gallery to check out some of these beautiful places around the world that are no longer inhabited, some may surprise you. Indonesia’s Chicken Church is beautiful and weird Located in Central Java, one of Indonesia’s most popular provinces is a place called Gerejam Ayam or Chicken Church. The place is an abandoned church that is just as captivating as it is saddening though the architect responsible for the design of the church set out to make the building’s shape turn out like a dove. While it doesn’t completely look like he intended because it was never truly finished due to financial reasons, the place was still put to good use for some time as both a place of religion and worship and a rehabilitation center, before it became abandoned and now a tourist attraction. China’s Tianducheng district is basically a Paris clone It is tough to miss the similarities between China’s Tianducheng region and Paris because the two places look so similar. They look the same because Hangzhou’s Tianducheng area is a clone of France’s capital city. The place was constructed fourteen years ago and was built with its own Eiffel Tower that’s also 300 feet tall, and its Champs-Elysees. The thing though is that while recreating the look of a place is tough, cloning how a place feels is nearly impossible so China’s version ended up lacking the romantic feel of Paris. The semi-emerged Rummu Prison Estonia’s Rummu Prison is a semi-emerged underwater attraction that is also quite creepy. It was built in the 1940s and served as home to several Estonian prisoners, and these prisoners were coerced into working at a limestone quarry not far away from the prison. Estonia’s independence is what resulted in Runmu Prison being abandoned, and it became submerged with water soon after. It is still around today, mostly underwater, and serves a different purpose as an attraction to divers. Alaska’s Kennecott Mines is a deserted beauty The Kennecott Mines in Alaska used to be full of life and families when it was a booming copper mining center. Miners and their families lived in the town close to the mines that we will discuss later as it has a story of its own. However, the copper in the region was reduced significantly with the volume of mining activity in the town, and shortly after, the copper resource of the region was gone. Soon after, nearly all the workers working in the mines left their jobs and abandoned the mines after the copper was gone. Spain’s Canfranc Station The International Canfranc train station in Spain used to be a lot more relevant previously than it is today, but it has managed to maintain its identity because it remains a spectacular place that creates an impression of grandeur. It used to be one of the biggest and most famous train stations in Europe at the time it was newly constructed early in the 19th century. The derailing of a train is what resulted in the Canfranc train station being closed. New York’s Grossinger’s used to be a luxury resort A fall from grace is what describes going from the kind of place that people visited for a classy weekend escape to becoming a dilapidated and abandoned building. Located in the Liberty area of New York, Grossinger’s was a luxury resort, one that inspired some Hollywood films. Grossinger’s sadly wasn’t immune to the effects of the economic downturn and so it collapsed with the wave of austerity in 1986. They had to shut their doors because of the economic contraction. Croatia’s abandoned Hotel Goricina Hotel Goricina was an exclusive luxury hotel at its peak, one which the elites and rulers of Yugoslavia frequented, which made it difficult for the common man without connections to book a reservation. Hotel Goricina had its own private villa and was once visited by President Josip Broz Tito who spent a holiday there. It was the devastating effects of Croatia’s Independence War that left the Goricina hotel and a couple of other hotels ruined, and it became abandoned as a result. Japan’s Hachijo Royal Hotel One of the biggest hotels in Japan is the Hachijo Royal Hotel, located on the green island of Hachijo-Jima. The hotel was opened in the 1960s in a period in which the Japanese began to travel the world in numbers for the first time. Hachij0-Jima is a volcanic, subtropical island located about 178 miles away from Tokyo. The architecture of this hotel is French Barope that blends with the trees and moss on the hotel’s walls. Germany’s abandoned Hospital There are few things creepier than a hospital that has been abandoned for decades. Germany’s Beelitz Heilstatten hospital complex has been abandoned for two and a half decades, after being used as a hospital for the military during each of the two World Wars. Beelitz was even the place from which Hitler got treatment as a young chap. The building is over a century old and it used to be one of the most significant lung disease treatment hospitals around. Romania’s Geamana region Copper mining was a big deal in the 19th century and it resulted in the creation of several settlements across the world. Romania’s Geamana region witnessed a significant uptick in copper mining in the 1970s. The village had to be evacuated entirely because it had gotten infected with toxic waste from the copper mines. The intention was to transform Geamana into a place for dumping toxic waste. Coincidentally, the region got flooded courtesy of an artificial lake. The Craco area in Italy Italy’s Craco region has been around for a ridiculously long time, since 540 in fact, though today nearly all of the town’s inhabitants have departed due to the inability of plants to thrive in the environment. Craco also recorded flooding in 1963 and 1972 and is now simply a very old place that is renowned for its beauty and for starring in several movies including The Passion of the Christ. Mexico’s Temple of Santiago Mexico has its own abandoned Roman Catholic Church known as the Temple of Santiago and it is located in Chiapas' Nezahaulcoyotl Reservoir. The Bartolome de las Casas-led Dominican friars founded the Temple of Santiago, also known as the Temple of Quechula. It is now 450 years old and it is surrounded by water that has made the church sink into the ground several feet. The temple has now emerged away from its submerged condition and serves as a vivid reminder of older times. The Gougi Island is a green atmospheric phenomenon China’s Gougi Island is an island located in a region that houses approximately 400 islands known as the Shengsi archipelago. The place used to be full of life as recently as fifty years ago when fishing was booming in the region but a downturn of fishing activities in the surrounding area has caused a devastating outcome for the island as several island dwellers headed elsewhere in search of fish. The result is that the town is now more deserted than ever and is even ghostly. Macedonia’s flooded Saint Nicholas Church Flooded churches and ruins are another type of attraction altogether, and Macedonia’s flooded Saint Nicholas church is no different. It is located in Macedonia’s Lake Mavorvo, and unlike other submerged/flooded ruins, the flooded Saint Nicholas church was in fact intentionally destroyed because the Marvorvo lake was designed to operate a power plant and the church’s destruction had to be done. The church was built in the 17th century on a site where flooding regularly occurred. The Miranda castle in Belgium The Miranda Castle is the kind of castle vividly described in fiction; breathtaking, and with a unique kind of structure. The castle was meant to be used to house people during the summer, though the death of the building’s designer preceded the completion of the building. The Miranda castle served a purpose during the Second World War when it was used as a training camp for two years. The Miranda castle’s enormous maintenance cost resulted in the abandonment of the castle. India’s Ross Island India has its own forgotten yet fascinating place in its Ross Island, located in South Andaman. The place was used by the British as a center of administration for the settlement of convicts in India. The colonial administration used this remote island to incarcerate a lot of individuals that partook in the 1957 rebellion in India. Wild ficus caused the Island to be abandoned after it grew all over the place, and now it is something of a tourist attraction. New Orleans' Abandoned Six Flags Theme Park Six Flags used to be a bubbling theme park in New Orleans until Hurricane Katrina happened in 2005 and it became fully flooded. The flooding from the 2005 hurricane resulted in the park being abandoned, and the place is now home to alligators and occasionally visited by wandering explorers. In the aftermath of the flood, water in Six Flags was high enough to submerge adults of average height and children, and most of the park’s rides were also damaged, and efforts to rehabilitate the place have failed since. Scotland’s Hirta Island still looks stunning The beautiful island of Hirta in Scotland has remained a beautiful island despite being abandoned for decades now. It became abandoned in the 1930s after its harsh weather and chronic food shortages hit its inhabitants. Illnesses were also brought to the island by visitors, leading people to evacuate the place. What’s left of the place are beautiful stone sculptures and Soay sheep that have made it their home in the absence of humans. Hirta is the biggest of the St. Kilda archipelago islands. The Dome Homes in Florida The place used to be a budding vacation home that was frequented by society’s rich. Just south of the Marco Islands, the Cape Romano Dome House can only be accessed by water and it is one of ten thousand Islands. It now looks like a weird spaceship after being devastated by hurricanes years ago, and the outlook looks grim for the Dome home because its coastline keeps on receding. The fun part is the different kinds of legends that have erupted about the dilapidated domes and their origins. The Ghost Town of Berlin, Nevada The district of Berlin in Nevada has a rich history intertwined with the rise of mining in the area in 1863. Silver was discovered in the Union Canyon and soon after, a mining camp was constructed. However, the Berlin district wasn’t as successful as the other districts and so it was abandoned early in the 19th century after a steady decline of the mining boom recorded in the middle of the 18th century. The abandoned town has its own stage station, infirmary, post office, and union hall. Namibia’s Kolmanskop ghost town The mining boom in Namibia’s Kolmanskop region led to the creation of the Kolmanskop town and it was the depletion of mining activities that ultimately led to its demise. When rich diamond fields were discovered to the south of the town, the miners that had settled in left in a hurry, leaving behind their houses and belongings. The town became fully abandoned in 1954 after the resources that attracted miners there had been depleted. What is left of the place is homes filled with sand. The Kilchurn Castle in Scotland Scotland’s Kilchurn castle was constructed long ago in the middle of the 14th century by the first lord of Glenorchy, Sir Colin Campbell. The place was home to some very powerful aristocrats at the time and it also contains the longest surviving barracks on Britain’s mainland. It became abandoned in the 17th century and has evolved into a tourist attraction frequented by photographers and tourists, and numerous pictures of the castle have been taken over the years due to its uniquely captivating location. Kayakoy village in Turkey Known as Karilissos in Greek, Turkey’s Kayakoy village was constructed sometime in the 14th century. It used to be a beautiful sight, constructed in the Taurus Mountains until it became deserted in the 1920s when people were forcefully evacuated from the town in the aftermath of the Greco-Turkish war. There was an exchange of people between Turkey and Greece so each nation could have its own identity. The result today is the hundreds of homes that have been deserted in the village. Australia’s Floating Forest is actually a ship Located in Sydney’s Homebush Bay is one of Australia’s most unique attractions known as Australia’s Floating Forest. It is actually an abandoned 102-year old ship that ended up on Homebush bay, home of abandoned ships in the region. It has now evolved into a floating forest even though it was meant to be disassembled. The ship that became the floating forest was called the SS Ayrfield, and it is still today distinct from other retired ships because of its unique greenery and mangrove trees. The Villa in Lake Como, Italy Lake Como is located in Italy’s northern region and it is a major attraction for several photographers and artists from all over the world. The Lake Como villas are one of its major attractions as they give a peek into the life that Europe’s noble people and the wealthy lived all those years ago. It is believed that the castle was erected in the 18th century and it became deserted because of the death of someone in it. Germany’s Allerheiligen Monastery The foundation of Germany’s ill-fated Allerheiligen monastery was built by Uta von Schauenburg. He then founded the monastery in 1191 and summoned the Premonstratensian order to it soon after. The church was built in Germany’s Black Forest and was unfortunate to have been struck by lightning leading to multiple fires. The lightning and burning up of the monastery led to it being abandoned and all that’s left now is ruins. The famous Ta Prohm Temple in Cambodia Cambodia’s Ta Prohm Temple was constructed by Khmer King Jayavarman and was intended to be a Mahayana Buddhist monastery. The temple is quite famous and was used in the Tomb Raider films, merged with visuals from similar Angkorian temples. It became abandoned after the empire fell in the 17th century and has been neglected for centuries as a result. Today, it has become part of the jungle that surrounds it despite being one of the most famous tourist attractions in all of Cambodia. England’s Maunsell Army Sea Forts England built the Maunsell forts and located them in the Thames Estuary in 1942 as part of efforts to protect England’s Kent shores from Germany’s air and sea strikes The forts were built with reinforced concrete and steel and they became decommissioned in 1950 after the second world war had ended and they were used as the headquarters of radio stations run by pirates for some time before becoming completely abandoned. However, they can still be visited by boat today. New York’s Dundas Castle The Dundas Castle in New York is also known as Craig-e-clair and it is a place full of history that used to be Ralph Wurts Dundas’ estate. The owner of the estate was a well-known and rich New York resident and William Wurts’ grandson.