Category: Abandoned Places

Okanogan Highland ghost towns: undisturbed relics from the Old West.

Leo S

These former mining estabilishments hold a surprising abundance of undisturbed relics from the Old West. Scattered on the desolate plateaus of the Okanogan Highlands, a few kilometers south of the Canadian border, stand the quietly abandoned memories of pioneer homesteads: here some of gold rush townsites persist as historic monuments from a bygone era of boom then bust mineral exploration that brought intrepid Chinese miners and later white settlers to this corner of the Old West. Frontier towns like Bodie, Chesaw, and Molson briefly prospered during the late Victorian era…

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Fureai Sekibutsu no Sato: the creepy abandoned Japanese park with 800 statues.

Pavel

Visitors would be forgiven for thinking they’ve entered in a set of a horror movie: hundred of statues stare straight forwards, some dressed in suits and others imitating Buddhist deities. They stand near the town of Osawano in Japan in a village named Fureai Sekibutsu no Sato, which translates literally to “the village where you can meet Buddhist statues”. Some time ago, the Japanese photographer Ken Ohki, or Yukison, began a journey across the globe to search for areas and places to find “unreal” environments. Not far from Japan, he…

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Dhanushkodi, the ghost town returned by the sea.

Pavel

Dhanushkodi was an Indian city located exactly opposite Sri Lanka, the last human outpost before the narrow channel between the two nations. The meaning of its name means “End of the Arch”, and symbolizes the particular geographical position of the city. India is a country full of surprises, both natural and man-made. Dhanushkodi, located is probably the place where the wonders of nature and man become one. This is a place shrouded in mystery, that’s easy to miss by the regular tourist. In fact, it’s not really a part of…

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AcquaSpa: a dive into the urban decay.

Anya016

This water park and wellness center, located in Pantigliate, at the gates of Milan and inaugurated in 2005, was completely abandoned in 2014. The abandoned Aquapark was divided into Blue Lagoon, which was the area for adults and had 10 types of water slides, including the Black Cannon for the most daring, and Laguna Baby, the area for children aged 2 to 10 years. Within the aquaspa there were swimming pools, sauna and massage rooms, as well as gyms and a sport hall. What, until a few years ago, was…

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Tranquille Sanatorium in British Columbia: a haunted place?

Leo S

The Tranquille Sanatorium and its surrounding quarters were built in 1907 when the sanatorium was established to treat patients with tuberculosis (also known as the white plague), during the time when TB was treated with exposure to fresh air. The area itself, just outside Kamloops city limits, where the North and South Thompson meet and flow into Kamloops Lake was purchased in 1905. It seems that Tranquille was the name given to an Indian chief, “Sanquil”, who had formerly called the property his territory. “Tranquille” is the French word for…

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Willard Asylum for the Chronic Insane of New York: Its history and the 400 found suitcases.

randomcollabs

Perhaps the Victorian buildings may be falling to pieces, but the contents inside them betray a lot about the sometimes happy, sometimes tragic lives of patients at Willard Asylum for the Chronic Insane. Even if asylums often carry connotations of dark and terrible existences, Willard and other institutions like it were intended to be a better alternative to systems in place for taking care of the mentally ill. Historically, in the early 19th century, those without anyone to care for them and incapable of taking care of themselves were left…

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From a meeting place of high society to an esoteric temple: the sad fate of the abandoned hydrotherapy center of Oropa.

Anya016

The road that connects Biella to the sanctuary of Oropa winds through the crags of the valley, and resembles any winding mountain road in northern Italy. In reality, this small road carries with it an endless series of testimonies of the “glorious” Biellese past. The most evident traces are those of the suggestive tram that connected Biella and Oropa from 1911 to 1958. The sanctuary of the Black Madonna of Oropa, located in the Italian province of Biella, in Piedmont, is one of the most important religious destinations in the…

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Barron Ghost Town: another abandoned mining town.

Leo S

As we know, in the late 1800’s there was a gold rush in western America. If most gold seekers headed out west to California, Canada and Alaska, Washington was perfectly settled in the middle. So, while they were heading up to Canada for their chance at glory, they were bound to stop in Washington. Some glorified Okanogan even called this area the “El Dorado of the North”, and of course, within a short burst of time, various mining camps were set up along the mountain side, one of them being…

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Villa Nani Mocenigo and the legend of the sad Countess

randomcollabs

Villa Nani Mocenigo is one of the Renaissance villas that adorn the Polesine area. It is located in Canda, a small town in the province of Rovigo, and the locals consider it the most magnificent among the various residences left by the Venetian lords of the sixteenth century. The date of beginning of construction is uncertain, even if some documents place it around 1580. The author is probably Vincenzo Scamozzi, architect and pupil of Palladio, but there are also those who think it is the work of Baldassarre Longhena, architect…

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Villa Rodella: the most important asset confiscated in Veneto, now is abandoned.

Anya016

Villa Pasqualigo-Pasinetti-Rodellana was built in 1500 in Cinto Euganeo (Padua). Belonged to several Venetian lords (as many as its names) it is better known as Villa Rodella. In 2005 it became the property of the former Governor of the Veneto Region and former Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Culture, investigated in the investigation into the Mose scandal for corruption. According to the Judiciary, the bribes that he would have accepted for the realization of the project have been invested in the restructuring of the Villa. This is the main…

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Kitsault: the canadian ghost town where lights are on but no one is at home~

Leo S

If you think about any ghost town, you’ll probably imagine roofless houses, broken windows, dirty floors and vandalized areas. That’s true? Not at Kitsault, on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Here you’ll find rows upon rows of perfect houses, but also shopping centers, restaurants, banks, pubs and theaters, all abandoned, of course, but all untouched and very preserved. The town’s lights are always on, with streets lined with plentiful trees and lawns are freshly mowed. However, no one live in Kitsault since 1982! The town of Kitsault, close…

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Riverview Mental Hospital: More From British Columbia~

Leo S

Abandoned insane asylums are some of the most chilling urbex destinations, and the West Lawn building of Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam, British Columbia, abandoned since 1983, isn’t an exception. At one time Riverview Hospital was known as Essondale Hospital, for Dr. Henry Esson Young (1862-1939) and the neighbourhood where the hospital is located also became known as the Essondale neighbourhood, still today. There is a curious collection of stories and anecdotes from the staff of Riverview Hospital, called Riverview Reminisces and published in 1992. These are example of the stories…

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Blue Hawk Mine~

Leo S

Unlike many reclaimed, abandoned mines, this Canadian cave system is still an interesting, dangerous maze. This is the Blue Hawk Mine, in woods of British Columbia, a rare example of abandoned mine that has not been turned into a boring attraction for adventurous tourists, but is still a dangerous and enigmatic abandoned site. It is located on the east slope of Blue Grouse Mountain, on the west side of Okanagan Lake, just a few kilometres from Downtown Kelowna. Historically the mine began operation in the 1934, but only produced ore…

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Saletta di Costanzana: the village between crime beat and cursed legends.

randomcollabs

As we already know, the Vercelli area, in northern Italy, is often the scene of mysterious abandoned places often surrounded by disturbing legends, such as those linked to the principality of Lucedio and the nearby abandoned Darola cemetery. Not far away is Saletta di Costanzana, a small rural village very popular for its disturbing legends, stories that started by Giovan Battista Modena, a local historian, who in 1622 claimed to have found the bones of a gigantic body in the vicinity of the village. They would have testified that the…

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Morano sul Po: history of a circuit that didn’t make it.

Anya016

Once upon a time, on the banks of the Po, a few kilometers from Casale Monferrato, there was an autodrome: the Morano sul Po circuit. A simple path, surrounded by a beautiful natural environment, not far from the Monferrato industries and a crossroads between the Turin of Fiat and the Milan publishing industry (here the very popular magazine “Quattroruote” did several test drives). Called “Circuit of Casale Monferrato”, given the greater importance that the historical center covered (and still covers) in the area, the track touches two municipalities, Morano sul…

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Abandoned Canada: Parkhurst Ghost Town~

Leo S

British Columbia is a province known for its natural beauty and thriving western seaport. In this region for visitors it is not common to talk about ghosts or abandoned places, and locals are usually only haunted by poor drinking decisions and the current state of the housing market. However, for people brave enough to venture past the safety of the city lights there are some interesting abandoned places to explore. An interesting area to hike and explore is the abandoned logging village of Parkhurst, located in the woods near a…

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La Bertagnetta: inside the former pneumological Hospital.

Anya016

This abandoned pneumological hospital was built between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. The area chosen, at the time, was isolated and quiet, but still rather close to the city. At that time the hospitals were less numerous today and people went to such facilities only for very serious illnesses. After all, in the 1940s, pneumonia was a common cause of death, and so many were the sick people who passed through these corridors. The hospital was in fact pneumological, or specialized in…

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Dargavs Village: City of the Dead

Ivan

We are in Russia’s North Ossetia, hidden in one of the five mountain ridges that cross the region. Reaching this interesting and unusual destination requires a three-hour drive, taking you down a dangerous and hidden road, really what could be expected from a trip to the city of the dead! The foggy mountain weather certainly doesn’t help. The village of Dargavs, friendly know as the City of the Dead, has an ancient cemetery where people that lived in the valley buried their loved ones along with their clothes and belongings.…

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The Casalegno Orphanage

Anya016

The former orphanage “San Giuseppe”, is more commonly know as “Il Casalegno” because it was built at the behest of Monsignor Casalegno. Giuseppe Casalegno was born near Turin in 1839 by a family of merchants and since childhood showed a generous and helpful spirit to help others. On May 22, 1864, the Feast of the Holy Trinity, he was ordained a priest and over the years founded several humanitarian institutions. The construction of the Casalegno Orphanage dates back to 1877 to host the children from Trino Vercellese and Lucedio (where,…

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The “spartito del diavolo” and the mysteries that surround Lucedio Principality. Truth or legend?

randomcollabs

As we all know, at the base of every legend there is (almost) always something true, and that human imagination has no limits: it is enough to tell, for example, dark stories of ghosts, witches, curses, infernal rites, to give veracity to events happened (perhaps) a few centuries before. Thus, the presence of a strange musical score frescoed in an Italian church, according to research done by me and another collaborator, would seem something unique: here music assumes demonic valences, in which the notes, depending on the sequence in which…

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Vercelli: what remains of the Luigi Rossa company (and of chicory coffee).

Anya016

This establishment, founded in 1858 by Luigi Rossa, represented a reference point for the economy of its ward and especially for the success of this factory the bridge was built on the Cervetto waterway, in order to make the connections quicker with the city. This was the first Italian factory to produce chicory coffee. Until the 20s of the twentieth century, many ties united the inhabitants of the area to the chicory coffee factory, and the development of the village, in part, is also due to the establishment: it seems…

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Turkey’s Burj Al Babas: the abandoned city of the Luxury Castles

Pavel

The atmosphere seems that of a surreal tale, a Disney fairytale in the Horror version, but the Burj Al Babas project is so far from cinematic fiction, and it develops near Mudurnu, in northwestern Turkey, roughly midway between Istanbul and Ankara. Of course, it’s more eerie than a Disney movie: all of these Gothic-style buildings lie empty, forming a surreal, abandoned ghost town. Started in 2014 by the Sarot Property Group, the huge village with castle-style villas of Disneyland has remained at an advanced stage of completion, with no funds…

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Albano Castle: a beautiful Roman building totally abandoned.

Anya016

Historically, It seems that this castle could date back to the Roman age: from the Roman era remains in fact a tile with a funerary inscription. From the tenth century, under the Episcopate of Attone, Albano was among the Vercelli church, and possession of the Bishop of Vercelli was confirmed with the imperial diplomas of Otto III (999) and of Federico Barbarossa (1152) until 1179, when a part was sold to the Municipality of Vercelli. After being the property of various families (Tizzoni, Avogadro and De Albano), in 1335 the…

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A Walk inside the Maddalena Hospital, Rovigo.

Anya016

The sanatorium “Umberto Maddalena”, located in Rovigo, Italy, was inaugurated on February 1st 1938 in order to fight tuberculosis in all this area. Originally, as can be seen from certain postcards of the time, on the façade of the building, instead of the inscription “Ospedale U. Maddalena” there was the word “National Socialist Fascist Institute”. Historically, Umberto Maddalena (Bottrighe, 14 December 1894 – Tirrenia, 19 March 1931) was an Italian officer and aviator. During the First World War he was a seaplane pilot for the Navy deserving three military silver…

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Vercelli Psychiatric Hospital

randomcollabs

Historically, Vercelli mental asylum was built in the 1930s and was closed in 1978 after the Basaglia Law, that abolished mental hospitals in Italy. Of its 21 buildings, scattered over an area of 25,000 sqm, only one is still in use and it hosts the office of the environmental association ARPA, while the local health authority, which officially still manages the complex, left the area during the 1990s. This place is well known for the massacre of a group of fascist soldiers that happened between 12th and 13th May 1945…

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Amusement Park Padova: present and past.

randomcollabs

Until the cursed day (July 6, 2008) in which a whirlwind triggered throughout the South area of Padua, the Amusement Park (opened in 1991 by the entrepreneur Stefano Viviani) was the most popular playground in the city. 25,000 square meters of paradise surrounded by a green area, that included a mega-gym, a swimming pool, bowling, a children’s area, a small square for music and ballroom dancing, a large billiard room, a minigolf and a well-equipped space for bars and restaurants. Now all this is still there, but the structure is…

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Tenerife: the abandoned Añaza hotel

Danijel90

This hotel in Tenerife is in complete abandonment and it is perfect for a disquieting holiday in a deserted and lunar-like landscape! This is the Añaza hotel of which little or nothing is known. At the entrance, the courtyard is covered with vegetation, and there are lot of graffiti on the walls. Inside there are yellowed mattresses, broken glass bottles and also ashes of a barbecue. I have not found lot of information, probably is the hotel abandoned since the Fifties in the village of sailors of Los Pocitos, on…

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Helensburg Glowworm Tunnel~

Leo S

After a hard shift on June 13, 1895 coal miner Robert Hales was walking home through the relatively short 80m Helensburgh Tunnel south of Sydney when a steam train appeared behind him. He ran, but not fast enough and his body was cleft in two with the halves found some distance apart. Some say his ghost still haunts the tunnel and can be seen running from the darkness as if trying to flee! Of course, this is just one of the legendary tales surrounding the abandoned railway tunnels on the…

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Crimes, mysteries and ghosts in Beelitz, Germany.

Danijel90

Crimes, mysteries and ghosts: this is Beelitz, a famous abandoned German hospital, located near Berlin, exactly in the south-west part. The entire structure is made up of 60 buildings and was built in 1898. During this period, tuberculosis spread in Germany, and the hospital was built with the intention of hosting the tuberculosis patients, with the function of a sanatorium. This was far from population centers and therefore in the middle of nature, perfect for the sick. However, during the World War I, this structure became a military hospital, dedicated…

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Italian Alpine Wall~

Leo S

Did you know that a line of abandoned fortresses dot the mountains of North Italy? Similar to the Maginot line in France, the Siegfried Line of Germany, or the National Redoubt of Switzerland, the Alpine Wall was built as a defense in preparation for World War II at the direction of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. In Italy there was concern that the natural defense of North Italy’s mountainous terrain was not enough while tensions rose with its neighbors along the top of the “boot”: France, Switzerland, Austria and the former…

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