Ghost towns: a replica of Paris, an abandoned miners' island and an empty metropolis

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

There are still territories on the planet where it will not be possible to meet a single person for many kilometers. These can be places with a difficult climate or natural oases untouched by civilization. But there are also opposite examples, where nature gradually takes over settlements built by people and entire cities abandoned for various reasons.

Kilamba

Nova Cidad de Quilamba is located near Luanda, the capital of Angola. The International China Investment Corporation for Property Management built 750 houses in Kilamba for half a million people at a cost of 3.5 billion dollars.

According to the plan, the residents of Angola were to buy most of the apartments on credit. But getting such a loan is almost impossible for most of them. There is no middle class in Angola who would be able to purchase these apartments. At the moment, about a thousand people have settled in the city. Kilamba became a ghost town.

Kayakoy

In the past, Kayakoy was home to 20 thousand people, but gradually people moved to other territories, and by the end of the Second Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) there was almost no one left in the city. Kayakoy was forced to settle under a population exchange agreement between Turkey and Greece.

Today, the ghost town has been turned into a museum, where hundreds of Greek buildings can still be found, including two Greek Orthodox churches and a 17th century fountain. Kayakoy is under the control of the Turkish government and protected by UNESCO and has become quite a popular destination for tourists.

Kangbashi

In the 90s, coal deposits were found in the vicinity of the future city of Kangbashi. Inspired by this event, investors and developers in 2001 began to build in this place a large city for a million people.

Today Kangbashi is fully built: thousands of houses, parks, airport, museums, theaters, sculptures in the streets. But instead of a million people, only 30,000 live there. Almost all real estate was bought by investment funds and wealthy people, but could not resell: most Chinese do not have the opportunity to purchase apartments or houses at inflated prices. This is how the potentially thriving metropolis became the world's largest ghost town.

Tanducheng

In China, they have been building imitations of European cities for a long time; developers have been especially active in copying in recent years. Tanducheng, imitating the capital of France, became one of these cities-copies. Tanducheng replicates the architecture of Paris fairly closely, including Notre Dame Cathedral and a smaller version of the Eiffel Tower.

Tanducheng was built mainly for wealthy Chinese people, but at the same time they chose a strange location in the countryside. Of the expected 10 thousand people, only two thousand moved there. Wealthy Chinese are in no hurry to move to Tanducheng, and ordinary peasants cannot get used to the fountains and sculptures of East Paris.

Recently Tanducheng became the scene of action in the music video for the song Gosh by British electronica Jamie XX.

Hasima

The entire territory of the Japanese island of Hashima is occupied by a once prosperous city. Hasima quickly developed around the mining industry, but in the 70s coal mining ceased and Mitsubishi closed the mines. All residents left the island. For many years, the island was closed to the public, and the violators were deported from the country. The Japanese authorities were forced to take such a measure because of black diggers who were trying to find valuable items in the abandoned city.

In 2015, Hashima Island was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, and it was opened to tourists, but only some of the safe parts of the city are accessible. The island can be turned into a museum if it is possible to find investments to restore at least some of the buildings. During its heyday, Hasima was the most populous city on the planet, today it is a ghost town.

On the island, they filmed part of the scenes of the film "007: coordinates of the" Skyfall "".

Centralia

Centralia is located in Pennsylvania, USA. In 1962, during the cleaning of the city's garbage dump, hired volunteers set fire to the garbage, but did not extinguish it completely, because of which the fire gradually spread underground, into coal mines under the city. The fire in the mines could not be extinguished; carbon monoxide began to emit to the surface. And in 1981, there was an incident with a boy: 12-year-old Todd Domboski nearly died when he fell into an earth fault that suddenly appeared due to an underground fire.

In the end, the US authorities allocated money to resettle the residents of the city. Almost all of the townspeople left, but several families refused to move, so people can still be found in this ghost town. Most of the buildings in Centralia were demolished, but the church and cemeteries remained in the city.

This location served as the prototype for the city in Silent Hill.

Kracko

The Italian town, built on rocks, has experienced many earthquakes and occupations during its long existence. In the late 1990s, after another earthquake, it became clear that the rocks under the city could collapse at any moment, so the residents had to leave.

There are no official excursions to the picturesque Krako. Only brave tourists risk their lives to see this place with their own eyes.

Some scenes from the films "Quantum of Solace" and "The Passion of the Christ" were filmed in Kracko.

Varosha

Varosha is an area of the city of Famagusta in Cyprus. In the 1970s, Famagusta was the center of tourism in Cyprus and one of the most popular holiday destinations in the world. Especially many tourists settled in Varosha, where many hotels, bars and restaurants were built. This place was visited by Elizabeth Taylor, Brigitte Bardot and many other stars of the time.

In 1974, a political coup took place in the country, in response to which the Turkish army invaded Cyprus and occupied Famagusta as well. The Greeks were evacuated and still cannot return there. Varosha has turned into a ghostly quarter.

Kadykchan

Since the early 2000s, Kadykchan in the Magadan region has become a ghost town, where mines and an enterprise for the extraction of coal were once located. The construction of a mine and an urban-type settlement began during the Great Patriotic War, and the mined coal was used in the work of the Arkagalinskaya SDPP. The settlement gradually developed, and by the end of the 80s, almost six thousand people lived in Kadykchan. But after the collapse of the USSR, the enterprise fell into decay.

In 1996, an explosion occurred at the Kadykchan mine, killing six people, and as a result, the mine was closed. People began to be evicted, some of the buildings were left. In 2001, people still lived in the village, but since 2010, only crumbling houses have remained in Kadykchan.