We've always loved things that go bump in the night — things that startle and send chills shivering down our spines. And as humankind expands its technocratic empire, the most terrifying nightmares of the times wander into notions of post-humanity. What happens if we kill ourselves off? If there's a zombie apocalypse? A natural disaster that erases humankind from the face of the earth? What stillnesses will be left behind?
Bereft of their human animation, abandoned places push our fear into our faces and make us realize that we're already constructing our own decay--we build and then we abandon. We love a good bit of urban ruin porn because it confronts us with our fragility. It thrills and chills us to be on the edge of our own urban precipice, looking down and wondering when we'll jump... |
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10. Hotel del Salto, Colombia
Tequendama Falls (or Salto del Tequendama) is a major tourist attraction about 30 km (18 miles) southwest of Bogotá, the capital city of Colombia. The thousands of tourists who visit the area to admire the 157 metre (515 feet) tall waterfall and the surrounding nature, make a stop at another nearby landmark as well, the abandoned Hotel del Salto. Circa 10000 BC, El Abra and Tequendama were found to be the first permanent settlements in Colombia. The river surges through a rocky gorge that narrows to about 60 feet at the brink of the falls. During the month of December the falls become completely dry. The falls may be reached by road from Bogotá via car or bus. According to Muisca legend, the waterfall was created by Bochica, who used his staff to break the rock and release the water that covered the Bogotá Savannah. According to another legend, during the Spanish conquest in South America, in order to escape slavery the indigenous people of the area would jump off the Salto Del Tequendama and become eagles to fly to their freedom.In 1924, the then-luxurious Hotel (Refugio d)el Salto opened on the cliff facing the waterfall to welcome wealthy travelers visiting the Tequendama Falls area.
The hotel closed down in the early 90s, thought to be linked to contaminated river water. There has been talk of reopening it and restoring it to its former glory which might help rid the place of its apparent ghosts. They are said to haunt the hotel and according to the caretaker, are believed to be from the old days when bar fights on the second story would end up on its balcony, sometimes resulting in a drunk patron losing more than the fight. On the other hand, there are stories of those who checked out (of life) by jumping off the cliff. That’s right, despite its beauty or perhaps because of it, the falls is a place where people have been known to say their goodbyes. When one would find a letter or some sort of personal item without an owner, it was thought to have been left behind. The hotel has now been turned into a museum.
9. Shicheng, China
FIFTY three years ago, this ancient city in China vanished without a trace. It was all because the government had decided they needed a new hydro-electric power station. Shi Cheng, also known as “Lion City” and located in the province of Zhejiang, lay directly in the firing line and was flooded when its valley was turned into a man-made lake. As the water rose, the city was left at the bottom of this new-found body of water. It’s estimated that Shi Cheng, which was founded about 1300 years ago, now lies between 26 and 40 metres beneath the gorgeous Thousand Island Lake. But it has a new lease on life now, having resurfaced as an adventure park for tourists.
8. Abkhazian Railway, Georgia
Located on the Black Sea coast’s 63-mile long Abkhazian Railway, which connects Russia’s North Caucasus Railway with Georgia, the station has been abandoned since the War in Abkhazia (1992-1993), when government forces clashed with Abkhaz separatists over the region’s independence from Georgia. Sukhumi’s rundown railway station offers a clear indication of the neglected infrastructure in a region that remains in dispute. Yet its grandeur survives amid crumbling walls, peeling plaster and overgrown platforms
7. Sunken Yacht, Antarctica
Mar Sem Fim (“Endless Sea” in English) is a Brazilian yacht that was shipwrecked, sunk and subsequently got frozen in ice in Maxwell Bay of Ardley Cove, Antarctica, about 1,200 kilometers south of tip of South America, in April 7th, 2012. The yacht that belonged to the famed Brazilian journalist and entrepreneur João Lara Mesquita, was manned by four crews who were filming a documentary off the Antarctic coast when the boat capsized. Strong winds in excess of 100-kilometer per hour had tossed the boat from one side to the other “like a bucking bronco in a rodeo,” according to one crew member.With their vessel trapped in ice, the crew radioed for help and was received by the Chilean navy in the base in Bahia Fildes, in Antarctica. All four researchers were eventually rescued but bad weather delayed the process by two days.
6. Beelitz Hospital, Germany
The hospital was built in the beginning of the 20th century, back when tuberculosis was a widespread and merciless disease. Due to the need of proper lung treatment the Heilstätten near Berlin formed the largest hospital complex of the region. It was easier to cure the disease outside of the dirty industrialized city. There are about sixty buildings to it, all spread out over 200 hectar. It’s surrounded by a magnificent forest that makes for a great walk. It was deserted so quickly that trees have started growing on the rooves of the houses. Beelitz-Heilstätten was built between 1898 and 1930 after an initiative by the German National Insurance Institute who found that the closeness to Berlin in combination with the fresh air of the countryside made the location ideal for a sanatorium. Parts of the complex was turned into a military hospital by the German Imperial Army when World War I broke out and was where Adolf Hitler was sent to recover from his war wounds in late 1916.
Rusty beds, vine-covered buildings and empty corridors with walls covered in graffiti and slowly peeling paint are what remains of a gigantic hospital which once treated Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, after it was abandoned in the fall of East Germany. Beelitz-Heilstätten, a 60-building treatment complex southwest of the German capital, was built in the late 19th century to help rehabilitate the growing number of tuberculosis patients in the expanding city of Berlin.
5. Overgrown palace, Poland
In 1910, this grand palace was built as a home for Polish Royalty before it came to be used as a hospital during the First World War. By WWII, the palace had been looted and ripped apart by vandals and thieves. It now lies abandoned, with a garden overgrown with weeds and thickets – earning its name Overgrown Palace. The rest of the century proved uncertain for the country and under communist rule the palace became an agricultural school, as well as a home for mentally handicapped adults and children. The former palace was deserted following the fall of the USSR.
4. Doll Factory, Spain
Urban explorers and photographers have a tendency to keep exact locations a secret, but somewhere in Spain lies a porcelain doll factory that was abandoned decades ago. The business was dropped in a hurry, it seems, as many half-made dolls and doll-making equipment was left behind to decay. See a collection of photographs from inside, and read about the history of the porcelain doll business at Environmental Graffiti
3. Church St. Etienne, France
Église St-Etienne-du-Mont in Paris is an attractive Gothic church with some unique features inside and out. Built over a long period between 1492 and 1626, the church was once part of an abbey dedicated to the patroness of Paris. The Church of St-Etienne-du-Mont stands on the site of an abbey founded by Clovis, King of the Franks (466-511) and later dedicated to St. Geneviève, the patroness of Paris.St. Geneviève was so popular in the Middle Ages that the abbey had to be enlarged to accommodate all the pilgrims. Construction on the present abbey church began in 1492 and encountered numerous delays before it was finally finished in 1626. The church possesses a remarkable early-16th-century rood screen. Dramatically crossing the nave like a bridge with spiral staircases on either side, it's unique in Paris and beloved by many (and deplored by a few). Also notable is the wood pulpit, supported by Samson with a jawbone in hand and slain lion at his feet. The fourth chapel on the right from the entrance contains impressive 16th-century stained glass.
2. Chemin de fer de Petite Ceinture, France
The Chemin de fer de Petite Ceinture (French for "little belt railway") was a Parisian railway that, from 1852, was a circular connection between Paris's main railway stations within the fortified walls of the city. In a partial state of abandonment since 1934, the future of its yet-undeveloped property is the subject of much debate as of 2013. Many French railway enthusiasts and associations would like to see the abandoned railway and its remaining stations preserved and protected as a part of France's national heritage. Paris's Chemin de Fer de Petite Ceinture idea was military in origin. Rail transport was still relatively new when Paris's 1841 city fortifications were completed, and France's Generals saw rail as a way of quickly moving troops and material between points along the circular wall. The government of the time was too financially burdened to undertake building the railway on its own, so turned to France's major rail companies for participation and financial support: the birth of Paris's circular railway was a compromise between these goals.Service for the Champ de Mars extension was discontinued from 1924, and passenger service for the Ceinture Rive Gauche and Rive Droite sections ended in 1934. Electrified from 1925, the Auteuil line remained open until 1985. The connection between Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est was in use until the 2000s but (as of 2011) has seen use fall dramatically. Passenger and freight service from both stations are hauled by engines from the SNCF depots at La Chapelle and Pantin, seldom exchanging rolling stock. The Grande Ceinture is currently used to swap stock and as a diversion line. Access to the unused rail tracks is forbidden, but enthusiasts explore it nonetheless, describing it as a quiet, natural garden space within Paris.
1. The Titanic wreck
The titanic took its first and last voyage in April, 1912. It was not until 73 years later that the decaying wreck of what was once the greatest ship in the world was discovered. The 1,500 souls lost with the vessel had been devoured by sea life, leaving behind a ghost ship.
The wreck of the RMS Titanic is located about 370 miles (600 km) south-southeast of the coast of Newfoundland, lying at a depth of about 12,500 feet (3,800 m). Over the years since 1912, when the liner hit an iceberg and sank during her maiden voyage, many impractical, expensive and often physically impossible schemes have been put forward to raise the wreck from its resting place. They have included ideas such as filling the wreck with ping-pong balls, injecting it with 180,000 tons of Vaseline, or using half a million tons of liquid nitrogen to turn it into a giant iceberg that would float back to the surface. Until 1985, the location of the wreck was unknown.
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