11 Most Famous Abandoned Places in the World

When you visit some abandoned place, there is something scary and beautiful about it at the same time; we wanted to make our unique list of the most famous abandoned places in the world and to find out why people actually visit them?

Abandoned places usually attract visitors because of the mysterious stories behind them. There is something weird about the places that were left empty after natural disasters, wars or economical  downfall. Some of those places even became tourist attractions and destinations! Sometimes, horror movies and action thrillers are filmed in abandoned places and cities. Left in a hurry, they look like pictures of places frozen in time, haunted places… Speaking of the haunted places, let us remind you that we have already published  the article 6 Most Haunted Cities in America.

People are attracted to these places because they want to see cities, towns or islands that were once crowded by its inhabitants and then left in a hurry. If you want to visit some unusual destination rather then just spend your holiday at the seaside, there are plenty of strange and surreal places recommended by well-known tourist guides (Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, Intelligent Travel National Geographic…) and well-known photographers of abandoned places (Henk van Rensbergen, Niki Feijen…).

11. Ordos city, China

Ordos city officials launched the creation of a new one million person city district in 2003. 90 percent of housing units constructed in the city’s Kangbashi New Area lay vacant. Ordos city is now well-known as „Ghost City“ all around the world. Adam James Smith and Song Ting shot documentary film „The Land of Many Places“  about the city. They beleive that the population acctualy increased over the years and that one day in the near future, this town will no longer be abandoned.

10. Bodie, USA

Bodie is an original mining town following the discovery of gold in 1859 by a group of prospectors, including W. S. Bodey. The California State Parks System took over the town in 1962. to make it a State Historic Park. Bodie is now an authentic  Wild West ghost town. If you visit Bodie as a tourist, remember that everything in this town is now part of the history and is fully protected.

9. San Zhi UFO houses, Taiwan

 The are a set of abandoned buildings in Sanzhi District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. They were constructed in 1978, but the projest was abandoned in 1980. It is usually described as a ghost town or „the ruins of the future“.

8. Craco, Italy

Craco is one of the abandoned Italian towns. Town seem to have been vacated overnight. Craco was affected by many landslides and several earthquakes, but despite that inhabitants were very attached to their beautiful town. Finally the severe famine caused the mass migration of the inhabitants at the end of the 19th century.

7. Varosha, Cyprus

Varosha is a ghost town and a southern section of the Cypriot city of Famagusta. Prior to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, it was the modern tourist area of Famagusta. It has remained abandoned and under the occupation of the Turkish Armed Forces ever since. Entry is forbidden to the public and its hotels, restaurants and structures are slowly decaying.

6. Kolmanskop, Namibia

This town was founded by the German worker in 1908, when Namibia was a German colony. He found a diamond and miners started their rush! In the years after World War I, bigger diamonds were found south in the desert and people began to move away from Kolmanskop. Buildings are now covered in sand.

5. Hashima Island, Japan

Hashima Island is an abandoned island lying about 15 kilometers from the city of Nagasaki, in southern Japan. The mine was closed in 1974, when petroleum replaced coal, leaving the island abandoned. It is also well-known as „Battleship island“ .

4. Salton riviera, USA

Salton City was developed in the 1950s, but due to its isolation and lack of local employment opportunities, the resort community collapsed towards the end of the 1970s. People escaped from the toxic sea, buildings were abandoned as the sea level rose. If you visit the Salton Riviera today, you’ll still see the haunting abandoned remnants of once thriving beach town.

3. Centralia, USA

Centralia is often considered the creepiest place in the USA. It was abandoned due to the mine fire that’s been burning underneath the town for more than 50 years. Also a boy was swallowed by a sinkhole caused by the mine fire, but he was lucky to survive. The incident and the level of carbon monoxide caused moving from Centralia.

2. Kayaköy, Turkey

Kaykoy is deserted village in Turkey. In the 19th century, Greeks and Turks here lived side-by-side,  but at the ending of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922), Kayaköy was already completely abandoned. Around 500 houses remain as ruins and are under the protection of the Turkish government. In the middle of the village stands a fountain source from the 17th century. Kayaköy was adopted by the UNESCO as a World Friendship and Peace Village.

1. Pripyat, Ukraine

Pripyat was founded in 1970 to house workers for the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Officially proclaimed a city in 1979, its population reached 50,000 people before the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. The residents had two days to evacuate the city. Today it is well-known ghost-town.

Every place from our list of 11 Most Famous Abandoned Places In The World tells its own story and invokes the curiosity within us.