Dead cities, abandoned by their inhabitants for various reasons, are now popular tourist attractions. Many travelers dream of taking pictures of themselves against the backdrop of eerie deserted buildings to walk the streets of 4 abandoned ghost towns, look into broken windows, greedily gaze grabbing dust-covered children's toys, broken furniture and dishes, taking pictures of themselves against the backdrop of eerie deserted buildings.
Causes of urban decline
Abandoned are not only small villages, where just all the inhabitants have passed away from old age. Quite large cities with apartment buildings and good infrastructure are also included in the "abandoned buildings".
The reasons for the desolation of cities are different:
- the ruin and closure of the enterprise for the sake of which the city was built;
- depletion of the source of water and the impossibility of its supply due to the remoteness of the settlement;
- earthquakes, hurricanes and similar natural disasters, forcing residents to move to a quieter place;
- military actions.
In most cases, ghost towns do not empty immediately. At first, local residents still hope that everything will be fine, and then, when they understand that better times cannot be expected, they begin to disperse in different directions, leaving their homes and accumulated goodness.
People write legends about abandoned cities. Many tourists consider it their duty to check how deserted the "abandoned houses" are, whether ghosts live there, and what is happening there in general.
Thurmond, USA
The city of Thurmond is located in West Virginia. Now it is located on the territory of the reserve, so tourists often come here.
The city appeared on the map in the 1880s. It was formed around an important railway junction where coal from the New River field was loaded into trains. At that time, about 450 people lived in the city. Nowadays, only five consider themselves permanent residents of Thurmond, among whom one holds the position of mayor.
There was a time when Thurmond was considered the gambling capital of the county. A hotel with a casino was built here, where they once held the longest game of poker in the history of the whole world, which was recorded in the Guinness Book of Records.
The decline of Thurmond began in the 1930s, when the New River mines closed one by one and Thurmond railway station was no longer needed.
Castelnuovo de Sabbioni, Italy
The Italian town of Castelnuovo de Sabbioni, located near Florence, consists of two parts - New and Old. The new city is quite inhabited - about a thousand people now live there. The old part of the city, which occupies the nearest hill, has remained deserted since the 1970s. It is surrounded by barbed wire, but such a fence does not stop the numerous crowds of tourists who enjoy visiting the ghost town.
Why did all the people leave here, and what do the strange drawings on the facades of the abandoned buildings mean?
Castelnuovo de Sabbioni was built for coal miners who worked in a nearby mine. In order not to pay for the fuel needed to heat the apartments, local residents did not find anything better than to mine brown coal right on the streets - fortunately, the city stood on the deposits of the required rock. Due to the intensity of such development, dangerous pits began to form under the facades of houses, which in the near future could lead to the collapse of buildings.
To avoid possible tragedies, residents were moved down to the New City. And the Old part was left as a memory and a tourist site.
Travelers peeking into old Castelnuovo suddenly discover strange, even frightening graffiti that painted many of the facades. The explanation for the appearance of this painting on the walls is rather prosaic: it remained after the filming of Alessandro Benvenuti's film Ivo Who Was Late. The main character of the picture, after returning from the madhouse, having found his city completely deserted, begins to draw unusual signs on the walls. When the film crew left, these arts remained in Castelnuovo, overgrown with rumors and legends.
Kraco, Italy
The locality of Matera, widely known for its underground Sassi dwellings, can serve as a reference point for the search for the ghost town of Kraco in Italy. Krako is located near Matera.
No excursions are organized here, and locals recommend that tourists do not even enter the territory of Krako, so as not to stay there forever. And these are not city horror stories. In fact, being in Kracko is simply dangerous. The earth there is slipping away from underfoot, crumbling, creating a threat of landslides, which drag entire houses with them.
For the first time, Kracko was threatened with extinction in 1959, when, due to an earthquake in the region, a row of houses standing nearby simply slid into the abyss. It became clear that further destruction could lead to the death of local residents. Therefore, after a couple of years they were moved to the nearest town of Kraco Peschiera. And Kracko was left abandoned and abandoned.
Tourists are interested in Krako not only because of the picturesque deserted streets, where only the wind is walking. In fact, you can see several interesting historical sights here, for example, a 13th century fortress, a fountain in the San Lorenzo quarter, a chapel with unique paintings in the San Eligio area, 3 churches, a Franciscan monastery.
Pyramid, Norway
The former Swedish mine on the island of West Spitsbergen near the Pyramid Mountain, sold to the Soviet Union in 1927, is now a popular attraction. In summer, tourists are brought here by boats, in winter - by snowmobiles.
In the vicinity of Pyramida there are picturesque natural tourist sites - waterfalls, Skanskaya Bay, Nordenskjold Glacier, Blue Lakes. However, the greatest interest among tourists is the town of Pyramida itself, which was practically abandoned by all residents in the 1990s, when the mine was shut down.
About 1000 residents left here. They left everything - their homes, kindergarten, school, cinema with film storage, gym, swimming pool, winter garden, power plant. The canteen is still operating, decorated like many similar establishments of the Soviet period. Here you can refresh yourself with delicious pastries after long walks.
To receive tourists in the town of Pyramid, workers are on duty. In winter, their number does not exceed 10 people, in summer it increases to 50.
