The most terrible castles. Interesting abandoned places and objects of the world (22 photos) Christ from the Abyss, San Fruttoso, Italy
Ruined once majestic buildings have their own charm. The facade falls into disrepair, the vast halls become home to insects and dust, and the elegant architecture is destroyed by time and weather. We offer you a selection of the most spectacular crumbling mansions.
(Total 13 photos)
1. Podgoretsky Castle, Ukraine
This castle, built between 1635 and 1640, was once richly furnished, but during the First World War soldiers destroyed all the luxury of the interior. Shortly before this, the castle became the property of Roman Sangushko, who took several valuable pieces of furniture from there and transported them to Brazil in 1936. After World War II, the Soviet Union used the castle as a tuberculosis sanatorium, but in 1956 the ancient building caught fire and burned for three weeks. As a result, all the beauty of the interior decoration was destroyed. The Lviv Art Gallery is trying to restore the building, but so far there have been no noticeable improvements.
3. Miranda Castle, Celle, Belgium
Miranda Castle was built in 1866 by an English architect for the Ledekerke-Bofot family. The family lived there until World War II, when the mansion was taken over by the Belgian national railway company. It has been empty since 1991, partly because the owners refuse to turn it over to the municipality.
5. Halcyon Hall, Millbrook, New York, USA
Halcyon Hall was originally built in 1890 as a luxury hotel, but it was closed in 1901. However, the building received a second life when the Bennett School for Girls moved in a few years later, and the castle became home for some time to students from wealthy families. But with the popularization of co-education, the school was unable to develop and went bankrupt in 1978. Since then, no one has used the house.
6. Lillesden Mansion, UK
This mansion was built between 1853 and 1855 by a banker named Edward Lloyd. After the First World War, the house was sold and became a public school for girls. It closed in 1999, and the building has not been used since then.
8. Bannerman Castle, New York, USA
Scottish immigrant Francis Bannerman bought the island in 1900 and built a castle there to store the munitions that formed the basis of his business. Two years after Bannerman's death in 1918, 200 tons of shells and gunpowder exploded, destroying a small part of the building. Then, in 1969, part of the floors and roof burned down in a fire. Since 1950, the island has been considered uninhabited because the ferry serving it sank during a storm. In 2009, the remaining part of the building collapsed.
9. , Russia
Architect P. S. Bortsov built many French-style castles in the 19th century, but the estate in Muromtsevo is by far considered the most memorable of them.
Ruins, destroyed and abandoned buildings, faded parks... Sometimes they attract much more than modern lifeless buildings. At least by the fact that there was once life in the ruins. But time and weather took their toll, and the old buildings no longer had the same comfort. We invite you to take a walk through some of the most spectacular abandoned buildings.
1. Podgoretsky Castle, Ukraine
The castle was built in the mid-17th century. The building was richly furnished, but all luxury was destroyed during the First World War. However, Roman Sangushko, who shortly before the war was the owner of the castle, managed to save something. Roman removed several valuable pieces of furniture from the castle and transported them to Brazil in 1936. The use of Podgoretsky Castle did not end there: after World War II, a tuberculosis sanatorium was located in the building. In 1956, there was a fire that lasted 3 weeks and destroyed all the internal beauty. The Lviv Art Gallery is trying to restore the castle, but no noticeable success has yet been observed.
2. Miranda Castle, Celle, Belgium
This castle was built in 1866 according to the design of an English architect. From the time of its construction until the Second World War, it was owned by the Lederke-Beaufot family. Then the mansion was seized by the Belgian railway company. And since 1991 the building has been empty.
3. Halcyon Hall, Millbrook, New York, USA
The mansion was built in 1890 as a hotel, but was closed in 1901. However, the building was back in use a few years later when the Bennett School for Girls moved there. For a while, students from wealthy families lived in Halcyon Hall. But nevertheless, the school stopped developing due to the popularization of joint education. Since 1978, when the school went bankrupt, the house has not been used by anyone.
4. Lillesden Mansion, UK
The mansion was built by Edward Lloyd, a banker in the mid-19th century. The house was sold after the First World War, becoming a public school for girls. But the school was closed in 1999, and for 16 years no one has used the building.
5. Bannerman Castle, New York, USA
And this huge building was built by a Scot, Francis Bannerman, in 1900. The castle became a storage facility, which formed the basis of the Scotsman's business. And two years after his death, in 1918, an explosion occurred: 200 tons of ammunition detonated and, as a result, part of the building was destroyed. This is not all the misadventures: in 1969, a fire broke out and part of the roof and floors burned down. But even earlier, since 1950, the island has been considered uninhabited: the ferry serving it sank during a storm. But that's not all. Everything that remained collapsed in 2009.
6. Estate in Muromtsevo, Russia
The estate was built by the architect Bortsov in the 19th century. The architect was the author of many castles in the French style, but this particular estate is the most memorable.
7. Prince Said Hasim Palace, Cairo, Egypt
The residence was created in 1899 by the architect Antonio Latsias. Over time, it was refurbished and became the best school for boys in the country. However, it suffered the same fate as the buildings described above: since 2004, no one has been using the mansion.
5 o'clock in the morning, the alarm clock rings and the rays of the rising sun are on the horizon. Waking up in a tiny rented car somewhere in the south of France near a waterfall that could hardly ever compete with Niagara, I threw away thoughts of continuing sleep and completely concentrated on the goals of today, which was supposed to go down in the history of my relatively short life. life. And on this day I had to visit three abandoned French castles, whose prosperous days had long since sunk into oblivion. History is material - I realized this when I plunged headlong into the world of urban exploration - it is interesting to study a foreign country, but it is even more interesting to turn over long-forgotten pages of the past. Gradually, object by object, the world of the abandoned began to open its doors wider to give me the amazing opportunity to visit a dimension where such a concept as time is completely absent. There are moments that, in principle, somehow justify my life. Now the time has come to tell me about this wonderful day.
Photos and text by Marat Dupree 1. From the very morning a light rain began to fall, which, in general, was only good for today, given its atmospheric atmosphere. The first on the agenda was the Lumière castle - at night, when I reached the small town, the headlights caught the empty eye sockets of the windows and outlined the silhouette of a sleeping giant. I really like visiting abandoned places in the early morning - this way the opportunity to meet other lovers of the forgotten is minimal, and you can alone enjoy the atmosphere of the place, which is different for everyone. Having descended from a rather steep hill, I found myself at a building where an old Citroen, hidden from human eyes, also languished.
2. Also in this post I decided to experiment a little with HDR. All European colleagues have long been practicing this style when photographing abandoned places. Without pretending to be a perfect photograph, I'll just leave this here.
3. I was not surprised when I saw that all the doors were tightly boarded up. Using minimal acrobatic skills, I climbed along the richly decorated stucco molding to the broken window and found myself inside. The rain drummed on the surviving windows, creating the right mood for this visit and taking me back in time. A strange, aching, piercing feeling of the emptiness and frailty of everything earthly settled in my heart when I found myself in this place and touched the things of people who had long gone into oblivion, as if I was reading a sad and tragic story... But that’s exactly why I came here, to touch history and let it pass through your soul and heart. I was greeted by an empty hall with a red carpet. There used to be a mirror here, but there are idiots everywhere - someone broke it, and now there are notices all over the castle posted by volunteers with the general message “please don’t vandalize here.”
4. Some painted windows are still preserved, and I can only guess how long it will remain intact. Of course, every time you visit a place, a rhetorical question arises - how could something like this be abandoned?
5. People ask me if it’s scary to wander through such places alone. I answer - not at all. Often, it’s when I’m alone that I get the most out of a given place, when I’m not distracted by extraneous sounds of shutters clicking and other noise. I sat on the floor, turned on atmospheric music and just silently watched this beauty. It is impossible to convey even a hundredth part of what I felt through text, but believe me, such moments are very atmospheric.
6. I really like to process photographs with a long delay, when such moments have already turned into memories. This makes it clear how much I was hooked by this or that place, this or that moment. Sometimes I want to relive these events... I miss these times.
7. Having started to get interested in abandoned places, I lost quite a large part of my audience. People lacked spectacular and dangerous shots; abandoned things seem boring and uninteresting to them. As I grew older, I stopped needing the constant production of adrenaline and found another activity that I liked, and I also realized that I didn’t want to follow the lead of my audience and take dangerous shots just because society wanted it, since I myself had lost interest in this activity.
8. Every business must be treated with love, otherwise it will be posturing aimed at a commercial direction, and the “soul” of your stories will disappear somewhere. I have noticed how many, in the pursuit of fame, lose the main idea of such a hobby, and this already guarantees the loss of 90% of all overall impressions. Having set my priorities, I remained true to my passions - one developed into another, more meaningful and mature.
9. The main entrance is furnished very elegantly and sophisticatedly, the hand of professional architects is visible. If earlier outsiders could get here with great difficulty, now all that is needed is just to know the coordinates and seize the moment - the “shelf life” of many abandoned buildings is limited for many reasons: 1) the building may be demolished, 2) the building may begin to be restored, 3) the building may begin to be guarded, etc.
10. Forged painted grilles transport me to the world of luxury decadence. Stop for a moment, you are wonderful!
11. Thus, I spent more than 2 hours in the castle, without rushing anywhere. In terms of the level of impressions I received in these 2 hours, I definitely justified a quarter of a year of ordinary life. Having looked around the beautiful hall of the castle for the last time, I began to cover myself. Looking outside, I found a cute French town in the morning sun. Cosy
12. This is what the castle looks like from the outside. The family coat of arms has long been covered with rust, and the garden has long been overgrown with ivy and thorns. With indescribable sadness, I moved on.
13. The next castle, Chateau du Carnel, was located on the territory of a boarding house for the elderly. The castle is being actively restored, and it is possible that it has already begun to function. When approaching the castle, I was greeted only by its sad guards - sculptures of lions. One of them especially stuck with me. It is he who perfectly symbolizes the beautiful word decay - decline, devastation, desolation. But this lion was lucky - he survived a period of oblivion, and very soon he will see signs of life in his castle. The inside of the castle itself is empty and very dark - all the windows are boarded up.
15. There are workers working in the backyard who did not attach any importance to the fact that I was wandering around the protected area. Having walked around the perimeter of the castle, I rushed further to the last castle.
16. But there is a not very pleasant story connected with this castle, the “Monkey Castle”. Having parked near the church, I decided to take a shortcut to the castle through a small forest, which, as it turned out later, was obscenely overgrown with thorns. For 20 minutes, with difficulty breaking through its thickets and earning unpleasant scratches every second, I did not want to retreat - the top of the castle was visible, and it seemed that the goal was very close... However, having gone even further, I realized that the trace was from a well-trodden path irretrievably lost, and I will not go any further. Selecting choice curse words, I went back, and when I came out of this trap, I noticed with annoyance that there was no living space on me, moreover, I tore my jeans in three places. Cursing first of all at myself, I took a detour and soon saw that it was much easier to get here - from a country road.
17. The inside turned out to be not as interesting as in Chateau Lumiere, but still atmospheric. In the main hall, a mirror miraculously survived, although not completely. Seeing myself in the reflection of the broken mirror, all sorts of symbolic and ironic thoughts entered my head.
18. The main attraction of this place is the beautiful staircase. This is where the attractions end)))
19. This is how my express trip to the castles of France turned out. Every day more and more abandoned places appear in Europe, and, alas, it is not always possible to find out the coordinates of truly cool places. The most offensive thing is that some of them can “last” for just a month or two, and for Europeans the standard option for spending a weekend is to take a car and arrange a drive through abandoned places. This lifestyle really appeals to me. However, living in Moscow, of course, I cannot arrange this often, so each trip occupies a special niche in my heart. Abandoned places cannot be visited trivially, they must be passed through the heart and lived in it, at least for a moment, otherwise you are unlikely to be imbued with the amazing and stunning atmosphere of such places, wanting to quickly take a good photo and leaving all the most interesting things outside the lens.
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Castles served as impenetrable fortresses in the Middle Ages, but many of them have become eerie and overgrown in modern times.
Here are 13 abandoned castles around the world and their stories.
Bannerman Castle - Beacon, New York
Bannerman Castle was once used as a weapons storage facility for Frank Bannerman, a Scottish munitions dealer in New York. Bannerman and his wife eventually built a glamorous, castle-like home on the property located on Pollepel Island in the Hudson River and lived there during the summer.
Bannerman's name can still be seen on its walls, despite several fires. Visitors can tour the island by boat.
Gwych Castle - North Wales, UK
Griph Castle was built in the early 1800s as the home of Lloyd Hesketh Bamford-Hesketh. Queen Victoria is said to have once visited it.
It had a total of 128 rooms, including 28 bedrooms, an outer hall, an inner hall, two smoking rooms, a dining room, a drawing room, a billiard room and a number of servants' quarters. It housed 200 Jewish refugees during World War II and was later opened to the public as a theme park with a zoo.
The castle was purchased several years ago with the intention of turning it into an opera house and luxury hotel, but the plan never came to fruition.
Ruins - Talisay, Philippines
Legend has it that Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson, a sugar baron who owned plantations in the 20th century, built the mansion in memory of his wife, who died while pregnant with their 11th child.
The building was reportedly deliberately set on fire by the US military to prevent the Japanese from using it as a base during World War II, but its walls still stand.
Heidelberg Castle - Heidelberg, Germany
The history of Heidelberg Castle dates back to the 1300s, Prince-Elector Ruprecht III turned it into a royal residence, which was used for 400 years, until 1764, when the castle was struck by lightning and largely destroyed.
Heidelberg residents began to use its stones to build their own houses, until Count Charles de Graimberg began preserving the ruins in 1800. The castle is still largely abandoned today, but is available as a wedding venue.
Aughnanure Castle - Oughterard, Ireland
The O'Flahertys, an Irish Gaelic clan, controlled an area of land outside Oughterard and built Aughnanure Castle around 1500. Their motto is: "Fortune favors the strong."
Currently owned by the Public Works Department, the ruins contain the remains of a banquet hall, watchtower and dry harbour. Guided walks are available.
Virginia Renaissance Fair - Fredericksburg, Virginia
The Virginia Renaissance Faire Castle is not actually from the Middle Ages, but sits abandoned in the middle of a swampy forest. From 1996 to 1999, Fair tried to welcome visitors, but the remote location and dirt meant that there were very few visitors, the business was not profitable and it was abandoned. Since then, the castle has stood alone in the forest among the swamps, not attracting people.
Fasil Gebbi - Gondar, Ethiopia
Surrounded by a nearly 3,000-foot wall, Fazil Ghebbi was a fortified city in the 16th and 17th centuries, containing palaces, castles, a library and churches. The Ethiopian Emperor Fazilid lived there, and the city remained the seat of the Ethiopian government until 1864, according to UNESCO. The city was destroyed between 1930 and 1936; UNESCO began restoration in the 1990s.
Champollion Palace - Cairo, Egypt
Champollion's Palace, built in 1899 and located in today's downtown Cairo, was the home of Prince Said Halim Pacha until he was exiled after the First World War. The palace then became a high school for boys from elite families, but the number of children was insufficient and the school closed.
Dunstanburgh Castle - Northumberland, England
Earl Thomas of Lancaster, baron of King Edward II, built Dunstanburgh Castle as a symbol of defiance against the king in 1313. Their relationship deteriorated, so he built a fortress to protect himself.
His military revolt was unsuccessful and the count was executed in 1322.
The castle is now a tourist attraction run by the National Trust, offering ghost walks and wildlife viewing.
Criccieth Castle - Gwynedd, Wales
Much of the history of Crychezema Castle remains a mystery, but it is estimated to date back to the 13th century and is associated with the name of Llywelyn the Great, Prince of Gwynedd. The castle was then used as a prison until 1404, where Llywelyn's son Gruffydd was imprisoned.
The castle was burned in the 15th century during the last major Welsh rebellion against the English. It is now open to the public as a tourist spot.
Carew Castle - Pembrokeshire, Wales
Carew Castle is located along the River Carew in Wales. It was built by Sir Nicholas de Carew, a high-ranking officer, in the 13th century. After various owners were executed for treason or imprisoned by various monarchs, the castle was abandoned around 1686.
In 1983, the National Park began restoring the castle, which is now a full-fledged tourist center for visitors. The land also has a large population of bats, making the area a site of special scientific interest.
Podgortsy Castle - Lviv region, Ukraine
Podhirtsi Castle was built for the Polish military commander Stanisław Koniecpolski in the 17th century. The castle itself was designed by the Italian architect Andrea dell'Acqua, and its defenses were designed by the French Guillaume de Beauplan. It contained a collection of art and weapons.
The new owners in the 1800s did not preserve the castle - it was vandalized, falling into disrepair, eventually becoming a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients. A fire in 1956 caused great damage. Restoration work began in 1997.
Sammezzano Castle - Tuscany, Italy
Sammezzano Castle was built on the grounds of a 17th century royal palace that belonged to the Spanish nobleman Ximenes of Aragon. Marquis Ferdinando Ximenes Panciatichi rebuilt the entire site in 1853. After his death, the castle became a luxury hotel, but soon went bankrupt and remained abandoned until the 1990s.
Now it is being restored.
These eerie images of abandoned places on our planet give you an idea of what this world would look like if people left it.
A tree grows in an abandoned piano
Click on the pictures to enlarge the image.
UFO houses in Sanzhi, Taiwan
Also known as the Sanzhi Saucer Houses, a futuristic complex of 60 UFO-shaped houses made from durable fiberglass in Sanzhi County, Xinbei, Taiwan. An unrealized project of a group of companies under the patronage of the state of a complex of ultra-modern houses for the capital's rich.
Overgrown Palace, Poland
In 1910, this palace was built as a home for the Polish nobility. Under the communist regime, the palace became an agricultural college and then a mental hospital. After the 90s the building has been empty.
Jet Star amusement park coaster, New Jersey, USA
This coaster remained in the Atlantic Ocean after Storm Sandy in 2013. They rusted for six months until they were dismantled.
Abandoned house in the forest
Church in Saint-Etienne, France
Abandoned church with mannequins of parishioners, Netherlands
Doll factory, Spain
A tree growing through a bicycle
Wrecks on a sandbank, Bermuda Triangle
Floating forest, Sydney, Australia
Cinema in Detroit, Michigan, USA
As Detroit deteriorated, many of its historic buildings were abandoned.
Shipyard in Vallejo, California, USA
Mare Island Naval Shipyard served as a submarine port during both World Wars. In the 1990s, the building was abandoned and flooded.
House between two trees, Florida, USA
Titanic
The Titanic set off on its first and last voyage in April 1912. 73 years later, the largest ship of the early 20th century was found at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
Circular railway, Paris, France
The Petite Ceinture railway was built in 1852 and ran between the main train stations of Paris within the city walls. During its operation, it connected five city highways. Since 1934, the railway, as well as some of its stations, have been partially abandoned.
Spreepark, Berlin, Germany
In 1969, an amusement park with rides, cafes and green lawns was built on the banks of the Spree in the southeast of the city. After the unification of the two Berlins, the park lost its relevance and closed due to insufficient funding.
Library, Russia
House on the Row, Finland
Turquoise Canal, Venice, Italy
Like any other city, Venice has abandoned places. But there they look even more picturesque.
Stairway to Nowhere, Pismo Beach, California, USA
Nara Dreamland Park, Japan
Nara Dreamland was built in 1961 as Japan's answer to Disneyland and even included its own version of Sleeping Beauty Castle. Closed in 2006 due to low visitor numbers.
Abandoned Mining Road, Taiwan
Abandoned pier
Bare footprints in an abandoned nuclear reactor
Indoor water park
Boathouse, Lake Obersee, Germany
Abandoned administrative building in Italy
Methodist Church in Indiana, USA
Gary, Indiana was founded in 1905 during the US steel boom. In the 1950s, more than 200,000 people lived and worked in this city. After the fall of the dispute on steel, almost half of the city was empty.
Church in the snow, Canada
Blue spiral staircase in a European castle
Soviet naval testing station in Makhachkala, Russia
Bell tower of a church in a frozen lake, Reschen, Italy
Lake Reschen is a reservoir in which several villages and a 14th-century church were flooded.
Glenwood Power Plant, New York, USA
This power plant, built in 1906, has long since become obsolete. After closing in 1968, it was used as a location for filming thrillers and zombie films.
Flooded shopping center
Train station in Canfranc, Spain
Canfranc is a small town located near the border with France. In 1928, the largest and most beautiful railway station in the world at that time opened here, which was called “the sparkling jewel of modernity.”
In 1970, the railway bridge on the road to Canfranc was destroyed and the station was closed. The bridge was not restored, and the former “pearl of Art Nouveau” began to fall into disrepair.
Abandoned theater
Automobile cemetery, Ardennes, Belgium
Many American soldiers on the Western Front during World War II purchased cars for personal use. When the war ended, it turned out that sending them home was very expensive and many of the cars remained here.
Attraction in Chernobyl, Ukraine
Abandoned hospital. Chernobyl, Ukraine
The city of Pripyat was deserted after the 1986 disaster at the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant. It has been empty since then and will remain empty for thousands of years.
City Hall Subway Station, New York, USA
City Hall Station opened in 1904 and closed in 1945. Only 600 people a day used it when it was operational.
Abandoned house in Virginia, USA
Poveglia Island, Italy
Poveglia is an island in the Venetian lagoon that, during the time of Napoleon Bonaparte, became an isolation ward for plague victims and later an asylum for the mentally ill.
Gulliver's Travels Park, Kawagushi, Japan
The park opened in 1997. Lasted only 10 years and was abandoned due to financial problems
Lighthouse on Aniva rock, Sakhalin, Russia
The Aniva lighthouse was installed in 1939 by the Japanese (at that time this part of Sakhalin belonged to them) on the small Sivuchya rock, near the inaccessible rocky Cape Aniva. This area is replete with currents, frequent fogs, and underwater rocky banks. The height of the tower is 31 meters, the height of the light is 40 meters above sea level.
Eilean Donan Castle, Scotland
A castle located on a rocky island lying in the Loch Duich fjord in Scotland. One of the most romantic castles in Scotland, it is famous for its heather honey and interesting history. Filming took place in the castle: “The Phantom Goes West” (1935), “The Master of Ballantrae” (1953), “Highlander” (1986), “Mio, My Mio” (1987), “The World Is Not Enough” (1999) , Friend of the Bride (2008).
Abandoned mill, Ontario, Canada
Underwater city Shicheng, China
Hidden beneath the waters of the Lake of a Thousand Islands in China is the underwater city of Shicheng City. The architecture of the city has remained virtually untouched, for which archaeologists have nicknamed it a “time capsule.” Shicheng, or as it is also called “Lion City”, was founded more than 1339 years ago. During the construction of a hydroelectric power station in 1959, it was decided to flood the city.
Munsell Sea Forts, UK
In the shallow waters of the North Sea off the coast of Great Britain, abandoned air defense sea forts stand above the water. Their main tasks were to protect the large industrial centers of England from air attacks from the most vulnerable direction - from the sea - from the mouths of the Thames and Mersey rivers and to protect the approaches from the sea to London and Liverpool, respectively.
Christ from the Abyss, San Fruttoso, Italy
The statue of Jesus Christ, located at the bottom of the sea, in the bay of San Fruttuoso, near Genoa. The statue, about 2.5 meters high, was installed on August 22, 1954 at a depth of 17 meters. In addition, in different parts of the world there are several similar statues (both copies of the original and variations on its theme), also bearing the name “Christ from the Abyss”.
Ryugyong Hotel, Pyongyang, North Korea
Now it is the largest and tallest building in Pyongyang and the DPRK as a whole. The hotel was expected to open in June 1989, but construction problems and material shortages delayed the opening. The Japanese press estimated the amount spent on construction at $750 million - 2% of North Korean GDP. In 1992, due to lack of funding and the general economic crisis in the country, construction was stopped.
The main part of the tower was built, but windows, communications and equipment were not installed. The top of the building is poorly made and may fall off. The current structure of the building cannot be used. The North Korean government is trying to attract $300 million in foreign investment to develop and build a new hotel design, but in the meantime it has removed the long-term construction from maps and postage stamps.
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