Strange cases on abandoned military secret sites. Especially secret objects of the USSR: abandoned or temporarily forgotten? Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

After the collapse of the USSR, the young states inherited many once powerful military and scientific facilities. The most dangerous and secret objects were urgently mothballed and evacuated, while many others were simply abandoned. They were left to rust: after all, the economies of most newly created states simply could not support their maintenance; no one needed them. Now some of them represent a kind of mecca for stalkers, “tourist” sites, visiting which involves considerable risk.

“Resident Evil”: a top-secret complex on Vozrozhdenie Island in the Aral Sea

During Soviet times, a complex of military bioengineering institutes was located on an island in the middle of the Aral Sea, engaged in the development and testing of biological weapons. It was an object of such secrecy that most of the employees involved in the landfill maintenance infrastructure simply did not know where exactly they were working. On the island itself there were buildings and laboratories of the institute, vivariums, and equipment warehouses. In the town, quite a number of facilities were created for researchers and military personnel. comfortable conditions for living in conditions of complete autonomy. The island was carefully guarded by the military on land and sea.

In 1992, the entire facility was urgently mothballed and abandoned by all occupants, including the facility's guards. For some time it remained a “ghost town” until it was discovered by looters, who for more than 10 years removed from the island everything that was abandoned there. The fate of the secret developments carried out on the island and their results - cultures of deadly microorganisms - still remains a mystery.

Heavy-duty “Russian Woodpecker”: Radar “Duga”, Pripyat

The Duga over-the-horizon radar station is a radar station created in the USSR for early detection of intercontinental ballistic missile launches by starting flashes (based on the reflection of radiation by the ionosphere). This gigantic structure took 5 years to build and was completed in 1985. The cyclopean antenna, 150 meters high and 800 meters long, consumed a huge amount of electricity, so it was built near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

For the characteristic sound on air made during operation (knocking), the station was named Russian Woodpecker (Russian Woodpecker). The installation was built to last and could function successfully to this day, but in reality the Duga radar operated for less than a year. The facility stopped operating after the Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion.

Underwater submarine shelter: Balaklava, Crimea

According to knowledgeable people, this top-secret submarine base was a transshipment point where submarines, including nuclear ones, were repaired, refueled and replenished with ammunition. It was a gigantic complex built to last, capable of withstanding a nuclear strike; under its arches, up to 14 submarines could be accommodated simultaneously. This military base built in 1961 and abandoned in 1993, after which it was dismantled piece by piece local residents. In 2002, it was decided to build a museum complex, but things haven’t gone beyond words yet. However, local diggers willingly take everyone there.

"Zone" in Latvian forests: Dvina missile silo, Kekava, Latvia

Very close to the capital of Latvia, in the forest there are the remains of the Dvina missile system. Built in 1964, the facility consisted of 4 launch shafts approximately 35 meters deep and underground bunkers. Much of the premises is currently flooded, and visiting the launch site without an experienced stalker guide is not recommended. Also dangerous are the remnants of toxic rocket fuel - heptyl, which, according to some information, remain in the depths of launch silos.

“The Lost World” in the Moscow region: Lopatinsky phosphate mine

The Lopatinskoye phosphorite deposit, 90 km from Moscow, was the largest in Europe. In the 30s of the last century, they began to actively develop it using the open-pit method. At the Lopatinsky quarry, all main types of multi-bucket excavators were used - moving on rails, moving on tracks, and excavators walking at an “added” step. It was a giant development with its own railroad. After 1993, the field was closed, abandoning all the expensive imported special equipment.

Mining of phosphorites has led to the emergence of an incredible “unearthly” landscape. The long and deep troughs of the quarries are mostly flooded. They are interspersed with high sandy ridges, turning into flat, table-like sandy fields, black, white and reddish dunes, pine forests with regular rows of planted pine trees. Giant excavators - "absetzers" resemble alien ships rusting on the sands under open air. All this makes the Lopatin quarries a kind of natural-technogenic “reserve”, a place of increasingly lively pilgrimage for tourists.

“Well to Hell”: Kola superdeep well, Murmansk region

The Kola superdeep well is the deepest in the world. Its depth is 12,262 meters. Is in Murmansk region, 10 kilometers west of the city of Zapolyarny. The well was drilled in the northeastern part of the Baltic shield solely for scientific research purposes in the place where the lower boundary of the earth's crust comes close to the surface of the Earth. IN best years 16 research laboratories worked at the Kola superdeep well, they were personally supervised by the Minister of Geology of the USSR.

Many interesting discoveries were made at the well, for example, that life on Earth appeared 1.5 billion years earlier than expected. At depths where it was believed that there was no and could not be organic matter, 14 species of fossilized microorganisms were discovered - the age of the deep layers exceeded 2.8 billion years. In 2008, the facility was abandoned, the equipment was dismantled, and the destruction of the building began.

As of 2010, the well is mothballed and is gradually being destroyed. The cost of restoration is about one hundred million rubles. The Kola superdeep well is associated with many implausible legends about a “well to hell” from the bottom of which the cries of sinners are heard, and the drills are melted by hellish flames.

"Russian HAARP" - multifunctional radio complex "Sura"

In the late 1970s, as part of geophysical research near the city of Vasilsursk Nizhny Novgorod region built a multifunctional radio complex "Sura" to influence the Earth's ionosphere with powerful HF radio emission. The Sura complex, in addition to antennas, radars and radio transmitters, includes a laboratory complex, a utility unit, and a specialized transformer electrical substation. The once secret station, where a number of important studies are still being carried out today, is a thoroughly rusted and battered, but still not completely abandoned object. One of the important areas of research carried out at the complex is the development of ways to protect the operation of equipment and communications from ion disturbances in the atmosphere of various natures.

Currently, the station operates for only 100 hours a year, while the famous American HAARP facility conducts experiments for 2,000 hours during the same period. The Nizhny Novgorod Radiophysical Institute does not have enough money for electricity - in one day of work, the test site equipment deprives the complex of a monthly budget. The complex is threatened not only by lack of money, but also by theft of property. Due to the lack of proper security, “hunters” for scrap metal continually sneak into the station’s territory.

"Oil Rocks" - a sea city of oil producers, Azerbaijan

This settlement on trestles standing directly in the Caspian Sea is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's oldest oil platforms. It was built in 1949 in connection with the beginning of oil extraction from the seabed around the Black Rocks - a rock ridge barely protruding from the surface of the sea. Here there are drilling rigs connected by overpasses, on which a settlement of oil field workers is located. The village grew, and in its heyday included power plants, nine-story dormitory buildings, hospitals, a community center, a park with trees, a bakery, a lemonade production plant, and even a mosque with a full-time mullah.

The length of the elevated streets and alleys of the sea city reaches 350 kilometers. There was no permanent population in the city, and up to 2,000 people lived there as part of the rotational shift. The period of decline of Oil Rocks began with the advent of cheaper Siberian oil, which made offshore production unprofitable. However sea ​​town Ok still did not become a ghost town; at the beginning of 2000, major repair work began there and even the laying of new wells began.

Failed collider: abandoned particle accelerator, Protvino, Moscow region

In the late 1980s, the Soviet Union planned to build a huge particle accelerator. The Moscow region scientific center Protvino - the city of nuclear physicists - in those years was a powerful complex of physics institutes, where scientists from all over the world came. A circular tunnel 21 kilometers long was built, lying at a depth of 60 meters. It is still located near Protvino. They even began to deliver equipment into the already completed accelerator tunnel, but then a series of political upheavals struck, and the domestic “hadron collider” remained uninstalled.

The institutions of the city of Protvino maintain the satisfactory condition of this tunnel - an empty dark ring underground. There is a lighting system there, and there is a functioning narrow-gauge railway line. All sorts of commercial projects were proposed, such as an underground amusement park or even a mushroom farm. However, scientists are not giving this object away yet - perhaps they are hoping for the best.

The railway passes under the bridge into a tunnel, makes a loop and exits from the top of the hill onto a bridge at an altitude of 38 m. The Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk - Kholmsk railway was built under the Japanese by forced Korean workers after the conquest of South Sakhalin. The construction process was extremely difficult, because most of The road passed through difficult places - high hills, mountain rivers, forests. There are versions that for every sleeper laid, one worker died.

The route can start in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk: by bus No. 105a or personal transport to the village of Klyuchi.

Teufelsberg spy radio station in Berlin, Germany

Photo: Orange "ear (flickr)	Photo: fiebre (flickr)

“Devil’s Mountain” Teufelsberg appeared in Berlin after World War II: the rubble of almost 400 thousand destroyed buildings was brought to one place, covered with earth, and then the resulting hill was planted with trees. The Americans, in whose sector the new height happened to be, built a radar station on its top to listen to their Soviet neighbors. When Germany reunified, the station was closed. For a long time it was possible to get inside only illegally, but now the owners of the territory have opened official access, run organized excursions and even give a discount with a VisitBerlin card. At the top await ruins picturesquely painted with graffiti, huge skeletons of locators with torn tarpaulins flapping spectacularly in the wind and great view to Berlin as a bonus.

Cost of visit - 7-15 euros.

Missouri State Penitentiary, USA

Photo: tourist41 (flickr)

One of the oldest correctional institutions in America had a bad reputation, even for a prison: the institution, which opened in 1836, housed death row prisoners, and riots and mass fights with bloody results constantly broke out here. It was closed in 2004; the gloomy building quietly deteriorated for several years, but then the prison was repurposed as a museum. Now they take me here organized tours, during which you can walk with your hands behind your back in the prison courtyard, sit on bunks and even look into the gas chambers where death sentences were carried out. For the more daring, night excursions and ghost hunting workshops are offered.

Hashima Mining Island, Japan

Photo: Xavi Serrano	Photo: Iloé C. PARDO

The island, 15 km from Nagasaki, was nicknamed Gunkanjima (“cruiser”) - from the outside it resembles a warship. About a hundred years ago, coal was found on this tiny piece of land, polluted by birds, and within a few years Hashima turned into one of the largest industrial centers Japan. Mines, coal processing and industrial plants, residential buildings, shops, schools, cemeteries, swimming pools and more than 5,000 people - and this on an island 200 m long and 500 m wide. When coal reserves were exhausted, the mines were closed, people were taken out, allowing them to take with only the essentials, and Hashima turned into a ghost town: what it looks like today can be seen, for example, in the film “007: Skyfall” (the lair of the villain Raoul Silva is copied from Hashima).

Cost of visit - from $33

Power Plant IM in Charleroi, Belgium

Photo: Markus Horn	Photo: James Charlick

The old coal power plant regularly supplied energy to the entire Belgian region of Monceau-sur-Sambre, but under pressure from environmentalists it was closed in 2007: their research showed that it was Power Plant IM that accounts for 10% of all CO2 emissions in Belgium. They keep promising to demolish the station, but they still haven't gotten around to it. In the meantime, it is illegally visited by lovers of industrial ruins, photographers and curious tourists. The cooling tower looks especially impressive - a grandiose well with a funnel overgrown with moss in the center.

More details: Charleroi is located 50 km from Brussels, the station is easy to find by the cooling tower sticking out above the town.

Amusement park Six Flags-Jazzland in New Orleans, USA

Photo: zack luther	Photo: Darrell Miller

Hurricane Katrina put an end to the fun here: Jazzland remained flooded for more than a month and ended up being almost completely destroyed. New Orleans has recovered from the disaster, but the park is still in ruins and desolation, although the owners regularly report that they are about to begin to put it in order. In the meantime, Hollywood directors are actively filming it in films about zombies and a post-apocalyptic world.

More details: The park is located 25 minutes drive from the city center.

Maunsell Tower Forts, England

Photo: doctor.boogie (flickr)	Photo: Keith Marshall

Anti-aircraft air defense towers at the mouth of the Thames near Essex were built to protect London and Liverpool from the sea. After the war, some of them housed meteorological centers, others housed pirate radio stations, and one of the platforms even managed to visit the self-proclaimed principality of Sealand. Today the forts are abandoned, the iron bridges that connected them have mostly rusted and crumbled to dust. Only a couple of towers are suitable for a safe visit - from one of them, Red Sands Radio, supported by enthusiasts, occasionally tries to broadcast.

More details: Special cruises from Whitstable Harbor are organized to the forts - on the historic sailing ship Greta (48 pounds, www.greta1892.co.uk) or tugboat (x-pilot.co.uk). The company operationredsandforts.com charges from £45, and also offers to work with a volunteer team involved in the restoration and conservation of the forts - and this is perhaps the only opportunity to visit inside the towers legally.

Cost of visit - 45 - 50 pounds

La Petite Ceinture railway in Paris, France

Photo: tc slowhand (flickr)	Photo: lepublicnme (flickr)

The ring railway was built in 1852 - it was supposed to connect Parisian stations. But in the end, the metro took over its functions, and in the 1930s the road was closed. Paths, bridges and tunnels overgrown with grass and bushes turned into a spontaneous park - gloomy, painted with graffiti, dangerous at night, but very impressive and completely unconventional for one of the most tourist-trodden cities in the world. The municipality is considering projects for the revival of La Petite Ceinture: for example, running a line that goes around the entire center of Paris, trains for tourists or mobile phones. shopping centers, selling souvenirs and fast food, but so far these are only projects.

More details: Several parts of the road between the 12th and 16th Arrondissement are officially open for walking.

Buzludzha Monument, Bulgaria

Photo: GregoireC (flickr)	Photo: les Johnstone

For the Bulgarian communists, this Balkan peak was sacred: it was here that the local Communist Party was established at a secret congress. In 1981, a monstrous monument was built here at a great expense in honor of those glorious events: a stele crowned with a star, two clinking torches and a concrete bunker that most closely resembles a lost UFO. Here they accepted pioneers, celebrated the achievements of Bulgarian socialism and organized mass festivities with barbecues and fireworks. When socialism ended in Bulgaria, the monument was plundered a little more than completely - even the decorative internal cladding made of granite and marble was taken away. All that remains is a concrete skeleton strewn with slag - but it still makes an unforgettable impression.

More details: The most convenient way to get to Buzludzha is from Gabrovo, combining the visit with a visit to the Shipka Pass.

Michigan Central Station in Detroit, USA

Photo: Thomas Hawk

A remnant of the Great Railroad Era and the best illustration for the ending of Atlas Shrugged, Detroit's main railroad hub was once the tallest station in the world. Every day up to two hundred trains left from here to all parts of the country. But the railroads lost to airplanes, the automobile boom ended, and with it the city of Detroit, along with its skyscraper train station. The last train left here in 1988, since then the building has been occupied only by vandals and film studios - for example, some scenes of the film “Transformers” and Eminem’s Beautiful video were filmed here.

More details: You can get inside the building legally only during extremely rare events to attract attention to the architectural monument, when access is opened to a limited number of visitors - mainly reporters and photographers.

Beelitz-Heilstätten Hospital, Germany

Photo: Andreas Hermanspann	Photo: Christina (flickr)

The hospital complex consists of more than 60 buildings and is one of the ten most beautiful modern ruins. The hospital was built over 30 years - starting in 1898, initially it was supposed to treat tuberculosis here, but in the end it turned out to be a whole medical town - with hospitals, sanatoriums and an institute where doctors were trained and research was carried out. Hitler was treated here in 1916, and Honecker in 1990. Restoration work is underway in some buildings, but most are abandoned and looted - and against the backdrop of the clean and ruddy restored buildings, the devastation is even more impressive.

More details: The hospital is located 40 km from Berlin and can be reached by train from Berlin Hbf station (every hour).

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 is located 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

These slides remained in 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 deteriorates, many of its historical 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 sail on its first and last flight in April 1912. 73 years later big ship at the beginning of the 20th century it 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 Railway, as well as some of its stations are 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 small town, located near the border with France. In 1928, the largest and most beautiful at that time railroad station in the world, which was called "the sparkling gem of modernity."

It was destroyed in 1970 railroad bridge on the road to Canfranc 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 Scotland's most romantic castles, it is famous for its heather honey and interesting story. 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 sea ​​forts systems air defense. 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. Besides, in different parts light 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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website with bated breath presents a selection of the most mysterious places on the planet, which cause quiet horror and interest at the same time.

The combination of mystery and danger arouses interest and attracts attention against our will, and the sight of nature, which calmly captures what people have created, returns us to the understanding of our own insignificance in the face of time.

San Ji Ghost Town, Taiwan

A luxurious resort on the sea coast was built specifically for the local rich. But already during construction something strange began to happen. Dozens of workers died: they broke their necks falling from heights (even with safety ropes), and died under collapsed cranes. The surrounding residents were sure that the town was inhabited by evil spirits. There were harrowing stories about a Japanese “death camp” that had once been located here. At the end of the 1980s, construction stalled. The apartments never found buyers, and the authorities do not demolish the city because people believe that this will release evil spirits.

Abandoned military hospital in Beelitz, Germany

The city of the same name is located 40 kilometers from the capital of Germany. During the First and Second World Wars, the hospital was used by the military, and in 1916 Adolf Hitler was treated there. In 1995, people left the city, and since then it has been gradually destroyed.

Eighth workshop of the Dagdizel plant, Makhachkala

Naval weapons testing station, commissioned in 1939. It is located 2.7 km from the coast and has not been used for a long time. Construction took a long time and was complicated by difficult conditions. Unfortunately, the workshop did not serve the plant for long. The requirements for the work carried out in the workshop changed, and in April 1966 this grandiose structure was written off from the factory balance sheet. Now this “Array” is abandoned and stands in the Caspian Sea, resembling an ancient monster from the shore.

Lier Sikehus Psychiatric Clinic, Norway

At the Norwegian psychiatric hospital, which is located in small town Lier, half an hour from Oslo, has a dark past. Experiments on patients were once carried out here, and for unknown reasons, four hospital buildings were abandoned in 1985. Equipment, beds, even magazines and personal belongings of patients remained in the abandoned buildings. At the same time, the remaining eight buildings of the hospital are still in operation today.

Gunkanjima Island, Japan

In fact, the island is called Hashima, nicknamed Gunkanjima, which means “cruiser island.” The island was settled in 1810 when coal was discovered there. Within fifty years, it has become the most populated island in the world in terms of the ratio of land and the number of inhabitants on it: 5,300 people with a radius of the island itself of one kilometer. By 1974, the reserves of coal and other minerals on Gankajima were completely exhausted, and people left the island. Today, visiting the island is prohibited. There are many legends about this place among the people.

Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong, China

The city was located in Hong Kong, but did not obey the authorities, being under the control of the mafia. Not only did prostitution and drug trafficking flourish inside, but there was also self-government. In addition, the area had its own industry: semi-handicraft production of noodles and all sorts of small things. The enterprises' products were inexpensive: there were no taxes, and local entrepreneurs did not comply with labor laws. We had our own nursing home, kindergarten and school. In the early 1990s, the population density reached two million people per square kilometer.

After a difficult process of eviction of the people living there, a park of the same name was opened in this place in 1995. Some of the city's historical artifacts, including the yamen building, and the remains of the South Gate have been preserved.

Abandoned Hotel Salto in Colombia

In 1924, a luxurious Hotel Refugio El Salto. After some time, the hotel was closed due to the increasing number of suicides among visitors. There are ominous legends and rumors surrounding this place.

Church of San Juan Parangaricutiro, Mexico

The church, located in the village of the same name, was buried under the lava of the Paricutin volcano in 1944, the village was completely destroyed. Miraculously, the altar and church bell tower remained intact, surrounded by ruins temple complex, protruding cones of frozen lava resemble foreign paintings.

Underwater city of Shichen in China

Ghost town of Kolmanskop, Namibia

The ghost town of Kolmanskop, built in a place where small diamonds were discovered in the sand, which the wind brought from the ocean. Large buildings were built in the city beautiful houses, school, hospital, stadium, and the settlement quickly turned into a model German city. Everyone counted on long-term prosperity, but alas, the “reserve of diamonds” quickly dried up. In addition, the city was difficult to live in due to problems with water and sandstorms, and people left it. Most of the houses are almost entirely covered with sand and make a depressing impression.

Pripyat, Ukraine

An abandoned city located three kilometers from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. After the accident in 1986, he fell into the exclusion zone and became a terrifying ghost of the power of nuclear energy. Nowadays there are organized excursions there, and stalkers come there for walks, but interest in this place does not subside, and new “urban legends” are being born.

On the territory of the former Soviet Union you can find a large number of large-scale projects that turned out to be unnecessary. Grandiose objects, on which a lot of money was once spent, have fallen into disrepair over time, and are now of value only to curious travelers and diggers. This post will introduce you to the most creepy and mysterious places.

Ball near Dubna

In the forest near Dubna, in Russia, a huge hollow ball with a diameter of approximately 18 meters can be found. It will be difficult to find it yourself, but local residents will always be happy to tell you how to get to the local “attraction”. From a bird's eye view, the ball can be mistaken for a UFO, but in reality it is a dielectric cap for a parabolic antenna for space communications. The cap was transported by helicopter, but the cable broke during transportation. Removing the dome turned out to be too problematic an undertaking. By the way, it is made of fiberglass with a honeycomb structure. It amplifies any noise many times over and produces a powerful echo.

Khovrinskaya hospital

An eleven-story abandoned, unfinished hospital in Moscow. Traditionally included in all sorts of unofficial ratings of the most scary places planets. The construction of a multidisciplinary hospital began in the 80s. It was designed for 1,300 beds. Construction was stopped after 5 years, when all the buildings had already been erected. Ironically, over the next decades, the Khovrinsk hospital does not save, but maims and takes lives. Homeless people, drug addicts and thrill-seekers have long been “registered” here. Accidents on the territory of patients are a sad reality.

Crimean NPP

An unfinished nuclear power plant, which is located near the city of Shchelkino. The first design calculations were made back in 1964. Construction began in 1975. It was assumed that this nuclear power plant would provide electricity to the entire Crimean peninsula. She was also supposed to be Starting point, for the further development of industry in these places. The first reactor was planned to be launched in 1989, construction proceeded without any deviations. However, the shaken economy of the USSR, together with the tragedy at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, put an end to the Crimean project. At that time, more than 500 million Soviet rubles were spent on the station, and the warehouses contained materials and equipment worth another 250 million Soviet rubles. All this was stolen in subsequent years. It is worth adding that the Crimean nuclear power plant was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the most expensive power plant of this type.

Balaclava

In 2003, for the first time in 46 years of its existence, the Balaklava submarine base appeared on public display. Today it is exclusively a tourist site, but the base was once one of the most secret sites of the Soviet Union. The huge underground complex housed submarines. The base could withstand a nuclear attack with powerful charges and was built in the event of a nuclear war. The base consists of a water canal, a dry dock, numerous warehouses of various types and buildings for military personnel. The facility was closed in 1994, after the last submarine was removed from it. Many years of pride Soviet Union it was simply stolen.

Object 221

Not far from Sevastopol, in addition to the already mentioned submarine repair base, you can find another, once secret, facility of the Soviet Union. It's about about the bunker - object 221. It had many names, but behind all of them was hidden a reserve command post for the Black Sea Fleet. You can find the object near the village of Morozovka. It was real underground city. Construction began on it in 1977. The object lies at a depth of 200 meters, where there are 4 floors of buildings. The total area of ​​the underground part of the complex is 17 thousand sq.m. To date, the facility has been completely looted and destroyed.

Nuclear lighthouse at Cape Aniva

On Sakhalin you can find Cape Aniva, where a unique atomic lighthouse is located. The lighthouse is the height of a nine-story building. Previously, up to 12 people could be on duty there. Today, this once unique complex has been completely looted by looters and is not functioning.

Dvina missile system

The collapse of the Soviet Union “gave” the former republics a huge arsenal of a wide variety of weapons, including launch silos. So, near the capital of Latvia, in the forests, you can find the once unique, secret Dvina launch complex. It was built in 1964. This huge complex, consisting of bunkers and launch shafts, most of which are now flooded. Visiting the complex is highly discouraged due to the remains of extremely toxic rocket fuel there.

Workshop No. 8 of the Dagdizel plant

In Kaspiysk, in Dagestan, you can find a unique factory workshop built right on the water. The workshop belonged to the Dagdizel plant. Built it for testing marine species weapons, in particular a variety of torpedoes and missiles. The plant was unique for the USSR. It was built on a pit with a volume of 530 thousand cubic meters, which was dug using special shells. An “array” was installed into it, onto which a 14-meter all-metal structure was later lowered. total area The constructed workshop exceeds 5 thousand sq.m. The station was equipped for permanent residence and work. However, by the mid-60s of the 20th century, the project was abandoned as unnecessary due to too quickly changing trends in the field of weapons design. Since then, the building has been abandoned and is gradually being destroyed by the Caspian Sea.

Lopatinsky phosphate mine

Not far from the city of Vokresensk, in the Moscow region, you can easily find a huge mine for the extraction of phospharites. This deposit is unique in Europe and the largest. The first developments here began in the 30s of the 20th century. All types of multi-bucket excavators were used in numerous quarries: crawler, rail and walking. Rail shovels had special equipment to move the rails. Since the 90s, the mine has been virtually abandoned, the quarries are flooded with water, and expensive special equipment is simply rotting in the open air.

Ionosphere research station

In Zmeevo, a district city in the Kharkov region of Ukraine, you can find a unique station for studying the ionosphere. It was built almost before the collapse of the USSR. It was a direct analogue of the American Harp project, which was deployed in Alaska and is successfully operating to this day. The Soviet complex consisted of several antenna fields and one giant parabolic antenna with a diameter of 25 meters. Unfortunately, after the collapse of the union, no one needed the station. Today, incredibly expensive scientific equipment simply rots or is stolen by stalkers and hunters for non-ferrous metals.

"Northern Crown"

Initially, the Northern Crown Hotel was called Petrogradskaya. Its construction began in 1988. The hotel is famous not for its beauty, but a huge amount accidents during construction. The fact that Metropolitan John died of a heart attack within its walls did not add to the complex’s popularity, immediately after the building was illuminated.

Particle accelerator

The USSR could have its own hadron collider. Construction of a unique complex began in the Moscow region, in Protvino, in the late 80s. As you might guess, the collapse of the USSR actually put an end to the scientific project. A 21-kilometer tunnel was already completely ready for the collider. They even began to deliver equipment to the site. Work continued after that, but very sluggishly. Funding was literally only enough to illuminate the tunnels that were falling into disrepair.

"Oil Rocks"

In Azerbaijan you can find a real sea city. We are talking about the so-called “oil stones”. It appeared after Soviet geologists discovered huge oil deposits in the Caspian Sea in the 40s of the 20th century. Thanks to the development of mining, an entire city appeared on embankments and metal overpasses. Power plants, hospitals, nine-story buildings and much more were built right on the water! In total, there were about 200 platforms with residents on the water. The total mileage of streets was 350 km. However, cheap Siberian oil that appeared later put an end to local production, and the city fell into decay.