
Learn the stories behind seven of the world’s most renowned abandoned cities and villages, from the infamous Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe zone to Hashima Island.
1. Tianducheng, China

Tianducheng, a massive luxury housing development, pays homage to the famed French city of lights with period-correct architecture and a 300-foot tall miniature Eiffel Tower. It even features a replica of the Luxembourg Gardens’ fountain.
According to City Lab, the city, which had a population of over 10,000 people, has been mostly abandoned except for the staff of a nearby French-themed amusement park.
2. Hashima Island, Japan

Hashima Island, also known as Gunkanjima (literally Battleship Island) off the coast of Nagasaki, Japan, is an abandoned island.
Hashima Island, which began as a residential area for workers working in the undersea coal mines in 1887, quickly grew into an island of concrete high-rise buildings that housed over 5,000 people. This island fortress included a clubhouse, movie theater, communal bath, swimming pool, rooftop gardens, stores, and even a pachinko parlor, in addition to the normal community buildings.
When Japan turned away from coal power in 1974, the mine shuttered, and the residents lost their jobs. Travel to the island was resumed in 2009 as interest in the island surged due to its fascinating history and spectacular architecture. Hashima Island was also featured in the James Bond film “Skyfall” as a villain’s hideaway.
Even though only a small fraction of the island is exposed to the public, it is a UNESCO World HeritageSite that provides a unique view of Japan’s fast industrialization.
3. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan is a former Soviet Union country with a leader likened to Kim Jong-Un of North Korea. With the construction of Ashgabat in 1991, President Saparmurat Niyazov hoped to usher in a “golden period of Turkmenistan.” He achieved it by erecting structures that smashed records, such as becoming the world’s metropolis with the most marble buildings.
In fact, the city boasts 543 structures constructed with the high-end material. In addition, Ashgabat is home to the world’s largest Ferris wheel.
The city is now known as “the city of the dead” since it appears to be deserted. This is due in part to Turkmenistan’s isolated culture: it is one of the world’s least visited countries
4. Wittenoom, Australia

Wittenoom was established in 1946 as a mining town in Western Australia. Blue asbestos, an essential raw building material in the early twentieth century, was abundant in the surrounding gorge. Wittenoom was the major town in the Pilbara region by the early 1950s.
According to ABC, the mine closed in 1966 due to diminishing demand for asbestos, which resulted in most of the people relocating away to pursue other work. In 2007, the Australian government declared Wittenoom closed, limiting access to the former mining town and removing it from all official maps.
Asbestos fibers can still be found in the topsoil and air around Wittenoom due to the nature of the mining that took place there, making it dangerous to spend too much time around the town.
Only one resident survives, according to a documentary broadcast in December 2019.
5. Varosha, Cyprus

It’s not every day that a vacation resort frequented by Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Raquel Welch, and Brigitte Bardot turns into a ghost town. But that’s exactly what happened in Famagusta’s Varosha neighborhood.
According to the BBC, Varosha was one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world in the early 1970s. Turkey attacked Cyprus in 1974. Residents fled for their lives when rival Turkish and Greek soldiers descended on the area around Varosha.
According to the BBC, Varosha has been abandoned and under Turkish military administration since 1974. The once-beautiful tourist attraction has been cordoned off, and only military and UN workers are permitted to enter. Several attempts have been made to broker a deal that will reopen Varosha, but no agreement has been reached.
6. Residents of Centralia

The coal fire under the town of Centralia, Pennsylvania, has been burning since 1962 and may continue to burn for another 250 years, like something out of a nightmare.
The coal seams beneath the surface of this little Pennsylvania town were lighted by an attempt to clean up the local landfill. Residents have gradually abandoned their homes as the fire has burned for years, fearing not just the flames beneath their feet, but also sudden sinkholes and carbon monoxide poisoning.
Most of the residences in Centralia were taken by eminent domain, and the few remaining residents agreed to hand over their land to the government when they died. Centralia was declared illegal by the state government in 1992.
7. Pripyat, Ukraine

The time was 1:23 a.m. A catastrophic meltdown occurred inside reactor number four at the Soviet nuclear power station at Chernobyl on April 26, 1986. The subsequent explosion sent flames and radioactive debris hurtling into the sky over Pripyat, a nearby city constructed to house the plant’s scientists and workers. The town’s 49,000 residents were evacuated after 36 hours, and many eventually experienced serious health consequences as a result of their brief exposure to the fallout.
Later, Soviet authorities erected an 18-mile exclusion zone around Chernobyl, rendering Pripyat a ghost town. For nearly three decades, the city has remained a frightening reminder of the calamity. Wild animals roam through what were once lively apartments, sports complexes, and an amusement park, and the buildings have rotted and been partially reclaimed by the elements. Hundreds of letters from 1986 still remain at the village post office, waiting to be mailed. While radiation levels in Pripyat have decreased enough in recent years to enable for brief visits by urban explorers and former residents, scientists believe that it will take several centuries before the town is safe to live in again.

El Ojo, The Mysterious Rotating Island
In the middle of South America, a strange and nearly perfectly circle island moves on its own. The central landmass, known as 'El Ojo' or 'The Eye,' floats on a pond of clear and chilly water, looking strange and out of place in comparing to its surroundings. The bottom appears to be solid in compared to the marsh around it.

Qasr al-Farid, the Lonely Castle of the Nabataeans
The remote tomb of Qasr al-Farid, situated in the Saudi Arabian desert, dates back to the 1st Century CE. It was built by the Nabataean people, who also built Petra in Jordan. This site has remained largely undisturbed.

What is secret behind the Australia’s mysterious pink lake?
Lake Hillier in Australia maintains a bright pink hue all year round. Although no one knows for sure what causes the unique coloring, experts speculate that it might be the result of high salinity, a pink bacteria called “halobacteria,” and a salt-loving algae species called Dunaliella salina.

Poland's Krzywy: The Mysteries of the Crooked trees
In Poland, there is a forest with 400 crooked trees that have a 90-degree bend at the base of their trunks. Despite of numerous possibilities, the real reason and how it evolved remain a mystery.

The mysterious secret of Dr James Barry
Before women were allowed to enroll in medical school, Margaret Ann Bulkley studied medicine and assumed the identity of Dr. James Barry for 56 years while dressing as a man. After 46 years of service as an army doctor officer, her secret was not made public until after her death in 1865.

The story of a boy who claims to be on Mars: Boriska Kipriyanovich
Boriska Kipriyanovich, who lives in Volgograd, Russia, claims he lived on Mars before being resurrected on Earth on a mission to redeem humanity. What we know about him is as follows:

Mahabalipuram: The mystery behind Lord Krishna's butterball that defies gravity
Krishna's Butter Ball is a massive rock in Mahabalipuram, Tamilnadu, India, that is perfectly balanced on a slope. An attempt was made in 1908 to remove the rock for fear that it would roll down and destroy nearby homes, but the efforts were wasted.

The Unsolved mystery of Bobby Dunbar's Disappearance
In 1912, a four-year-old boy named Bobby Dunbar went missing on a family trip, 8 months later he was found and reunited with his family. Nearly a century later, DNA testing of his descendants revealed that the child reunited with the Dunbar family was not Bobby, but rather a boy named Charles (Bruce) Anderson who resembled Bobby.

The birth or sign language in Nicaragua
When 50 deaf Nicaraguan children who did not know sign language were placed in the same classroom, they created their own sign language. Scientists are still researching the unique spontaneous appearance of language, as well as its own evolution and training of grammar.

Death Valley’s sailing stones mystery SOLVED
The mysterious "sailing stones" of Death Valley have confused experts for years. The massive stones appear to travel over the dried lake bed known as Racetrack Playa in California's Death Valley National Park, leaving a path in the cracked mud behind them.

The Miracle Baby: Nigerian Couple in the UK Welcomes a Rare Blonde, Blue-Eyed Child
A black, Nigerian couple living in the U.K. gave birth to a white, blonde, blue-eyed baby that they call the "miracle baby."

Mysterious ghost ship found with mummified captain inside [SOLVED]
German captain had been sailing the world for 20 years. It was unknown when or how he died or how long the ghost ship had been adrift

The mysterious Pumpkin impaled on the top of Tower
Twenty Three years ago, somebody impaled a 60-pound pumpkin 170 off the ground on this spire at Cornell University. Nobody knows who did this or how they did it.

Top 10 Mysterious And Least Explored Places On Earth
Some people believe that there is nothing unexplored remaining on earth but the world doesn't cease to surprise us with its mysteries. Today I'll tell you about the lost places of the planet and animals that live only there.

The mystery of India's 'lake of skeletons'
In 1942, a British forest guard in India made an alarming discovery. Some 16,000 feet above sea level, at the bottom of a small valley, was a frozen lake absolutely full of skeletons.

The Mystical Money Tree of the Scottish Highlands: A 1,700-Year-Old Tradition
In the Peak District Forest of the Scottish Highlands in the UK, there is a unique tree which is laden with only money. This tree laden with money has been studded with British coins for 1700 years, there is no corner of its trunk where a British coin is not stuck.

Jason Padgett: Became a Math genius after head injury in a robbery
Fate has no place in mathematics, yet fate played a role for Jason Padgett and his new fame for being a mathematical genius

The Heartbreaking Story Of Ella Harper, The ‘Camel Girl’
Ella Harper, Professionally known as the “Camel Girl” was born with a rare orthopedic condition that cased her knee to bend backward. Due to this condition, had to walked on all four legs, which resulted in her nickname as “Camel Girl”. Tough it was hard at first, but soon she made a fortune out of it.

How Were the Two Parts of the Al Naslaa Rock Formation Created?
Scientists have been puzzled by the Al Naslaa rock formation in Saudi Arabia for a long time, and there is still no explanation for why this boulder appears to have a precise incision across the middle of it.

The Mystery of the Dancing Forest: Reasons behind the unusual wonders of forest
The Dancing Forest in Russia is noted for its unusually twisted pine trees. The trunks of these trees are contorted into spirals, rings, and other squiggly loops, but the reason for this malformation is still a mystery.

Chocolate Rain in Switzerland: How a Factory Malfunction Turned Olten Into a Sweet Spectacle
In 2020, chocolate 'rained' from the sky in a town in Switzerland. This incident was caused by a ventilation system malfunction at a chocolate factory in Olten. Strong winds then carried the snow-like cocoa powder and spread it around in the immediate vicinity of the factory, covering cars and other things in chocolate.

Lucy and Maria The Biracial Twin Sisters with Rare Black and White Skin Colours
Lucy and Maria Aylmer are twins, but they have a hard time to convincing people. Even though they have mixed-raced parents, their mom was still shocked when the midwife handed her babies she’d expected to look alike, but were complete opposite.

10 Rarest and Albino animals you haven’t seen
For centuries, people have been fascinated and enchanted by the ghostly appearances of abnormally white animals. People have loved albinos and other unusually white animals so much that they may be helping to increase their numbers, despite the difficulties these animals face in the wild. While these unusual animals did not win the genetic lottery, they have persevered in the face of adversity.

Recipient of suicide victim's heart kills himself 12 years later
In 1995, Sonny Graham received a transplanted heart from a suicide victim. He then committed suicide in the very same manner as the donor.

The Mystery of Puma Punku’s Precise Stonework
Pumapunku's stone blocks were meticulously carved and polished to interlock with neighboring stones, forming a puzzle-like structure. The joints between them are incredibly precise. These characteristics show an intricate knowledge of descriptive geometry and stone cutting, indicating the use of highly advanced technology that would have seemed impossible at the time.