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25 Chilling Photos of Abandoned Places Around the World

The beauty of many of these abandoned places still remains, but some look like they’re straight out of a horror movie.

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Chilling photos of abandoned places around the world - Lipovka churchPhoto: Shutterstock

Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Russia

You can still see the remnants of the vibrant blue paintings that once covered the walls of this abandoned church.

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Chernobyl Aftermath, Pripyat, Ukraine - 05 Apr 2017AP/Shutterstock

Pripyat, Ukraine

This abandoned town is located near the 1986 Chernobyl disaster site. After being exposed to harmful nuclear radiation, Chernobyl and the nearby town of Pripyat were evacuated and left to deteriorate.

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chernobyl abandoned bumper carsdanwalton84/Shutterstock

Pripyat Amusement Park, Ukraine

Abandoned bumper cars sit rusting over in an amusement park in Chernobyl, Ukraine. The park never actually opened because the nuclear disaster happened before it was set to. If you want to see more photos, this is what the Chernobyl disaster site looks like now.

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Abandoned New Orleans ten years after hurricane Katrina, America - Jul 2015Seph Lawless/Shutterstock

Six Flags New Orleans, Louisiana

After Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans in 2005, this Six Flags amusement park was abandoned. The severity of the storm caused so much damage that they weren’t able to re-open. Now, the park is slowly falling apart and covered in graffiti.

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tula region_abandoned churchAleksandr_Bereza/Shutterstock

Abandoned church, Russia, Tula region

There are a number of abandoned churches scattered throughout Russia. This one, in the Tula region, is being taken over by the nature that surrounds it.

Here are more abandoned churches that are eerily gorgeous.

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airportKatia Christodoulou EPA REX Shutterstock

Nicosia International Airport, Cyprus

Before Turkish forces invaded the country to fight off a Greek coup in 1974, this was Cyprus’ central airport. After the invasion, the hub closed and it now sits in the United Nations-controlled buffer zone between the north and south of the country.

Take a look inside the $8 billion airport that’s been abandoned.

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Abandoned theme park, JapanAJ Herron/REX Shutterstock

Nara Dreamland, Japan

This eerie amusement park was built in the 1960s but was later abandoned in 2006 due to low visitor numbers. It was designed after Disneyland in California. Everything still remains in the park from when it was abandoned; there are even still chairs in the coffee shops.

Here are more crazy things you can only find in Japan.

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Various Oradour sur Glane the village in France where over 600 men women and children were killed by the Nazis in June 1944David Bagnall/Shutterstock

Oradour-sur-Glane, France

This abandoned French town was massacred by the Germans in World War II. Rubble and pieces of homes and local buildings still remain today. The town is purposely left alone by the French government as a testimony to the devastation that occurred there.

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the ghost and abandoned city of Craco, Basilicata, Italyedella/Shutterstock

Craco, Italy

The village of Craco was built in medieval times. Despite its population suffering from many plagues and crime, it was left abandoned due to a series of landslides in the 20th century that took out the town.

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serbia_abandoned churchesDeStefano/Shutterstock

Blagoveštenje, Serbia

This abandoned monastery remains tucked into the side of Rudnik Mountain in Serbia. The church was built back in the 1400s.

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VARIOUS Old buildings in Bodie State Park in California.Stock Connection/Shutterstock

Bodie, California

The streets of Bodie used to be a town straight out of a wild west film. It was a bustling place until two fires burned down the town mills. That brought a halt to the local business and people were forced to move elsewhere, leaving the town abandoned.

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The abandoned Yellow Brick road in the Land of Oz theme park, North CarolinaSeph Lawless/REX Shutterstock

Land of Oz, North Carolina

Does the yellow brick road look familiar? This 16-acre Wizard of Oz theme park was extremely popular when it first opened in 1970. People lost interest quickly, though, and the park became almost completely deserted. Then, a fire destroyed most of the park in 1975 and it never fully recovered.

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Japan Battleship Island - Dec 2013Franck Robichon/Epa/Shutterstock

Hashima Island, Japan

This previously populated island in Japan was abandoned because of the collapse of its mines. Now, the only people that ever spend time there are movie producers and scientists.

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airportKatia Christodoulou EPA REX Shutterstock

Ellinikon International Airport, Greece

The Ellinikon International Airport closed in 2001 to make way for Athens International Airport, which was built before the Greeks hosted the Olympics in 2004. It has since been used as an Olympics game venue and refugee camp. In the future, developers hope to turn it into a resort.

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samoa_abandoned churchescanuckinoz1984/Shutterstock

Falealupo church, Samoa

The Falealupo church is located within the ruins of a village on the largest Samoan island. The residents of this village left because of back-to-back cyclones that destroyed the land and made it difficult to live there. They moved inland, but the structure of the Catholic church still remains.

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PYRAMIDEN, NORWAY - SEPTEMBER 03, 2011: View to abandoned Russian arctic settlement with the bust of Lenin in the foreground in Pyramiden, Norway.Dmitry Chulov/Shutterstock

Pyramiden, Norway

This abandoned Soviet town is located all the way up north in the Arctic Circle. It was a mining town during World War II but was abandoned with the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s.

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Kampot. Cambodia . May 9. 2014 Abandoned hotel 'Bokor Palace' in Ghost town Bokor Hill station near the town of Kampot. CambodiaSvetlana Eremina/Shutterstock

Bokor Hill Station, Cambodia

This ghost town was actually left abandoned twice. The first time was when Bokor Hill Station was abandoned after French colonists forced Cambodian slaves to build it. Then, it was taken up as an operations post by Khmer Rouge and soon after left to rot.

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airportBebeto Matthews AP REX Shutterstock

Floyd Bennett Field, New York

This airport in Brooklyn, New York used to have planes flying in and out daily. Now, it sits abandoned in the Gateway National Recreation Area, and visitors can go camping, kayaking, or walking close to the grounds.

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portugal_abandoned churchesVector99/Shutterstock

Mosteiro de Santa Maria de Seiça, Portugal

Green plants creeping into the structure of this abandoned church seem to make it even more beautiful. The monastery dates all the way back to the 1100s and in 2018 it was named a national monument, so its remains will never be touched.

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Eiffel in Tianduchengmichael168/Shutterstock

Tianducheng, China

This ghost town in China was meant to be an exact replica of the bustling city of Paris and can hold up to 10,000 residents, but today it sits mostly empty.

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KOWLOON WALLED CITY, KOWLOON, Hong KongDICK FUNG/AP/Shutterstock

Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong

Kowloon Walled City was once home to 33,000 immigrants and wanderers. Before the Chinese government demolished the city, it was the centre of crimes, drugs, and basically no laws. Some parts still remain today.

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monastery russia_abandoned churchesVladimir Mulder/Shutterstock

Kalacheevskaya Cave monastery, Russia

This chilling underground man-made structure was built in the 18th or 19th century as a monastery. The cavern actually contains two levels of rooms that stretch for about a kilometre. The small holes surrounding the walls of the cave bring in natural light from the sun.

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Ruins of Agdam city in Nagorno Karabakh Republic. Azerbaijan - Armenia war resultIgor Dymov/Shutterstock

Agdam, Azerbaijan

The town of Agdam was caught in the middle of a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The two nations fought over who would control the territory until Armenia just completely destroyed it and left it abandoned.

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Amazonia, September 11, 2006. Aerial view of the city of Fordlandia. A city that was abandoned after the rubber market in the northern region of Brazil endedA.PAES/Shutterstock

Fordlandia, Brazil

Henry Ford bought and built this town in South America in hopes of turning it into a nice city for workers to live and make money off of the rubber trees. The large number of rubber trees he was hoping to make money on were never produced and those that were standing became diseased. The workers that lived their rioted several times due to lack of decent food supply and segregation before eventually leaving.

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ukraine_abandoned churchesA_Lesik/Shutterstock

Lutheran church, Ukraine

This abandoned Lutheran church used to be filled with pews and parishioners, but the 20th-century building now sits empty in Ukraine.

Next, check out the unique treasures that have been discovered in abandoned homes.

Reader's Digest
Originally Published on Reader's Digest