All over the world there are abandoned locations – places that were once full of life are now overgrown with plant life and peculiar charm. Check out these photographs of scary, interesting, and beautiful abandoned places!
TU-144 Jet
Can you imagine an abandoned jet outside of your home? Well just outside of Kansas City, somebody’s house has a deserted TU-144 jet just sitting there. Many tourists and photographers come by to take a look at the mysterious jet.
A Perfect Circle
This bridge was built sometime in the 1800s in Germany. It’s not well-known, but this beautiful bridge is an architectural feat as it appears to be a perfect circle when you see the reflection in the water. It looks like a Bob Ross masterpiece!
Free Groceries!
You could probably get a great deal on groceries at this abandoned grocery store in Fukushima. However, due to the tsunami, earthquake, and residual radiation leak, we wouldn’t recommend it!
A Castle Without a King
This captivating castle in Ireland has its own island, but for some reason it has been abandoned. It was built by the McDermott family in 1586. Who wouldn’t want to live here? Maybe it’s haunted.
Jesus, is that you?
Sure Jesus can walk on top of water, but did you know he can hold his breath for years? This statue of Jesus was found in Italy, and it has been restored many times. Each time, it is dropped back down into the water.
Cute Cottage
This quaint cottage looks like a house straight out of a Disney movie. It is located in Stradbally, Ireland, and was estimated to have been built in the 18th century. This would make a great AirBnB location!
Ghost Wheel
This Ferris Wheel was discovered at a decaying amusement park in Japan. The white color looks especially spooky against the dusky sky.
Spooky Tiki Palace
This tacky palace was built by playboy Billy Hull. His dream home was built atop the Great Smokey Mountains in Tennessee. It looks like it used to be a perfect party spot. Too bad Billy hired a hit man to kill his wife’s boyfriend and had to go live in another house… a “big house.”
Mysterious Military Junk Yard
For unknown reasons, these cars were left to decay in Chatillon, Belgium in WWII. They have been undisturbed ever since, and the site is known as the “car graveyard.”
Bad Location
This gorgeous church in Indonesia might’ve had a bigger congregation had it not been built next to a volcano. The church (along with everything else) was abandoned in 2015 when the Mount Sinabung volcano decided it was past it’s due date.
Preserved Plantation
The “Selma Plantation” was once booming and filled with parties. Now the once thriving residence completely abandoned, except for the things inside – even a beautiful piano. Eerie!
Anyone Missing a Fishing House?
This fishing house was presumably used to store fishing equipment at one point. Now it just sits in the shallow water in Germany unused.
Follow the Yellow Brick House
This lovely yellow brick house is located in Nova Scotia. The beautiful dandelions match the exterior, making it absolutely breathtaking. Unfortunately many nice houses in the area were abandoned during hard financial times.
Not a Water Bug
If you feel like scuba diving in the waters of Cancun, Mexico, you can go see this old Volkswagen Bug. That would make a great selfie!
Secret Shuttle
This space shuttle was secretly constructed by Russians in Kazakhstan. It was launched into space in 1988, but abandoned for political reasons in 1991.
Lawn Service
This photo of an abandoned house in Ontario in front of stormy skies is absolutely beautiful. The weird thing is that while the house is completely dilapidated, the lawn is freshly mowed and taken care of… weird!
Red Sea Shipwreck
This spooky shipwreck was discovered in 1988 at the bottom of the Red Sea. Researchers hypothesize that the boat was actually a Russian spy vessel disguised as a fishing boat… interesting theory!
Lonely House
This house is the sole house on Holland Island in the Chesapeake Bay. The island used to have a residential community consisting of 360 people. Storms and erosion wrecked the island and this is the last house remaining.
Failed Mansion Mission
This magnificent mansion was built by Bulgaria’s first billionaire, Pencho Semov. After his death, the mansion was suppoed to become a free girls’ boarding school and a retirement home. Instead it was abandoned and overrun by nature. It’s a beautiful sight to see.
228 Years Under the Sea
The H.M.S. Ontario was a British warship that sunk in 1780. It wasn’t discovered until 2008 when divers found it near Niagara.
Do Not Cross
Yeah, it’s cool in movies to walk down train tracks. It’s not a good idea in real life, and we would definitely recommend staying off of this abandoned railroad bridge in Pittsburg.
Abandoned for Good Reason
This farm home in rural Nebraska looks super creepy in front of the bright purple sky of this lightning storm. Based on some of the tornados we’ve seen on the plains, leaving that location might’ve been a safety measure. Yikes!
RIP Harley Davidsons
These picked apart Harley Davidson motorcycles were originally used by police in Lima, Peru. However, once they no longer used them, they ended up in this motorcycle graveyard and picked over for parts. All that remains are the ghost of Harleys past.
Cancel that Reservation
This hotel in Colombia was left to decay when the Bogota River became incredibly contaminated. We wouldn’t give this place a 5-star Yelp review.
Beautiful Old Railway
The beautiful Helensburgh railway tunnel is located in Australia. It operated from the 1880s to the 1920s. The waterfall ads a beautiful touch to the abandoned tunnel.
Beautiful Central Station in Michigan
It’s hard to believe that this huge, empty building used to be a central station, bustling with people. It had 200 trains come through every day! It closed down in 1988 and is still deserted.
Another VW Bug?
What is it about Volkswagen Bugs that makes people think they’re amphibious? I’m not sure, but this is the second VW Bug abandoned in water.
Quaint Small House
This adorable yellow house in San Francisco. The Victorian-style house is beautiful – we don’t know why nobody lives there!
SS America
This huge warship ran into nasty weather in 1994 and was left near the Canary Islands. This ship is famous for the discovery of 31 spy rings, which were all sentenced in the U.S.
Abandon Ship!
All of these sunken ships make me want to never get on one. Dubbed the “Dixon Cove Wreck,” the mystery of how the ship ended up in Roatan, Honduras remains unsolved.
Mining Town Residents go Missing
This mining town on Lake Superior was abandoned in the late 1800s. The silver mining town suffered from conditions too harsh to thrive in, such as tidal waves, and ice storms. It’s got to be haunted, right?
Escaped Elephant?
“Lucy the Elephant” used to be a hotel. It was called the “Elephant Bazaar.” Built in 1881, the hotel was 6 floors tall. A fire and some other accidents caused the building to be condemned, however it’s remains…. remain.
No More Power
This coal-burning power station was shut down in 2007 when environmentalists protested against burning coal in Belgium where it is located.
Mansion Money Pit
This mansion in Brandenburg, Germany was started by Carl von Diebitch, but the man went bankrupt having it built and had to leave it unfinished. What’s worse than having to abandon your dream house? Having the Nazi’s take it over, which was its fate. A tragic tale for this beautiful house.
Permanently Vacant Hotel
This spooky looking building used to be a luxury hotel called Halcyon Hall. It was built in 1890, but was only successful for 11 years. Sadly, it has been demolished, so all we have are these haunting photos.
Forsaken Castle
This beautiful castle was built in the Ukraine in 1911 by an oil businessman. It’s official name was “Swallow’s Nest,” but it is now known as the “ice castle.”
Not So Reckless Wreckage
These sunken ships actually serve a purpose and were sunken on purpose. They were placed on the bottom of the ocean in Queensland, Australia as a safe harbor for small boats to sail in.
Up and Left
It appears that the people who resided in this castle in Italy left in a hurry. There are still curtains covering the windows and beautiful framed artwork adorning the crumbling walls.
Dome on the Range
These dome-shaped homes are in Naples, Florida. Built in the 1980s, these houses had to be evacuated permanently due to hurricanes. They used to be quite beautiful before the destruction.
Empty House on the Prairie
This dilapidated house was abandoned in the middle of nowhere, Oregon during the Great Depression and nobody has touched it since. A sad story for what was once a beautiful house.
Black Church
This unique black church in Iceland is famous for its eerie, Goth look. Originally built in 1703, it was reconstructed again in 1987. It’s beautifully creepy!
Not Amusing
Sadly most of New Orleans was devastated by Hurricane Katrina and the abandoned Six Flags amusement park was left among the wreckage. It is very creepy to see.
Run Down Sanatorium
Old Sanatoriums were scary enough when they weren’t abandoned. This one in Romania was built by Ernest Doneaud and opened in 1915. I don’t think you’d want to be a patient there today.
Another Not-so-Amusing Park
Yet another abandoned amusement park – this one in Japan’s “Nara Dreamland.” This overgrown, unused rollercoaster makes it look more like nightmare land.
Mental Asylum turned into apartments? No thank you!
The Atkins Hall apartments in Ireland used to be a mental asylum. Currently half of the abandoned asylum is being used as apartment buildings, and the other half remains unlived in because who wants to live in an old mental asylum? You know that place is haunted!
A Neglected Hole
This man made hold in Mirny, Siberia in Russia. It was made for diamond mining, as the hole was full of them for almost fifty years. Once it ran out of diamonds, the people moved out and moved on.
Tracks Turned Trail
This overgrown railway in Taiwan may have been abandoned for its original purpose, but now many people use it as a beautiful hiking trail.
Surrounded By Beauty
This quaint farm cottage was left abandoned in Switzerland when farming died out across the whole region. The contrast of the rundown house and the beautiful, blooming flowers is captivating.
Buried Warplane
A Lockheed P-38 Lightning warplane was discovered on a beach in Wales. This WWII plane was hidden beneath sand unseen until 65 years after it went down.
Soviet Passenger what?
This abandoned vehicle is like none I’ve ever seen. It is called a hydrofoil, and Russians used it in the 1960s to ride across water at very high speeds – almost like a water jet. However, it must not have been too popular, because now it is sitting unused near the Kama Reservoir, becoming overgrown with nature.
Spooky Theater
This beautiful theater never caught on in popularity either. That’s because it was part of a hospital that treated mental patients in Connecticut. Seems like these old mental asylums don’t interest too many buyers.
Bombed? No big deal!
This library in London was bombed during WWII. These people didn’t seem to be too inconvenienced by the rubble.
Frozen Solid
This weird, Yeti-looking thing is actually the abandoned St. Joseph Lighthouse on Lake Michigan that is completely frozen. It looks like it was sculpted by an artist.
Nights in… never mind
Box office hit Nights in Rodanthe was filmed at this North Carolina beach house. The gorgeous house was built on the beach in the 1980s, but it unfortunately had to be evacuated because of hurricane damage and erosion. It was condemned in 2008.
Another One Bites the Dust
Another railroad track, that is. This 383 mile-long train track in South Australia is no longer in use, but tourists often trek along it to enjoy the beautiful scenery along the path.
Nature Claimed this Cottage
This Irish cottage looks like it used to be absolutely adorable and incredibly cozy. However, nature decided to take it back. Look at that tree that just busted right through it. Take that, cottage!
Pegasus Stuck in the Snow
C-121 Lockheed Constellation crashed down in 1970 in Antarctica in a freak accident. Thankfully none of the plane’s passengers were hurt, but the plane itself remains stuck in the snow to this very day! Doesn’t seem like a very exciting tourists’ attraction, but then again, is there anything else in Antarctica?
Stop trying to make “hospitals” happen.
Look, beautiful, old building in Manchester: I’m sure you have great potential, but if we’ve learned anything by now, it’s that nobody wants to use an old building people died in. We are so sorry – your future looks bleak.
JUST the Ferris Wheel?
This Ferris Wheel, located in Chernobyl was abandoned… Gee, we wonder why. Oh yeah – there was a big nuclear disaster that left the whole city had to be evacuated. If you don’t know the story, there’s a special on HBO. I don’t think any one will find amusement at this park ever again… maybe some dogs with three eyes.
Again with the hospitals!?? Stop!
Another hospital that nobody wants to buy. Technically, this Italian building is a villa – but was used as a field hospital during WWII, so you know it’s haunted. Nobody is going to buy a building people died in. I think it’s been proven by this list.
Humans build beautiful structures every day, but once they are abandoned, nature overtakes them and turns them into something special to look at.