The Abandoned Schools of Pripyat in Ukraine, where time appears to have stood still: Photographs

Eerily quiet, It’s, oh, so still, It’s, oh, so quiet shh,shh: time has stood still.  Pripyat was founded in 1970 to become the ninth nuclear town of the USSR. It housed the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear plant and is located just 9 miles (15 km) northwest of the power plant.

Before the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986, there were approximately 50,000 people living there. The town was evacuated 2 days after the explosion of Reactor No. 4.

Although the city is considered safe and getting the permit to visit it is not that hard, visitors are not allowed to enter most buildings because of the risks of collapse.

Many of the 21 schools of Pripyat are still standing, although they show advanced signs of decay and vandalism. These photos, taken between 2011 and 2013, show what is left of a couple of these schools. Even though the halls are empty and the windows are smashed, we can still see obvious signs of the haste with which people left the city. Some classrooms are still almost intact, with the desks in perfect lines and the students’ books open as if they were waiting for their owners to continue their lessons.

PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Kötter / Alvaro Vega Sànchez / Jason Green / Da vid Holt via CrowdMedia