Top 10 Ghost Cities You Should Think Twice Before Visiting

Many cities around the world have been abandoned. This can be due to wars, natural disasters, and many other reasons.

1. Pripyat
   Perhaps the world’s most famous abandoned city is Pripyat, built in 1970 for house workers at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, less than two kilometers away. An explosion destroyed reactor number 4 in the Chernobyl complex, launching dangerous radioactivity into the air. Residents were warned to leave the city. Nowadays, some tourists visit the city to see the abandoned schools, the hospital, and the amusement park. 
2. Hashima
   Hashima Island is in southern Japan. It was originally developed as a residence for people working in submarine coal mines in 1887. Hashima Island quickly expanded into an island with high-rise concrete buildings and a population of over 5,000. The mine closed in 1974 when coal reserves were depleted, and Hashima Islanders moved from there. 
3. Montserrat
   The island of Montserrat is located between the islands of St. Kitts & Nevis and Guadeloupe in the Caribbean. The island was first inhabited in 1600, and its capital, Plymouth, was created in the southwestern part of the island.
   In 1962 Montserrat became a British colony, and on September 17, 1989, the island had about 4,000 inhabitants when the disaster happened. Hurricane Hugo destroyed the stone pier in the port of Plymouth and many of the city’s buildings, schools, and the newly built hospital.
   Also, in the summer of 1995, a series of eruptions began on the Soufriere Hills volcano, which had been dormant for centuries. Lava and ash buried parts of Plymouth, and on June 25, 1997, a massive volcanic eruption buried parts of the city, killing 19 people. After a month, new explosions followed, burning what was left and burying the city under 1.5 meters of ash. The British decided to evacuate Plymouth, and many residents living elsewhere on the island also chose to leave. By 2000, 2/3 of the island’s population had abandoned it. Nowadays, nobody lives there. 
4. Fordland
   In 1927, Henry Ford began working in Fordland, a vast jungle rubber plantation along the Tapajos River in Brazil. The automotive tycoon needed the city as a steady source of rubber for his car tires and hoses. He designed a city with various amenities. Unfortunately, his action was condemned from the beginning. Fordland’s rubber trees were infested with a fungus, and its employees were severely restricted.
   Clashes between Brazilian workers and American executives began to become commonplace. During a riot, Fordland workers damaged and pushed the city’s trucks into the river. Henry Ford eventually lost $ 20 million, but the city failed to produce rubber for his cars. He eventually sold the city to the Brazilian government in 1945 for very little money. 
5. Bodie
   Bodie was abandoned by the frustrated gold diggers who followed William Bodie to the city to try and find more than the precious metal he had discovered in 1859. This ghost town – named Bodie – in California has been abandoned for more than 150 years. The wooden houses are still standing with the tables set, waiting for the return of their long-gone residents. 
6. Kolmanskop
   In 1908, the first diamond in the area was found in Kolmanskop, nestled among the dunes of the Namib Desert. As diamond stockpiles began to dwindle, the city saw its population shrink. The city was abandoned in the mid-1950s, and since then, the desert has almost covered it. 
7. Wittenoom
   Wittenoom was founded in 1946 as a mining town in Western Australia. The nearby gorge was filled with blue asbestos. Following health concerns, declining demand for asbestos led to the closure of the mine in 1966, with most residents moving to find another job. The city officially closed in 2007. 
8. Ordos
   It is the largest ghost town in the world. It is located in China and was built on the condition that it would become a modern city. In less than ten years, the city achieved its goals but failed to attract residents to stay in it. Today in this ghost town, many building blocks are abandoned and empty. 
9. Ashgabat
   Another ghost town known for its luxurious marble buildings is Ashgabat in Turkmenistan, which covers 4.5 million square meters. It was founded in 1881. The city was Turkmenistan’s capital for eight years, since 1919. Today no one lives there. 
10. Varosha
    Varosha, an area south of Famagusta in Cyprus, was a pole of attraction for well-known international personalities. All this until 1974, when the Turkish invasion took place. Today in the deserted ghost town, the shops are as ruined as the houses.

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