Another installment in our series on abandoned places in the world.
1. Cathedral of Virgin Mary of Kazan, Volokolamsk, Russia
The Cathedral of the Virgin Mary of Kazan is located northwest of Moscow near the town of Volokolamsk. Built with the expressed purpose of serving both as a church and a tomb for Count Zakhar Grigoryevich Chernyshov’s family, the cathedral was completed in 1797 following 17 years of construction. The church is now under state protection after having been abandoned for decades.
2. Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works, Chile
The Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works are two former saltpeter refineries located near the remote desert of Pampa in Northern Chile. Established in 1872, workers lived and worked on location in order to process the largest deposit of saltpeper in the world, producing the fertilizer sodium nitrate. The advent of synthetic nitrates in Europe led to the collapse of the industry by 1933. The Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005. Many thanks to Maxichamp for this suggestion.
3. Thomas A. Edison High School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Commonly referred to as the “Castle,” the school originally began as a boys-only Northeast Manual Training High School in 1903. It then became the Thomas A. Edison High School in the 1960s, followed by the Julia DeBurgos Bilingual Middle School in 1988. Abandoned since 2002, the Gothic-style school is set to be demolished after a 4-alarm fire raged through the building on August 3rd, 2011.
4. Matsuo Ghost Town, Iwate, Japan
Matsuo Mine was once the largest sulfur mine in Japan. Opened in 1914 with a workforce of 4,000 and a wider population of 15,000 people, 11 concrete apartment blocks were built by 1951 in order to improve the working conditions of its employees. The mine has been closed since 1976. Many thanks to GenderFenderBender for this suggestion.
5. Airplane cemetery, Tuscon, Arizona, United States
Ever wonder what billions of dollars looks like? The Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center, or AMARC, located at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona is where U.S. military airplanes are sent in need of repairs, parts or proper disposal. Weekly visits of the “Boneyard” are available through the Pima Air & Space Museum.
For previous entries, please click here.
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