Five Abandoned Places

Another installment in our series on abandoned places in the world.

1. Grytviken, South Georgia Island

Grytviken (Swedish for “The Pot Cove”) is a settlement in the British territory of South Georgia located in the South Atlantic. Established by Norwegian sea captain Carl Anton Larsen in 1904, Grytviken served as a whaling station for the Argentine Fishing Company. Owing to the decimation of the whale population due to overfishing, the settlement was abandoned in the 1960s.

2. La crypte des fleurs, Brussels, Belgium

At one time lovingly cared for, the three perpendicular tunnels that form this underground crypt are located somewhere in Brussels. Built in 1885, the last internment occured in 1978 and the tombs appear to have been abandoned for decades.

3. Sathorn Unique, Bangkok, Thailand

Construction on the 47-story Sathorn Unique skyscraper began in the mid-nineties and was intended as a luxurious residential address in Bangkok. While many of the apartments were close to completion (wooden floor boards installed and polished, connected bathtubs, electrical paneling), the tower was soon abandoned during the 1997-1998 Asian Financial Crisis.

4. Hellingly Asylum, Hellingly, United Kingdom

Formerly known as the East Sussex County Asylum, the Hellingly Hospital first opened its doors on July 20th, 1903. Built using George Thomas Hines’ compact arrow plan, all of the buildings in the main complex (i.e. nurses’ home, kitchens, recreation hall, medical officers, wards) were linked by an extensive network of corridors. Due to declining patient numbers, the psychiatric hospital was vacated and closed in 1994.

5. Bam, Iran

Located in the Kerman Province of Iran, the ancient fortified city of Bam (or Arg-e-Bam) dates back to the Parthian Empire, some 2,000 years ago. Molded out of the red clay of the Dasht-e Kavir desert, the city was permanently abandoned in 1932. Due to a devastating 6.5 Richter scale earthquake in 2003 (where more than 26,000 people lost their lives in adjacent cities), 60 percent of the buildings in Bam were destroyed while the ancient citadel was severely damaged.

Can’t get enough of the forgotten, neglected, abandoned?  Read a selection of previous entries here and here.

(Images c/o 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)

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