written by Kiki Deere
updated 3.01.2019
Find inspiration and
information for your next trip.
Get a local travel agent to
plan your personalized trip.
Book & travel securely with our money-back
guarantee and local expert assistance.
written by Kiki Deere
updated 3.01.2019
Abandoned buildings with crumbling walls. Deserted streets. Eerie silence. Scattered across Europe are a number of once-bustling towns that are now left uninhabited. Some were the scene of fierce fighting; others were abandoned when natural disasters struck. From France to Norway, these are the ones you should add to your bucket list.
Today, the town's crumbling buildings are a brutal reminder of that fateful day. Houses and shops lie in ruins, some retaining original details – rusting lamps, sewing machines and pots and pans.
The Centre de la Mémoire commemorates the crimes that took place with testimonials, exhibits and films shedding light on Oradour’s bloody past.
A rusty motorcar in Oradour-sur-Glane in France © Pippa Sanderson/Shutterstock
Villagers are said to have protested their banishment, but to no avail. Imber had been acquired by the Ministry of Defence before the war in a bid to make Salisbury plain the largest training ground in the country. To this day, the land belongs to the British Army.
Today, vegetation forces its way into the crevices of abandoned buildings, and textbooks and toys are strewn across school floors – a chilling reminder of the inhabitants’ sudden departure.
© Marianna Ianovska/Shutterstock
The 1783 earthquake caused irreparable damage, causing most of the population to move to nearby coastal town Melito Porto Salvo.
Pentedattilo was partially restored by volunteers in the 1980s. Today, it is a thriving artistic and cultural centre, and host to the yearly Pentedattilo Film Festival.
Skrunda-1 was one of the USSR’s “closed administrative territorial formations”: secret towns that supported research sites and sensitive military bases. The city housed the families of Soviet soldiers who worked on the nearby radar project.
The site remained under the control of the Russian Federation following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, but was eventually abandoned in 1998. Today, derelict Soviet-style apartment blocks littered with possessions still stand, an echo of the town’s recent past.
© Fotokon/Shutterstock
Its decline began in the 1990s following the dismantling of the Soviet Union and the dwindling profitability of the coal-mining industry. It was completely abandoned in 1998.
Now a handful of visitors head here each year to see the town’s Soviet-era remains, which include apartment blocks and the world’s northernmost statue of Vladimir Lenin.
On Franco’s orders, a new town was constructed nearby to house its inhabitants. The war-torn crumbling village of Belchite was left as a mere monument. Today its dilapidated buildings, riddled by bullet holes and scarred by shells, only just remain standing.
Belchite, Spain © Satur/Shutterstock
It came under Turkish control in 1974 following their invasion of the island. Its inhabitants fled and the Turkish army gained control of the area. Today it remains uninhabited, fenced off by the military and closed to the public.
Top image © Bruno Passigatti/Shutterstock
written by Kiki Deere
updated 3.01.2019
Raised bilingually in London and Turin, Kiki Deere is a travel writer specialising in Italy. She has seen her work published in a number of magazines and UK broadsheets, including The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and Lonely Planet online. She has completed numerous guidebook writing assignments for Rough Guides that have taken her to far-flung corners of the globe, from the Brazilian Amazon to the remotest province of the Philippines. Follow her @kikideere on Instagram and Twitter.
Plan your tailor-made trip with a local expert
Book securely with money-back guarantee
Travel stress-free with local assistance and 24/7 support