The world is vast and there is more than enough to discover. One can easily find out so much about what the world has to offer if they are keen on searching. When traveling, the best feeling is coming across special places that few know about with a great history. There are many cities around the world that are unique in their nature, lifestyle, architecture, and history.

The history of the world is deep and teaches people so much about what was there. Many of the things people discover about the past are extraordinary. Some cities were abandoned and are worth exploring at this present time.

9 Plymouth, Montserrat

This is one of the cities that were abandoned with a population of more than 4,000 people in 1995. The city of Plymouth, Montserrat was abandoned due to fears of a volcano eruption. Once the city was abandoned at that time, no one went back to the city and now remains as a ghost city. However, it is crucial to note that within 2 years of being abandoned, Soufriere Hills volcano erupted and covered the city up to 40 ft.

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8 Tianducheng, Hangzhou, China

Tianducheng, China is not a city but a district of Hangzhou city that was abandoned. It is one of the modern day abandoned cities one can visit. China is a developed country with a very hardworking population. Whatever they do not have they will create and in Tianducheng they created a replica of Paris. It was an ambitious project with a 300 foot Eiffel Tower. However, things turned south when very few people moved to the city. Less than 20 people live in this now ghost town’s capacity of 10,000 people.

7 Varosha, Cyprus

Varosha, Cyprus was once a well-known and attractive tourist destination but was abandoned and is now a ghost town. The place was very popular during the 1970s and one of the most visited in the world. However, after Cyprus was invaded in 1974, things changed. This is a result of the Greek and Turkish armies invading Varosha.

During this war, the place was controlled by the Turkish military which caused people to slowly abandon the place and allow nature to consume it.

6 Hashima Island, Japan

Hashima Island was a very prosperous town between 1887 and 1974. It was used as a mining area in Southern Japan for coal and other products. However, the discovery and use of petroleum is what led to the fall of this city as people were no longer using coal which resulted in a ghost town. It has also been listed as an UNESCO heritage site since 2015.

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5 Beichuan, China

When one visits the city of Beichuan, found in the Sichuan province of China, there are many things to discover– crumbling buildings, broken concrete, smashed automobiles and nature encroaching. The city of Beichuan was abandoned in 2008 after a massive 8.0 magnitude earthquake struck the place. At the time, there were over 70,000 people living there living through that tragic experience yet some people survived. The survivors relocated to the town of Yongchang, 19.3 kilometers away leaving Beichuan in ruins .

4 Bodie, California

Bodie is one of those cities that were built many years ago before modern civilization. It is found in California and is 75 miles on the southeast side of Lake Tahoe. The town of Bodie was a mining place during the 1800s and has a population of over 10,000 residents. It was growing with saloons, brothels, gambling halls, and more. When gold became difficult and expensive to extract, many of its residents left. The town was slowly left to become ruins and is currently used as a state historical park.

3 Kolmanskop, Namibia

Kolmanskop started as a diamond mining site during 1908 when German workers were building a rail line in Namibia. What followed was a lot of activities that made the town grow. So much of the wealth in the town was due to diamond mining! It even became the first place to have an x-ray machine around the southern hemisphere. However, things changed during WWII. The diamond resources were depleted, so people started to abandon the town near 1956. Nature absorbed a lot of the sand that was carried into the town. With a quarter of the city covered with sand, it is a very interesting place to visit.

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2 Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

Ashgabat is a city found in Turkmenistan which was a Soviet Union country. During that time, their leader could be compared to Kim Jong-un of North Korea. During 1991, the president created this city and mainly built marble buildings which were unique for that time. There were 543 buildings all with luxury materials. This city also has the world’s largest Ferris wheel. However, the city became uninhabited and is now called “the city of the dead’.

1 Kennecott, Alaska

Kennecott was a copper ore mining town between 1911 and 1938. For those years, the town produced copper worth over $200 million and it grew in the process. However, this growth did not continue as the copper depletion resulted in the slow abandonment of this now ghost town.

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