There are many places that individuals read about in books or see in films, and wonder (or hope) if they exist in real life. Directors and novelists have brilliant minds and are able to create the most magical and exciting worlds, and although most of these places are sadly fictional, there are some destinations that can be visited.
They may appear to be so weird and wonderful that it seems they can only exist in someone’s imagination, but these real cities include a treetop spot from Star Wars, a lost city that was seen in Indiana Jones, and even a town that inspired a horror film. On the complete opposite end of the scale, there are places that we think are real but have been created simply to use for warfare practice or the testing grounds for new technology. And even stranger still, some countries have created replicas (or fakes) of some of the world’s most magical cities, spending large sums of money to import authentic pieces from the original destination.
It’s not every day that someone imagines visiting China and seeing a replica of the Eiffel Tower, or wandering through the cobblestoned streets of a "British" town, nor do they expect to find themselves in Sweden, in a place that looks just like New York’s Harlem neighborhood.
24 Fake: Luodian Is The Scandinavian Town That Can, Oddly, Be Found In China
Located near Shanghai, is Luodian, a town that looks quite out of place because it has been inspired by Sweden.
According to Vagabond Journey, the town was created after the town Sigtuna in Sweden. And its purpose? Well, apparently it was created during the country’s One City, Nine Towns project, and was built to house China’s increasing population and offer them something different. The publication notes that in addition to Swedish style houses, there is also a castle and a near-replica of Sigtuna’s Lake Mälaren.
23 Fake: AstaZero May Have Storefronts But It's Nothing More Than A Testing Ground
It’s not just China that has built replica cities or fake cities, but also Sweden. In the locality of Sandhult is AstaZero, a replica of New York’s Harlem neighborhood, which according to Hyperallergic, has storefronts of salons and video stores.
This town, if you can call it that, has been built by Volvo so that they can test the sensors of their prototypes, and according to the publication, the storefronts are merely wallpapers pasted on buildings, to give the image of a street in the city.
22 Fake: The French Authorities Tried To Create A Second Paris To Fool Their Enemies
Paris, the capital city of France, is a city that is celebrated for its beauty and culture, but because it is the hub of France, it is also a place that was targeted in World War I by the Germans. In a bid to avoid their precious city being destroyed by air raids, the French tried to fool their enemies into thinking that a town created north of Paris, was the city itself, The Telegraph reports.
And so, this second-Paris was created, which included replica buildings, as well as a Champs-Elysées and Gard Du Nord station.
21 Fake: Thames Town Is An English Town (Complete With Red Phone Booths), But It's In China
You don’t expect to see an English town in China, of all places, but Thames Town is exactly that. Built in the Songjiang District, the town has been modeled after England and is considered to be a “fake” town for his very reason.
But the town does have some authenticity to it, in the form of real lamp posts imported from England. Conde Nast Traveler notes that great attention to detail has been given to finish the Edwardian town, including cobblestoned streets and red phone booths.
20 Fake: Argleton Appears On Google Maps And Puzzles Everyone
Although some towns are considered fake because they are replicas of an existing town, and therefore an imposter town of sorts, others are fake because they do not exist at all. Take Argleton for example, a mystery town that appears on Google Maps, but nowhere else. According to The Telegraph, the name is an anagram of “Not Real G,” and some theorize that the town was purposefully created as a trap “to catch companies that violate the map's copyright.”
The British town was first noticed in 2009, and still remained up years later, Huffington Post notes.
19 Fake: Holland Town May Look Like A Dutch Village But It's Definitely Not Authentic
China is an interesting country, it’s also a country that has invested millions in projects to recreate European cities to solve a population density problem -- although they’ve mostly become tourist attractions.
Among these cities is Holland Town, which has been modeled after a Dutch village. Residents here will have little reason to travel to Holland, considering they have their very own fake version on their doorstep. According to CNN, here you will find windmills and the occasional bicycle, but mostly it’s abandoned.
18 Fake: Pegasus Global Is Spending $1 Billion To Create A Place Where No One Will Live
According to Daily Mail, in the desert of New Mexico, you can find a fake city that cost $1 billion to create. The town was created by Pegasus Global, who announced their decision to build a town that would consist of “a business district downtown surrounded by terraced housing suburbs." Except despite being able to house 35,000 people, no one will live here!
According to Matador Network, it’s one of the most amazingly weird fake cities in the world, and the idea is to build a destination where other companies can rent the space to test out their new technologies.
17 Fake: Atlantis Has Long Been The Subject Of Fables And Legends... And That's All It Is
Most people have heard of the lost city of Atlantis, the underwater city that first appeared in Greek philosopher Plato’s work. For more than 2,000 years this city has been a talking point, and yet it remains unfound because many believe it does not exist at all. According to National Geographic, although it’s almost certainly false, the legend of Atlantis remains because, as James Romm, a professor at Bard College, told the publication, "It's a story that captures the imagination.”
16 Fake: Fort Irwin Has Paid Actors And Replicas Of Villages In The Middle East
Located in California’s the Mojave Desert is a national training center known as Fort Irwin, and according to Matador Network, the desert training facility has been built to resemble conflict zones in the Middle East.
There are 15 villages which are replicas of Afghan and Iraqi villages, and they are far from abandoned. The publication notes that here there hundreds of Arabic-speaking actors, who fill a number of roles, ranging from fruit sellers to police.
The military town actually has a population of around 8,000, and according to the publication, troops are likely sent here for training before shipping out to one of these destinations.
15 Fake: Fengcheng Is A Spanish Town, Or At Least It's Themed That Way
In the Jinshan District of China, you will find Fengcheng, and like every other place on this list, there is something odd about this town. That odd thing is that it has been inspired by Spain.
Located on the outskirts of Shanghai, this town, according to Vagabond Journey, was created to reduce the city’s population density. The village-style neighborhoods also include a replica of a Spanish town hall and buildings were finished with distinct Iberian ornamentation. However, the development was apparently a failure.
14 Fake: Carson City Is Not In Nevada But In Sweden, And It's Not Your Average Town
Carson City is a town in Vårgårda, Sweden, but the reason it finds its way onto this list is that according to Around Carson, it is the “world’s only purpose-built simulated city for testing active safety systems.” What this means is that Swedish supplier Autoliv (which caters for some of the world’s biggest car brands) uses this destination to research and manufacture safety components for a number of car brands.
If the name sounds family, then that’s because it was named after the capital city in Nevada of the same name.
13 Fake: Suzdal Tried To Make Their Buildings Look More Impressive With Fake Facades
Suzdal is a town in Russia, located northeast of Moscow, and unlike the other towns on this list it is not replicated, nor is it really fake, except for one thing. That one thing happened ahead of a visit from the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and local authorities decided it was best to put facades over many of the dilapidated buildings.
According to BBC, the structures were covered in fake facades, complete with window sills and flowers, to give the appearance of a well-kept home.
12 Fake: Hallstatt Is A UNESCO World Heritage Site, There Is Also A Copy Of It On Another Continent
When it comes to fake cities, it seems China is at the top of the list, and the development of the town of Guangdong, built to become a replica of the Austrian village of Hallstatt, came at great expense. According to Business Insider, the village in Austria is centuries old and a UNESCO World Heritage site, but the Chinese version opened in 2012. It also set developers back around $940 million.
Despite the impressive amount that was spent on the creation, Hong Kong Free Press wrote that years after the project, which was built by the state-owned developer Minmetals, it was a ghost town. But it is frequented by tourists.
11 Fake: Everyone Loves Paris, Especially The City Of Tianducheng
It seems Paris has served as the inspiration for more than one replica, and China built the city of Tianducheng in the Zhejiang Province, with inspiration from the French capital. Millions were poured into creating the fake European town, and according to Daily Mail, it even has an Eiffel Tower -- although this replica is only around one-third of the size of the original.
People who visit this city are impressed, and now feel they have no need to go to the real Paris, as they have already experienced the “atmosphere.”
10 Fake: Meet The Outlet Mall That's Been Inspired By Florence: The Florentia Village
Florence is a destination that is often considered to be a place for romance, and lovers of wine. But in China, there is a destination that has been inspired by the city, and it’s known as Florentia Village.
The Florentia Village website notes that the outlet can be found in several cities across China, including Tianjin, and is considered China’s leading Italian outlet mall. Here shoppers will find many luxury Italian brands, and in keeping with the authentic Italian theme, they are given a true Italian experience.
9 Real: Residents Of Miyake-Jima Island Need To Carry Gas Masks With Them
You would think that a volcanic island is hardly the ideal place to call home, but Japan’s
Miyake-Jima Island is home to a number of people, who according to Atlas Obscura, are required to carry gas masks with them at all times.
The reason for the gas mask? Well, the volcano on this island has been known to emit
dangerous amounts of poisonous gasses, namely sulfur, which apparently seep up from the ground. Residents have been evacuated in the past, but tourists can visit, whether you would want to though, is another question.
8 Real: Centralia In Pennsylvania Is The Town That Inspired A Horror Movie
Anyone who is interested in horror films would have seen the film, Silent Hill, and the fictional city in the film was actually based on the real-life city of Centralia.
The town was once a booming mining town with almost 2,000 people calling it home in the 1950s, but according to The 13th Floor, in 1962, the mine underneath the town caught fire. The fire left destruction in its wake, and although the residents tried for years to extinguish the fire, it continues to burn today.
The people in the town had no option but to relocate, leaving it to become a ghost town.
7 Real: 'Indiana Jones' Brought The Spotlight To A Beautiful City In Jordan's Desert
The Canyon City from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was one of the more memorable settings, and although there is no Canyon City located in the deserts of Jordan, there is Petra. In fact, this is the location where the scenes for Indiana Jones were filmed, and according to CNN, it is Jordan’s most popular tourist attraction.
Although the site is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the publication notes that the historic city was given a breath of life, in the form of tourists, thanks to the film.
6 Real: Noiva Do Cordeiro In Brazil, Is A Rural Town Filled With Just Women (Well, Almost)
Who needs men? This seems to be the mindset of many of the women in the rural town of Noiva Do Cordeiro, located in the southeast of Brazil. The town seems like it could be fake because there are virtually no men living here, and according to Daily Mail, it is home to around 600 women, who run the town and do most of the work.
The publication claims that this is a place where “girl power” is alive and well and that the women here are beautiful.
5 Real: Coober Pedy Is The Impressive Australian Town That's Underground
There is an Australia town that is underground, and although that may seem like something an imaginative director made up, this town really exists. It’s called Coober Pedy, and according to Conde Nast Traveler, it's located in the South of Australia.
It was founded by a 14-year-old named Willie Hutchison in 1914, and the publication notes that 70 percent of the world’s opals are mined in this location. In fact, most of the town lives in holes that were dug underneath the outback sandstone.