nature

Jungle School

With the last hours of daylight, we visited this school. From the road, you’d think this is some kind of abandoned house with nothing too special. But when we came closer we could vaguely see all kinds of painted figures on the outside of the school. It was a small school, with only two classrooms on the ground floor. Both of the classrooms were filled with seats and desks and one of them had a painted wall with all kinds of animals, which was a pretty cool addition to this abandoned classroom. Read More

Castello Neogotico

Located on a island, this neogotic castle was built. An already present church and monastery were merged into the new build of which construction began in the 1880’s. It got built as summer residency for a politician and was dedicated to his wife.

The castle, whose territory occupies about 1/5th of the island, was very luxuriously furnished and housed numerous collections including art, weapons, coins and antiques. Read More

Convento dei Morti

The Convento dei Morti is an abandoned monastery from the 15th century. The courtyard is surrounded by open galleries which are decorated with frescoes from religious caracters and coats of arms of the local noble families. In one of the galleries we found two old hearses. Read More

Jungle Factory

Welcome to the mini jungle in this old wool mill, where the old halls are slowly being reclaimed by nature. Ferns and little trees are enjoying the humidity in here and turned the old factory into a little oasis.

This wool mill was established in the late 19th century and shut down after almost 8 decades of production. A part of the production was already moved to a different location, which kept operating until the end of the century. Read More

Hotel AV

Located not far from the highway we find this hotel. Since the owner passed away 10 years ago, the park of over 3 hectares has turned into a real wilderness. It was a challenge to find our way through the jungle, to get to the lake and the pool. Read More

Piscina Ottado

For many years, families from all over the region spent their summer days at this pool. While the children were going down one of the slides, their parents would enjoy sunbathing in the burning sun. Read More

Gasthaus Natur

Little is know about this abandoned hotel. It was built after the Second World War as a hotel and was owned by the DDR government. After the reunification it was sold and turned into a Chinese/pizza restaurant but eventually abandoned in 1995. Read More

Ostello Estivo

In the summer this hostel was open for the children of employees of a large company. The concrete building was designed for a location near the sea, but was built in a mountain region instead. The construction cost was 1-2 billion Italian lire. Read More

Château LTD

In the 1860’s construction of this château started. It was built for a marquis and designed by an architect who went to a French art school. This architect also designed several other buildings in the same, unique style. The château in Renaissance style is very richly decorated with beautiful patterns in brick and amazing stucco. Unfortunately, due to a fire in the 1930’s the château was destroyed and never rebuilt, only the outer walls are still standing. Read More

Château des Pierres Volées

It is said that in the 12th century a count built a château here. It was reconstructed a few centuries later. Over the years (and due to the French Revolution) it turned into a ruin. Near the end of the 18th century it was sold to some local farmers which tore down some of the walls and used the stones to construct their farmstead. Read More

Città Storica

Italy is full of ghost towns, most of them have been abandoned due to earthquakes. This town dates back to at least the 8th century and has been hit by many earthquakes over the centuries.

In the 18th century it was hit by a severe earthquake which led to the loss of several tens of inhabitants. The town was rebuild but in the last half of the 20th century two massive earthquake destroyed many homes and killed over a dozen inhabitants. Read More

Château Pentagon

Château Pentagon is a French château, built in the 14th century with various parts being added until the 17th century. During renovations the facades were redecorated in neo-Gothic style giving the château its current appearance. Read More

Centrale Idroelettrica V

This hydroelectric power station was built in the 1910’s to supply power to the chemical plant on the premises. The power station consisted of seven Francis turbines that together produced almost 200 million kWh of electricity per year.

During the Second World War the station was damaged heavily. After restorations the capacity was reduced by 30%. In the 70’s the power station was replaced by a new power station. Copper thieves then looted the abandoned site and took everything valuable. Read More

VW Beetle Garage

Next to a regional road in Belgium you can find this old garage. Attached to the garage there is a house which is also abandoned, but not worth a visit. Inside the garage there was an old red Volkswagen Beetle, just left behind. The plants hanging from the ceiling gave the scene an interesting look. Read More

Mayday Mayday

This blue planes lies hidden in a Belgian forest. This forest served as a film set for a number of films and series and the plane appeared in a short film. It didn’t crash here though; it was brought here and after the shooting was finished it was simply left. Read More

Lost City

This isn’t just an abandoned city, this actually was a military base. In 1938, Germany started construction of the base for the adjecent airfield.

The base consists of 12 big apartment blocks and many smaller buildings. A pilots school was also built at the base. During the peak almost 5000 soldiers were living here. Read More

Ateliers Centraux

In 1937 the nearby steelmill put these big halls in use. The building was used for their repair workshops, spare parts stock, offices and archives. In the workshop repairs and overhauls were carried out, but they had to build full machinery for the steel mill in here too.

From the 1990’s there was a decline in work at the site and several departments closed. Only the general warehouse, design office and wagon halls were active in 2005. When the last steelmill in the city closed down, the Ateliers Centraux closed its doors as well. Read More

Repository 14

Built during the Cold War, this tunnel had a special function. In case of a power cut off, a train would be driven inside consisting of mobile transformers and convertors, ensuring power to the railway. Hidden in a forest, this tunnel is hard to spot. Only a little used path leading into the bushes will reveal this tunnel. Read More

Repository 19

With the government being afraid of the Soviets cutting off the power for their railways during the Cold War, they decided to build secret storage tunnels throughout the country. In case of a power cut off, this 100 metres long tunnel could house a train with mobile convertors and transformers to deliver power to the railways. Read More

Usine S

This textile factory was built in the 1900’s. Wool was treated here using a American patented technique, it was the only factory in Europe using this method.

Wool was treated in special baths to retain flexibility and elasticity. The liquid of these baths could be refined to yield a wax which was used extensively for protection and treatment of skin. Some of the samples were still in the abandoned laboratory of the factory. Read More

Villa Beemwee

Barely anything is know about this villa in the Belgian Ardennes. The building is quite small for a ‘villa’, especially compared to the other villa’s in this particular neighbourhood. Nevertheless, given the style with the ‘grand’ entrance with columns on either side and the richly decorated exterior, I think it deserves to be called a villa. Read More

Château de la Couronne

This neoclassical style château was built in the 19th century. It got renovated in the 90’s, but only two weeks after the renovations it burnt to the ground.

The former grandeur is still visible from the outside and among the collapsed rooms you can still find beautifully decorated fireplaces and stairwells. Read More

Church of Decay

The famous Church of Decay really lives up to its name, with even entire trees growing out of the walls on the outside. Officially it is named Eglise Saint-Pierre and it’s located in Grâce-Hollogne, a small town next to the airport of Liege. Read More