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
This is presumably Italy’s most famous abandoned theatre. The beautifully decorated interior with red private viewing boxes and the slowly collapsing balcony make this a popular destination among urban explorers.
This historical theatre, built in the mid-19th century is a beautiful piece of art. There was room for over 300 visitors. On both sides of the stage there were VIP-boxes for the wealthy visitors who wanted the best view. Next to the VIP-boxes there were three layers of private boxes and opposite of the stage there was a balcony which offered space for about 50 spectators. Read More
Big industrial sites need a lot of energy. Sometimes it’s worth investing in an own power plant. In the 1940’s construction of this power plant started. Five turbines supplied power to the adjecent factory and in the 50’s one more turbine was added. 10 years later the big hall was expanded on the north side with space for one turbine and on the southern end with space for 2 turbines. Read More
The unique exterior of this château features statues of dogs with wings and dragons are overlooking the premises from the tower. The interior is well decorated and worth showing as well. On the ground floor there’s a big fireplace surrounded by beautiful woodwork and in the hallway the walls are decorated with tiles showing all kinds of animals. Read More
The Bureau d’Or was built near the end of the 19th century and got expanded around the 1930’s in a 17th century style to match the château nextdoor. It served as the administration building for the adjecent blast furnace. Read More
In the 1870’s Manicomio di R was built. At the time, it was a small charity hospital and over the years it was expanded and transformed into a mental asylum which at its peak moment housed 1800 patients.
In those manicomio’s the most cruel therapies were used to “cure” patients. From electroshock therapy to all kinds of new and experimental surgery on the nervous system. Read More
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
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
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
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
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
During the Cold War, the government was afraid of the Soviet Union cutting off the power to their railways. This 100 meters long tunnel was built in the 1950’s. In case of a power cut off, a diesel locomotive would drive a train with mobile convertors and transformers into the tunnel to ensure power to the railways. This equipment was quite expensive, so they figured it’d be cheaper to put them onto trains and drive them to the places where they were needed. Read More
These vehicles are called Sno-Cats; heavy machinery designed to withstand arctic conditions. They were used in the first Dutch-Belgian Antarctic expedition from 1964-1966.
The Belgians had been to Antarctica before, but money was a problem, so they asked the Dutch to participate. At first, the Netherlands didn’t feel like it, but eventually they agreed. On December 8, 1963 they left the harbour of Antwerp for their first expedition. Read More
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
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