Abandoned stadiums

Being that I'm not into football and other such sports that involve balls and stadiums, these places were never significant to me. For me, a stadium, mainly a soccer or football stadium, is that place where people dressed in shorts and T-shirts, run around in circles with the purpose of touching a ball. That is not my kind of fun. But recently, I found some pictures on SkyscraperCity that really caught my attention. I'm of course talking about a collection of abandonments, abandoned stadium to be more exact, just like the title suggests.

The following stadiums have nobody to run around in circles for the purpose of touching a ball anymore. They are ghostly and dusty. Weird how some things need to be abandoned in order for me to like them.

Creepy graffiti in Prypiat

Prypiat, the fascinating abandoned city we all know by now, is not only being visited by tourists and urban explorers. Graffiti artists roamed it's streets numerous times, trying to convey the impact that the disaster had on this city, once inhabited by families with happy children with no worries, which had their lives turned upside-down when the disaster occurred. The artists show us the fear and sadness they, and the kids that had to leave home forever, felt.

Sanzhi UFO houses

The Sanzhi UFO houses, or the Sanzhi pod houses, or the Sanzhi Pod city were a set of abandoned buildings that were shaped like pods, situated in the Sanzhi District, Taiwan.

An arctic ghost town, Pyramiden

Pyramiden is an abandoned Russian settlement and coal mining community on the archipelago of Svalbard, Norway. Sweden founded if in 1919 and sold it to the Soviet Union in 1927. It's name comes from the pyramid-shaped mountains near the town. The town once had 1.000 residents, but in 1998 it was abandoned by Arktikugol Trust, the Russian state company who owned it, meaning that another ghost town was born. The town was abandoned in a hurry and things remain largely as they were in 1998. The residents were given just hours to pack their bags and leave.

The modern ghost town of Kangbashi

Usually, a ghost town is considered to be that human settlement, which after years of being inhabited, is eventually abandoned by people due to different causes, such as disasters or economic downturns. But how can an ultra modern city be turned into a ghost town right after it was built? Well, the answers finds itself in China, in the city of Ordos, where Kangbashi, one of the newest and most modern neighborhoods is absolutely empty.

Prypiat, the famous ghost town

On April 26th, 1986 an explosion in the reactor number four at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant would permanently change the face of Ukraine and Eastern Europe. Chernobyl remains in the collective memory of mankind as the worst nuclear disaster in the history of nuclear energy production. Maybe the man made disaster with the most impact on mankind. Radiation resulting from the explosion caused thousands of deaths in Ukraine, Russia and neighboring countries, but long-term effects of this catastrophe are more serious: the spread of cancer diseases, children born with birth defects, irradiation of agricultural land and more. All these form a sum of effects caused by a single event, which in turn generates more negative effects.

The story of Hashima Island

Hashima is a small rocky island, situated near the coast of Nagasaki in Japan. Although tiny in size, the island is not unimportant, being Japan's main coal supplier for almost a century. Located above a huge coal deposit, which extends to the ocean, Hashima itself was an excellent opportunity to make a fortune, this opportunity couldn't be missed.

Centralia, Pennsylvania

In the past, Centralia could be described as a friendly town with 3,000 residents, who could enjoy common facilities: shops, churches, hotels and bars. As with other U.S. cities, Centralia was what could be called a "boomtown". The first inhabitants settled here in 1866, and the settlement rapidly flourished, after profits were incoming from mining going on in the hill area. In the particular case of this city, what helped it rise, also made it collapse.

Motorless city of Detroit

Some abandoned areas are part of some highly populated cities. How can a metropolis have an empty "heart"? Probably one of the most striking examples is the city of Detroit, which houses a totally abandoned neighborhood and fallen industry.

Humberstone and Santa Laura, Chile

All over the world you can find a lot of modern places, with a sad story, which resulted in their abandonment. We know them as ghost towns. Invariably, each one of them hides an interesting story. Some, like the chinese city of Beichuan, have been the victims of natural disasters. Others, such as San Zhi in Taiwan have been abandoned by some rather esoteric reasons. The stillness that surrounds these former human settlements seems almost tangible. In contrast with the deafening silence that dominates these lands, the omnipresent and chaotic noise that characterizes the big metropolises becomes even harder to imagine.

Now, let's talk about Humberstone and Santa Laura, in Northern part of Chile.

Changes are upon us!

We finally have a domain! Happy happy joy joy!

Seeing the number of visits that keep growing and growing, I decided to finally take the next step and get a domain. 

Unfortunately "hiat" seems to be a widely used term and all relevant domains are already used so I didn't have many name options to choose from, and still keep the reference to Hiat.

So, we are now a .org site, that will continuously inform people about the places that have been forgotten. A sort of derelict Wikipedia, hehe.

Please rate the posts again with +1's and Reactions, as they were deleted when the blog switched to the domain.

Also, many other changes are being planned.

Changes would include:

- Host changing

- Site redesign

- More informative articles

- Maybe a forum

- Photo submission

- Photo contests with prizes!

(Please suggest more or comment on these below.)

Don't forget to add the new link to your bookmarks!

Forgotten trains in Russia

In this article I will feature photos made in Abkhazia, a small state on the eastern coast of the Black Sea. Although Abkhazia is no longer a part of the Soviet Union, and is considered a part of the Georgian territory, you can not ignore the fact that it was build by the Soviet Union. That fact makes the title. The Abkhazia station and everything in it, is in this position of decay since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, more than 20 years ago, because the new formed independent state cannot maintain and repair everything, by having a struggling economy.
Besides the trains, you need to also see the station, which will be in this article.

 

Chernobyl Exhibition

Someone sent me a message on twitter asking me to mention his site on my blog, it was an automated message but it sounded interesting, so I visited his site and I think it deserves to be mentioned. I got the approval to post his photos here, so here they are. 
His photoshop modifications are weird and dark, just the way I like them.

All Images © Darren Nisbett 
darkoptics.net

Prypiat 1970

Bodie, California - A remaining American ghost town

Yet another abandoned settlement, this time in America, the land of ghost towns, the kind that you see in cowboy movies, and you can not meet anywhere else in the world. It was founded in 1876. It began as a small mining settlement, which attracted thousands of people after the discovery of nearby mines. In less than 4 years, Bodie became a town with almost 10.000 inhabitants, town’s main street was lined by 65 saloons. The town even had a Chinatown, with several hundred Chinese residents. Dwindling resources destroyed it however, and although greatly affected Bodie held a permanent residency through most of the 20th century – even with the fire that ravaged much of the downtown business district, in 1932. In 1961 Bodie was designated a National Historic Landmark, becoming a State Historic Park the next year after all the residents had moved on. Today, only a small part of the town survives, but visitor can still see how daily life happened there, and have a feeling of the old wild west.

Politics at it`s finest in Varosha, Famagusta

Varosha (Greek: Βαρώσια; Turkish: Maraş) is a quarter in the Cypriot city of Famagusta. Prior to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, it was the modern tourist area of Famagusta. Its inhabitants fled during the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, and has remained abandoned ever since.

History

In the 1970s, Famagusta was the number one tourist destination in Cyprus. To cater to the increasing number of tourists, many new high-rise buildings and hotels were constructed. During its heyday the Varosha quarter of Famagusta was not only the number one tourist destination in Cyprus, but between 1970 and 1974 it was one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, and was a favourite destination of wealthy, rich and famous stars such as Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Raquel Welch and Brigitte Bardot.

Read the story of a family that was forced to leave home forever. rhinocarhire.com

Modern Ruins - Collection #3 (40 photos)

Modern ruins are pretty awesome aren't they? Things people leave behind .. incredible. This is yet another part of this collection, gathered from the same cool forum as the previous posts. So here is Part 3 of the Modern Ruins Collection. What I love about this post is that I included some graffiti art too, because I do love fine art. Enjoy!

Mt. Loretto Catholic Orphanage for Girls, Staten Island, NY

Panorama decay!

Behold, the panorama decay! Never has it crossed my mind to search for abandoned places in 360 view. But then I found this awesome site with 6 pages of panorama view places that are really worth exploring. Yes, exploring! The perfect way to explore all these fabulous derelict places from the comfort of our home (I know you lazy!). I will post my personal favorites in this post, hope you like them as much as I do.
Visit the site for >>> More



ruin of textile factory "Berger" in Lichtenstein, saxony, germany in Germany

Modern Ruins - Collection #2 (40 photos)

Yet another collection of the Modern Ruins series, "stolen" from the same cool forum topic, which also has a link below. It`s the same image flood size, meaning 40 photos. Besides, I thought I`d even add some captions this time, for a better insight on the photos, you`re welcome.
Update: I've been permanently banned from the forum, for "advertising" or something, so I downloaded all the photos and re-uploaded them.

Carcoke Zeebrugge boiler- surprised face

Modern Ruins - Collection #1 (40 photos)

A collection of photos I found on a forum (sauce below). And because there are too many of them I`m gonna make a series, based on the best photos on that forum. The collections includes every type of urbex photo (at least I think so), satisfying all your exquisite tastes. It generally includes everything this blog is about.

Detroit City Winter Special

Can`t say I don`t feel the season, I do. But because I don`t want to fill the blog with candles, lights, reindeer and such like so many do in this season, I will do something else, which is presenting you a winter version of decay from .. Detroit, our favorite abandoned living city.
Enjoy!