While travellers are always looking for interesting places, some locations have been abandoned, but their striking beauty makes them attracts tourists.
From one of the most luxurious hotels in the 1960s to Henry Ford’s Jungle City, LanreNews has compiled a list of interesting and beautiful abandoned places in the world, their history and why they were abandoned.
Haludovo Palace Hotel (Krk, Croatia)
The Haludovo Palace Hotel was one of the most luxurious hotels of its time. During its reign, there were rumours of its swimming pool being filled with champagne.
The abandoned resort hotel sits on the Croatian island Krk north of Malinska.
History of Haludovo Palace Hotel
Construction of the Haludovo Palace Hotel started in 1969 in the Croatian town of Malinska on the island of Krk in the then Yugoslavia. Its complex, Haludovo is an ensemble of various architectural typologies.
The building was completed in 1972, after which it was opened to the general public.
Bob Guccione, the founder of the Penthouse magazine, invested $45 million in the project and officially opened the Penthouse Adriatic Club casino located in the hotel in 1972.
Unlike other Eastern European countries under Soviet rule, Yugoslavia had laws that allowed for foreign investments in casinos and gambling.
Due to constraints on foreign investment in communist Yugoslavia, the hotel was owned by the Rijeka-based company Brodokomerc. The Penthouse-Brodokomerc partnership, however didn’t last long.
Why is Haludovo Palace Hotel an abandoned place?
The hotel fell into financial trouble less than a year after opening. The whole resort eventually closed around 1991 when civil war broke out.
During the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s, the complex was used as a shelter for refugees.
In the 2000s was bought by a Russian-Armenian offshore company based in Cyprus. Since 2002, the majority of the complex has been vacant.
Today, the ruin of Haludovo is probably the most famous “lost place” in Croatia.
PHOTOs of how the Haludovo Palace Hotel looks today
Bannerman Castle (New York, USA)
It is a luxurious ruined fortress that stands on the island of Pollepel in Hudson River.
Originally the island was bought to become an arsenal, now, it is a popular tourist destination.
History of Bannerman Castle
The castle owner, Bannerman, needed a place to store his cache of retail goods, including weapons, uniforms, and gunpowder.
Prior to the time, the Island is mostly uninhabited as tall tales about it being haunted persisted and kept would-be settlers away.
Bannerman planned to build the grand structure with a design inspired by Scottish and Moorish castles.
He began construction in 1901, and was never quite finished.
Why is Bannerman castle an abandoned place?
Bannerman died in 1918, and a massive explosion damaged the edifice in 1920.
Decades of decline, plus a huge fire in 1969, left the structure in ruins by the 1990s, when the Bannerman Castle Trust was established.
The Island lacks electricity.
How to get to Bannerman Castle
The best way to reach Bannerman Castle is by boat, travelling across the Hudson River.
You can take a ferry from the Beacon Train Station or from Newburgh Ferry landing.
Another route is kayaking from Cornwall, Cold Spring and/or Beacon.
Canoes and small motorboats are also welcome to tour the island.
Tours happen on weekends throughout the warm-weather months.
Power Plant IM (Charleroi, Belgium)
Power Plant IM is an abandoned power station situated at Monceau-sur-Sambre, within the Belgian town of Charleroi.
Although no longer generating electricity, the gigantic power plant attracts many tourists from around the world to this small neighbourhood.
History of Power Plant IM
Power Plant IM used to be one of the largest coal-burning power plants in Belgium. It was built in 1921.
By 1977 the power plant and its massive tower was the main source of energy in the Charleroi area and is said to have been able to cool down 480,000 gallons of water per minute.
By the 1970s, new components were even added to the power plant that could also use gas power.
Electrabel owned the IM power station, which produced electricity and heat, providing electricity and natural gas to six million people.
Why is Power Plant IM an abandoned place?
After years of service, a report found that Power Plant IM was responsible for 10% of the total CO2 emissions in Belgium.
Due to this, protests from Greenpeace in 2006 gave the power plant a lot of negative attention, and it closed in 2007.
Itâs said that the power plant will be demolished, but no one seems to know when this will happen.
The door was sealed off in 2020, and the staircase was removed.
Kolmanskop, Namibia
Kolmanskop is a ghost town in the Namib in southern Namibia, ten kilometres inland from the port town of LĂźderitz.
History of Kolmanskop
Kolmanskop town was founded in the Namib desert in 1908, after a man found a diamond in the area.
It was named after a transport driver, Johnny Coleman, who, during a sand storm, abandoned his ox wagon on a small incline opposite the settlement.
The name Kolmanskop in Afrikaans translates âColeman’s headâ.
Why is Kolmanskop an abandoned place?
The major reason people settled in the town was for diamond mining.
In the town’s heyday, the precious stones were so easy to find that they could be picked out of the sand.
Intensive mining depleted the area by the 1930s, and in 1928, the town’s fate was sealed when the richest diamond fields ever known were found on the beach terraces to the south.
It was abandoned in 1954 after resources were exhausted.
The townspeople left in droves, abandoning homes and possessions. By 1956, Kolmanskop was completely abandoned. The homes that were left are now filled with sand.
How to visit Kolmanskop
A permit is required to enter Kolmanskop.
Entry permits or tickets can be bought at the entrance gate to Kolmanskop. The permits cost about $17.
On Mondays and Saturdays there are two guided tours starting 9.30 and 11.00 am.
There is only one guided tour at 10.00 am on Sundays and Public Holidays. Unguided tours can also be done.
Present photos of Kolmanskop
Fordlândia, Brazil
Fordlandia is the idea of the American industrialist Henry Ford.
He wanted his supply of rubber â and he decided to get it by carving a plantation and a miniature Midwest factory town out of the Amazon jungle. It was called “Fordlandia.”
That is why it is sometimes referred to as Henry Ford’s Jungle City.
History of Fordlândia
In his bid to establish a rubber plantation, Henry Ford in the 1920s, secured a massive plot of land from the Brazilian government and built a rather impressive micro-city, complete with a power plant, hospital, golf course, thousands of houses, and more, that he named Fordlândia.
Why is Fordlandia an abandoned place?
The project did not start well. There was a huge clash of culture between mechanized America, Ford’s utopian ideals and the way the indigenous people lived.
This was in combination with malaria, unproductive plants, and rioting workers which led to Fordlândiaâs downfall.
The city was sold back to Brazil in 1945 while many of the original buildings, including the iconic water tower, still stand.
Present photos of Fordlandia
How to visit Fordlandia
Fordlândia is only accessible by boat from the port city of Santarem.
A slower boat passes once a day and can take up to 15 hours, while there are also two fast boats, which complete the trip in five hours.
You can buy tickets on the docks in Santarem or, for the return trip, on the boat itself.
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