Top 10 Largest Abandoned Cities on Earth

If you had visited this beach town in the early 1970s, you may have had a celebrity sighting. This northern region of Cyprus was once one of the most happening tourist spots in the world. For a time, the town had been increasing infrastructure to support its growing popularity, building and planning new buildings for visitors. Unfortunately, this growth was cut short in 1974. That’s when Turkey invaded Cyprus, causing the inhabitants of Varosha to flee. Since its Turkish occupation, the once bustling tourist destination had become desolate. There have been a few contentious discussions about reopening the region, but no settlements have been made.

In the Norwegian Arctic lies what was once a coal mining city. It was sold by Sweden to the Soviet Union in 1927, and at the time the population mostly consisted of miners from Russia. At the city’s peak, there were approximately one thousand residents of the area and plenty of cultural and social hubs – such as a movie theater, library, a community greenhouse, and more. But after the fall of the USSR in 1991, Pyramiden slowly dissipated. It became officially barren in 1998, after the final inhabitant left on October 10th of that year.

This once residential mining town now has the smallest population in the entire state of Pennsylvania – only five people remained in 2020. In 1962, a coal seam fire began to burn underneath the city, spreading through tunnels beneath its streets. The effects of the smoke ranged from serious health complications to warped buildings and sinkholes. After it was clear that this problem was not going to resolve itself, the government paid to relocate the residents of the city to safety. The fire still rages on to this day, and the area has stayed empty.

The most infamous nuclear power incident in history – the Chernobyl disaster – led to the abandonment of this neighboring city. Residents of Pripyat were primarily employees of the power plant, and the city had a population of around 49,000 in its heyday. But when the reactor exploded in 1986, the families living in its vicinity had to evacuate from the toxic area. While no humans have attempted to re-inhabit the city, wildlife has begun to spread in the wake of the incident. Plants and animals returned and flourished, despite the high radiation levels of the area.

If we’ve learned anything from this list so far, it’s that former mining towns don’t seem to have a spectacular shelf life. And this old city is no exception. In 1859, discovery of gold in the region created interest in the area and prospectors started comking. About sixteen years, later Bodie was officially a boom town. But not long after, the companies that funded the town’s mining endeavors went bankrupt. This and a series of fires prompted people to leave, and Bodie was a ghost town by the mid-1940s. Today, this “Wild West” city is a United States National Historic Landmark and a state park.

Off of the coastline of Nagasaki lies this formerly inhabited area. Also known as “Battleship Island” due to the shape of the land from above, this city was a center for undersea coal mining. Concrete housing units were constructed to accommodate the population of workers, but these were eventually abandoned after Japan had a reduced need for coal energy. The workers left the area, and Hashima Island was no longer the populous region it once was. However, you may recognize the site from the 2012 Bond film “Skyfall,” as exteriors were shot on the island.

This French village has a painful history. The small farm town was needlessly decimated with explosives during World War II in 1944 by Nazi party “SS” troops. In total, 642 innocent people were mercilessly killed in the attack, and what remained of the destroyed city stays in ruins to the present day. Although a new village was built in a location, this site serves as a memorial for those who lost their lives and as a heartbreaking reminder of the atrocities that took place during the war. Each year in Oradour, a ceremony is held to commemorate the horrific tragedy.

This Italian village dates all the way back to medieval times! But sadly, it didn’t manage to make it out of the 20th century. While its convenient location atop a cliff provided the city some protection from attacking forces – and a pretty nice view – the residents of Craco weren’t immune to disease and natural disasters. These factors, along with a slew of power struggles weakening control over the area, eventually led to the demise of the city. Now, the area has been a well visited tourist location and has even served as the backdrop of some popular films!

Located in southern Africa, this city was founded in 1908 – and its claim to fame was its abundance of diamonds. German settlers began to move into the region to mine it for its extremely valuable resource, and the area quickly became a busy town. This colonization was unwelcome by the native Namibian people, but they were ultimately outnumbered by the invasive miners. Eventually, these new residents depleted Kolmanskop of its diamonds and headed off elsewhere to new prospects. The once lived-in buildings are now immersed in sand and can be visited by outsiders.

Dating back many centuries and known by several names during that time, this city has had a tumultuous political history. Prior to the end of World War I and the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Kayaköy’s population numbered between 6,500 and twenty thousand people. As a predominantly Greek village residing within the borders of Turkey, the citizens were forced to leave their homes as a safety measure following Greece’s loss in the Greco-Turkish War. Three hundred and fifty of these once populated dwellings are now completely vacant and remain under Turkish jurisdiction. While they are still intact, they have been weathered and damaged by time.