The enchanting beauty of abandoned castles
Miranda Castle, Celle, Belgium
These are naval fortifications located at the mouths of the Thames and Mersey rivers, which during the Second World War protected the UK from threats from North Sea. 21 towers are equipped with artillery pieces that shot down more than 22 German aircraft and 30 cruise missiles. Since the 1950s, the forts have been abandoned - several attempts have been made to dismantle them, but these strange towers still stand off the coast of North Kent.
Nursing home "Hafodunos Hall"
Hafodunos Hall is once a beautiful neo-gothic two-story building with galleries and a spacious attic. Since the 40s of the 20th century, it has housed a women's boarding school, where young ladies after the Second World War were taught art, dance and housekeeping. Then, in the 70s, Hafodunos Hall was the last shelter for the elderly, but in 1993 the nursing home was disbanded, as the building no longer met sanitary and fire safety requirements. A fire broke out in it on October 13, 2004 - after that, Hafodunos Hall was almost destroyed and completely abandoned.
Bodiam Castle
Real fairytale castle with round turrets, battlements and a drawbridge, located in the South East of England and built in the 14th century. Its founder is Edward Dalingridge, but since 1378, the fortress has had more than one owner. It is believed that this is one of the last real English castles that have survived to this day, however, Bodiam, although there are guided tours, is practically abandoned.
Ship SS Ayrfield
This is a forgotten ship, located in Homebush Bay on south coast Parramatta River, near Sydney, Australia. During the Second World War, the SS Ayrfield, built to transport coal in 1911 in the UK and reaching 80 meters in length, was used by the US troops as an ammunition transporter. It is not known how this happened, but the ship was abandoned, as a result, today it is something like a large artificial island.
Beijing Wonderland
Not far from the Chinese capital, there is another abandoned amusement park: its construction began in 1998, and it was assumed that Wonderland would become largest center entertainment in Asia, however, due to financial problems, the construction site was soon “frozen”. They returned to it only in 2008, but, alas, the crisis broke out again, and as a result, almost 50 hectares are occupied by the unfinished princess castle and fabulous houses.
Yacht "Endless Sea"
Not so much the object itself as the photograph. Brrrr... At the parents' dacha, at one of the bridges over a tiny river, a flooded boat lay under the shore. She was so creepy, but so attractive. That's why I liked this object. Underwater ghosts are generally my theme.
On April 7, 2012, a Brazilian research vessel with beautiful name The "Endless Sea" (Mar Sem Fim) sank in the waters of Maxwell Bay near the Shetland archipelago. The ship, led by well-known journalist João Lara Mesquita, went to Antarctica for filming documentary film, however, got stuck in the ice, and was eventually crushed by them. Fortunately, the TV presenter and four crew members were rescued by Chilean sailors, but the yacht went under water, where it remained until the beginning of 2013, when it was pulled from the bottom and towed to the dock for repairs.
fisherman's hut
In the only high mountain national park Germany "Berchtesgaden", covering an area of over 210 km2 and included in the heritage of UNESCO, in the middle of the lake "lurked" a flimsy fishing hut. She fits so organically into the local virgin natural landscape that it is hard to imagine that this house was created by human hands.
dutch island
The Dutch Island is an island in Chesapeake Bay (North America), where people once lived, but today it is completely deserted. The first inhabitants settled on it in the 1600s, and by the middle of the 19th century the island was densely populated by peasants and fishermen, and by the beginning of the 20th century it had about 70 houses and 360 inhabitants, had its own school, church and even a baseball team. However, soon strong winds began to destroy buildings - the islanders were forced to move to " big land". And, in the end, in 1918, the last family left the island, and in 2010, the last building built on the Dutch island in 1888 collapsed.
Miranda Castle was built in 1866 by an English architect for the Ledeckerke-Bofot family. The family lived there until World War II, when the mansion was taken over by the Belgian national railway company. It has been empty since 1991, in part because the owners refuse to turn it over to the municipality.
Bannerman Castle, New York, USA
A Scottish immigrant, Francis Bannerman, bought the island in 1900 and built a castle there to store the munitions that form the basis of his business. Two years after Bannerman's death in 1918, 200 tons of shells and gunpowder exploded, destroying a small part of the building. Then, in 1969, part of the floors and roof burned down in a fire. Since 1950, the island has been considered uninhabited, as the ferry serving it sank during a storm. In 2009, the rest of the building collapsed.
And after that...
There are also many abandoned creepy objects in Glasgow. For example, there are a lot of abandoned railway stations. And kilometers of abandoned tunnels. One of the stations is located right in the botanical garden, in a prestigious area of the city, and I walked past a thousand times and did not suspect that these trees with wire fencing are actually a hundred-year-old platform just below ground level. And also the tunnel under the river Clyde, which was closed at the beginning of the last century due to the fact that even new it was too creepy and people simply refused to use it. On the other hand, two rotundas have been preserved at the two ends of the tunnel, which are now something like eateries and restaurants.
Abandoned station in the botanical garden
Another suburban station, ground Possil station
Even in Glasgow there are many abandoned bridges or bridges that are hardly looked after.
The most famous in the city center, the bridge over which trees walk is the City Union Railway bridge 🙂 Recently, I drove past this bridge with my husband (right in front of it is that ill-fated pub on which the helicopter fell last week), and saw that the trees were removed from the bridge and Looks like it's being restored.
In general, there are a lot of abandoned places in Glasgow. Only within a radius of 10 minutes walk from our current apartment there are about a dozen of them - one school, kindergarten, an old mansion, a boarding house, again - a wasteland with an indistinct structure in the form of a railway station or a hangar. I'll have to go and take pictures.
but the most luxurious place (why is it not in the rating? most likely because it is not mentioned on the Russian-speaking Internet), the abandoned mental hospital Gartloch Insane Asylum. When I was younger and childless, I really wanted to go and see. But on the forums they wrote that there is a strong guard and no one is favored there, except perhaps for photographers with an official certificate.
The hospital was opened in the first decade of the last century and worked until the end of the Second World War.
In my best years. Well, and a bunch of ruins of castles and estates ...
And then, in Luxembourg, I managed to visit another castle - Vianden, which has been in ruins since the 19th century, but, thanks to the restoration work begun in the 1970s, is quite impressive.
Only it turns out that these castles are lucky. For there is a fairly large number of "count ruins" that no one is repairing, in which no one has lived for a long time, but still beautiful. (Of course, we are not talking about completely dead ruins, uninhabited a long time ago.)
And you think to yourself, oh, how people used to build, if even in such a state these castles still have a soul and even in desolation retain nobility and grace.
Chateau de Noisy, originally - miranda castle. It was built in 1866 near the town of Zell in the province of Namur, Belgium, by the English architect Milner for the rich and noble Liedekerke-Beaufort family, who lost their old family castle during the French Revolution and built a new one on the site of a small farm. The family owned the castle until the Second World War, during which it was given to an orphanage for the children of Belgian employees. railway, however, in 1980, sort of like after a fire, it was returned to its former owners. However, since then the Chateau de Noisy has been empty. Nobody lives in the castle, the owners do not repair it, but stubbornly refuse to sell it to the authorities of Zell, who are interested in restoring a beautiful local landmark. They say that Count Lydekerke-Beaufort is interested in negotiations only with the mention of an amount of 20 million euros, and this is on the terms of a "long lease" of the castle. The castle has a touch of gothic mystery and mysticism: they say that the architect died, barely finishing the construction. Although the facade looks well preserved, being in the castle is fraught with dangers, ceilings, steps and walls can collapse at any moment, floor coverings are long gone.
On YouTube you can also find videos shot in the castle, for example, this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlAR74CcAfE
Hotel Rouge, also known as Chateau Rouge and Chateau Bambi (Hotel Rouge, Chateau Rouge, Chateau Bambi) in the municipality of Wanze in the province of Liege, Belgium. Once upon a time, a small monastery, built around 1100, supposedly stood in its place. In the eighteenth century, the estate changed hands several times, gradually the castle fell into disrepair and became completely unusable for living, and in 1885 it was finally demolished. A new building was erected in the Flemish Renaissance style, using some of the walls and fireplaces from the old castle. After the Second World War, it became a luxury hotel (according to another version - a nursing home), and since 2009 it has been empty, it is indicated, "due to poor management." Apparently, it got its name because of the red brick used in the construction.
But the interiors and exteriors are still luxurious, albeit with a touch of mold!
Lock Mesen (Kasteel van Mesen) , Lede, Belgium. Now this huge castle, with stables and greenhouses, is in the center of a vast public park, and is already almost destroyed. The building was erected in 1749 by the Italian architect Giovanni Nicolo Servandoni for the Bette family (according to other sources - for the royal family, but this theory is a little doubtful for me. Remind me, please, who owned this part of modern Belgium in 1749? France? The royal family of Belgium, then appeared only in the 19th century ...) Apparently, after the French Revolution, the owners lost the estate, and the castle began to be used for the needs of the local industry - distillation of alcohol, sugar refinement, tobacco production. In 1897, the castle was sold to a religious order, which erected an impressive neo-Gothic chapel there. After the First World War, the castle was turned into an elite women's school that existed from 1914 to 1970, where the daughters of the impoverished aristocracy and the military studied. The castle passed into the possession of the Belgian Ministry of Defense. In the end, the neglect of the condition of a huge ancient building led to its desolation. The fate of the castle has been hanging in the balance ever since. Too much money is required to restore it, or at least maintain it in current state. Judging by the most recent blogs that mention Mesen Castle, they plan to demolish it to build a residential complex on this site ...
This part of the castle has almost been demolished... 
Castle de Singe(Chateau de Singes), France. The name translates as "Castle of the Monkeys".
I did not find the exact location of the castle, built in the seventeenth century, there is only a mention that it is located in the uttermost rural wilderness and is a kind of rare pearl for those who are passionate about tourism associated with visiting abandoned historical monuments. The last owner could no longer maintain the building in good condition, but did not sell it, but lived there until his death in a single room, without central heating. Once upon a time, horses were bred on the estate. The castle has been abandoned since 1976. 
The name of the castle, apparently, is somehow connected with the frescoes that miraculously survived in some halls of the castle, which depict funny monkeys. 
Here you can watch a video about the trip to the castle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSFXmEILksQ, taken by one of the few tourists who visited Château des Singes.
And in conclusion, I will say that there are VERY, very many such castles ... maybe because there are not so many rich people who are able and willing to take in " good hands"Such treasures. Completely without irony - the cost of such castles is estimated at millions of euros, and repairs very often need to be spent no less. The state, whether it be France or Belgium, is also always in no hurry to act as a patron.
I also found links to absolutely stunning, no less beautiful and also abandoned castles in Russia and Ukraine. If only some Abramovich would warm them up, huh? ...
Ruins, destroyed and abandoned buildings, withered parks... Sometimes, they attract much more than modern lifeless buildings. At least the fact that there was once life in the ruins. But time and weather did their job, and in ancient buildings there was no comfort left. We offer a walk through some of the most spectacular abandoned buildings.
1. Podgoretsky Castle, Ukraine
The castle was built in the middle of the 17th century. The building was richly furnished, but all luxury was destroyed during the First World War. However, something was saved by Roman Sangushko, who shortly before the war was the owner of the castle. Roman removed several valuable pieces of furniture from the castle and brought them to Brazil in 1936. The use of the Podgoretsky castle did not end there: after the Second World War, a tuberculosis sanatorium was located in the building. In 1956 there was a fire that lasted 3 weeks and destroyed all the inner beauty. The Lviv Art Gallery is trying to restore the castle, but no noticeable success has been observed so far.
2. Miranda Castle, Celle, Belgium
This castle was built in 1866 according to the project of an English architect. It was owned by the Lederke-Bofot family from the moment it was built until World War II. Then the Belgian railway company took over the mansion. The building has been empty since 1991.
3. Halcyon Hall, Millbrook, New York, USA
The mansion was built in 1890 as a hotel, but was closed in 1901. However, the building was again in use a few years later: the Bennet School for Girls moved there. For some time, students from wealthy families live in Halcyon Hall. But still, the school stopped developing due to the popularization of joint education. Since 1978, when the school went bankrupt, the house has not been used by anyone.
4. Lillesden Mansion, UK
The mansion was built by Edward Lloyd, a banker in the mid 19th century. The house was sold after the First World War, becoming a public school for girls. But the school was also closed in 1999, and for 16 years no one has been using the building.
5. Bannerman Castle, New York, USA
And this bulk was rebuilt by a Scot, Francis Bannerman in 1900. The castle became the storehouse that formed the backbone of the Scot's business. And two years after his death, in 1918, there was an explosion: 200 tons of ammunition detonated and, as a result, part of the building was destroyed. This is not all the misadventures: in 1969 it flared up, and part of the roof and floors burned down. But even earlier, since 1950, the island is considered uninhabited: the ferry serving it sank during a storm. But that's not all. All that was left collapsed in 2009.
6. Manor in Muromtsevo, Russia
The estate was built by the architect Bortsov in the 19th century. The architect was the author of many castles in french style, but it is this manor that is the most memorable.
7. Palace of Prince Said Hasim, Cairo, Egypt
The residence was created in 1899 by the architect Antonio Lazias. After a while, it was refurbished and became the best school for boys in the country. However, it suffered the same fate as the buildings described above: since 2004, no one has been using the mansion.
Over many centuries of history, Europeans managed to build millions and millions of buildings - small and huge, elegant and ugly, typical and unique. The fate of some of them turned out to be not quite ordinary: their existence lost all meaning, and they turned into "haunted houses", "ghost castles", became ruins that attract attention and inspire a variety of feelings...
Belitz: a giant hospital in Germany
The medical complex in Belitz-Heilstetten (Belitz) near Berlin was built in the 19th century. At first, tuberculosis patients were treated there, the number of which in the German capital was growing rapidly, writes The Daily Mail. During the Second World War, the hospital was turned into a military hospital, and Adolf Hitler, who was wounded in the battle on the Somme, managed to receive treatment there.
In fact, a huge hospital (60 buildings in total) was a city-forming enterprise - it had its own post office, restaurant, bakery and power station. During the Second World War, the hospital was also used by the German army, and when Germany was divided into zones of influence, the largest Soviet military hospital outside the USSR was located in Belitsa.
After the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Germany, the hospital fell into disrepair. Several unsuccessful attempts were made to privatize it, for some time a neurological clinic worked in Belitsa, but by 2000 the entire complex was closed.
Today the hospital is in disrepair. The walls are covered with graffiti, and rusty beds can still be found here and there. Tourists can easily enter its territory - there is no protection here. By the way, some episodes of the Oscar-winning film "The Pianist" and "The Valkyries" with Tom Cruise were filmed in Belitsa.
Medieval ghost town in Italy
Craco - abandoned medieval city in southern Italy, 55 km from the city of Matera (Basilicata region). People have lived here for several millennia. In the 13th century, Krako was an important, well-fortified city, whose mountaintop towers still inspire respect.
However, in the period from 1892 to 1922, the city experienced a powerful wave of emigration - 1,300 people left for the United States. The reason was the deterioration of conditions for agriculture.
Since then, the city has remained empty - but not for tourists. This popular place, especially among those who are interested in ghosts. True, there are no official tours in Krako, so you can explore the city only at your own peril and risk.
Cracko is popular in the film world, with films such as She-Wolf (1953), The Passion of the Christ (2004) and Quantum of Solace (2008) filmed here.
Spreepark: the legendary "Disneyland" in the GDR
The Spreepark amusement park opened in Berlin in 1969. At that time it was the only amusement park in East Germany, and in better years it received 1.5 million visitors.
The fate of the park was also predetermined by the unification of Germany. In Germany, there were plenty of opportunities for entertainment, the flow of visitors declined sharply, and by 2001 the Spreepark was closed.
Six of the most popular rides were moved to Lima, but not the happiest fate awaited them there. The fact is that, according to The Telegraph, the owner of the park, Norbert White, hid cocaine in the cargo and was detained by the Peruvian authorities.
Until 2014, the Spreepark was open to the public, now the Berlin authorities have surrounded the territory with a fence.
Abandoned Romance: Miranda Castle in Belgium
Miranda Castle (Chateau Miranda) near the current French border was built in the middle of the 19th century by a family of French aristocrats who fled from the revolution. The luxurious neo-Gothic building, surrounded by a park, was designed by British architect Edward Milner.
The castle was used as summer residence before the Second World War, and the castle fell into the epicenter of fierce fighting between the German army and the allies. The building was taken over by the Belgian government, until 1980 summer camps for children. The owners of the castle tried to find investors and set up a hotel in the chateau, but this idea was not successful. As a result, in 1990 the castle was left in the hands of vandals and hooligans.
It is possible that Miranda Castle will soon disappear from the face of the earth. Today it attracts not only vandals, but also amateurs. thrill including Satanists. The owners have already signed a demolition permit, but activists are collecting signatures in an attempt to save this strange and gloomy structure.
Lake Resia and the flooded city
Not far from Italy's border with Austria and Switzerland, there is Lake Resia, which would not stand out from those around it if it were not for the lonely bell tower in the middle of the reservoir.
This bell tower is the only visible evidence that a city once existed on this site - Graun - which went under water more than 60 years ago. The residents of the city actively protested, but the desire of the electric power company to connect two natural reservoirs into one artificial one and build a hydroelectric power station on this site was so great that they did not listen to the voices of the residents. The city was blown up and flooded.
Only Graun's bell tower survived this destruction, which was specially left as a monument to the city. Nowadays, in the summer, you can ride a boat around the building here, and in the winter, you can walk to it on ice when the lake freezes over.
The legend says that if you listen carefully, in winter you can hear the ringing of church bells. However, this is just a legend without any basis - the bells were removed from the tower a week before the flood.
The abandoned forts of Maunsell
In the shallow waters of the North Sea off the coast of Great Britain, near Essex, abandoned sea forts UK air defense systems - The Maunsell Forts. They are reminiscent of the famous Martian tripods from HG Wells' novel The War of the Worlds.
It was originally planned to build 38 towers at the mouth of the Mersey and 49 towers at the mouth of the Thames. However, in the end, only 21 towers were built as part of three forts. During the Second World War, anti-aircraft batteries of the forts shot down 22 German aircraft and 30 cruise missiles.
The military ceased to be interested in the fate of the fortifications 10 years after the end of the war. No use was found for the forts. Some of them belong to private owners, rumors periodically arise that hotels can be equipped in the forts. But on this moment all you can do with them is to go around them on a boat as part of an excursion.
Symbol of the power of socialist Bulgaria
Mount Buzludzha (height - 1441 m) played a big role in the fate of Bulgaria. In 1868, a detachment of the Bulgarian military leader Hadji Dimitar died here in a battle with the Turks, and in 1891, the founding congress of the party was held on Buzludzha, which later turned into the Bulgarian Communist Party.
It is not surprising that it was here in 1981 that a huge memorial house in honor of the Bulgarian Communist Party was opened, which became the center for holding solemn mass events.
It is not surprising that after the collapse of the socialist camp, the complex in Buzludzha turned out to be useless. Now the memorial house has been completely looted, and the infrastructure facilities surrounding it - dachas, camp sites, etc. - privatized.
Due to its strange architecture and proportions, the monumental house in Buzludzha is regularly included in the lists of the most strange structures Europe. Today, its frequent guests are photographers, tourists and vandals.
Huge abandoned train station in Spain
Canfranc - small spanish city near the French border. The only attraction it boasts is the fantastic, luxurious, huge train station. Which has been closed for 45 years and has fallen into complete disrepair.
The station, opened in 1928, has become a pearl on railway route Pau Canfranc. The Art Nouveau building was 240 meters long and had 300 windows and 156 doors. A luxurious hotel was also built here, which was very popular in the 30s.
Second World War spared the station, but new Europe he wasn't really needed. In 1970, during the accident was destroyed railroad bridge on the French side, and France decided not to restore it. The station was closed, and today it is only of interest to vandals and tourists who like non-trivial sights.
Few would imagine that the sleepy Russian countryside could host gothic palaces. Nevertheless, here they are - majestic, beautiful, peculiar architectural gems unfairly forgotten and neglected.
Obviously, Russian architects in the 19th century quite often came to Europe and their creations were created under the influence of medieval castles and palaces built in the French style. Among these architects was P.S. Boytsov, who built a large number of bizarre estates in the Moscow region, similar to palaces:
Manor Muromtsevo between Murom and Vladimir
One of Boitsov's wealthy customers, V. Khrapovitsky, decided to build a real palace, and not just some kind of it. He bet and this dispute was a matter of his honor - to build a real palace in the French style with gardens decorated with giant sculptures and with an extended system of ponds and fountains:
Today it is a vast labyrinth of grandiose buildings and overgrown gardens - a sad, but very interesting place:
Khrapovitsky emigrated to France at the beginning of the Bolshevik turmoil, and since then his lands with the palaces located on them have fallen into decay.
Vladimir Semenovich died in the early twenties, and his wife, Elizaveta Ivanovna, was left without a livelihood. History made itself felt with the recent discovery of a letter from Khrapovitsky's wife, addressed in 1928 to the "good old peasants" of Muromtsevo, asking them to send money: apparently Khrapovitsky died in dire need and his only property was this land in Russia. The answer from the "free" peasants was only a simple four-word letter.
Here is the letter:
“Dear peasants! I appeal to you with a request: collect as much money as you can and send it to me. You now own the former land of my husband Vladimir Semyonovich Khrapovitsky, who died in poverty. I was now left alone without any means of subsistence for the poorest life. I am already 68 years old, I am sick and old, I cannot work.
I am happy that now you own the land, and we did not have children, all the same, my husband's desire was to give the land to the peasants. I appeal to your kind heart, please help me. God will not leave you. Enclosed is an envelope with my address. May God save you all! Elizaveta Ivanovna Khrapovitskaya. Tell us what happened to our Muromtsevo estate. Write to me in detail about it. I am with you with all my heart."
Beautiful Uspenskaya estate in the Moscow region, not far from Zvenigorod
One of the last owners of this castle was Sergei Morozov. Many have been here famous people Russia (for example, Levitan). Now the estate is in a deplorable state, despite the rich cultural heritage associated with this place, as well as its absolute architectural beauty.
Manor Vasilievskaya, also near Zvenigorod
Here lived the famous Russian figure, "the father of Russian socialism" writer and politician Herzen. This place seems to be taken from dark gothic novels.
Another outstanding creation of Boytsov is a neo-Gothic castle-mansion located not far from the famous dacha of Boris Yeltsin. Lenin also liked to visit here. former palace Meiendorf - truly unique monument architecture and deservedly occupies one of the first places among European palaces.
Its close location played a favorable role in its future fate- the castle was restored for the amount of 250 million dollars and converted into the Podushkino Palace. This is how he looks now.
Such a happy fate for such buildings fell out infrequently. Some mansions have been converted into research centers or even hospitals, however, today most of them are still abandoned and in a deplorable state.
All these estates were designed by the undeservedly forgotten and underestimated architect PS Boytsov.
