Ghost towns in Russia: a list and photos of dead cities for independent visit. The most creepy ghost towns, abandoned and forgotten

The number of abandoned cities, villages and villages on the territory of the former USSR cannot be accurately calculated. The political, economic and geological transformations of our state over the past 100 years have created a host of objects that are now left out of modern reality.

Abandoned cities in Russia formed a new layer of apocalyptic culture that arose at the turn of the millennium on the waves of the increasingly popular themes of the End of the World, the Mayan calendar, Vanga's predictions and big-budget Hollywood blockbusters. Now abandoned cities are actively used to create scenery for man's eternal fear of the Apocalypse. Musicians, photographers, "filmmakers", writers, stalkers and other people come here in an effort to find inspiration and drink "dead water" from the stream of something invisible and infinitely mysterious.

Alternative and extreme types of tourism are also gaining momentum. Standard attractions, exhausting with an abundance of information about themselves, attract fewer and fewer travelers. The modern tourist is slowly turning into a researcher chasing some kind of metaphysical "non-standard". Endless opportunities to share your "finds" via the Internet only contribute to the desire to stand out, unique and separate from the other "crowd".

Today we would also like to turn to the topic of abandoned cities. Topics for Russia and the countries of the former USSR are truly inexhaustible, and, moreover, extremely exciting and intriguing. Let's digress for a few minutes from the fear of these silent "ghosts" and slowly walk along their quiet, deserted streets.

1. Halmer-Yu (Komi Republic)

Abandoned cities of Russia: Khalmer-Yu.

Miners' village. Eliminated during perestroika due to the closure of coal mines.

Now the territory is used as a military training ground, the call sign "Pemba". On August 17, 2005, during a strategic aviation exercise, a Tu-160 bomber carrying Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin launched three missiles at the former cultural center of an abandoned village.

2. Old Gubakha (Perm Territory)

Abandoned cities of Russia: Old Gubakha.

An abandoned mining village near a depleted coal mine. High degree of destruction of buildings.

3. Industrial (Komi Republic)

Abandoned cities of Russia: Industrial.

Mining village. In 1998, an explosion at a local mine claimed the lives of 27 miners. The bodies of 19 of them were never found. The mine was closed, the village was empty.

4. Jubilee (Perm Territory)

Abandoned cities of Russia: Jubilee.

5. Iultin (Chukotka Autonomous Okrug)

Abandoned cities of Russia: Iultin.

6. Kolendo (Sakhalin region)

Abandoned cities of Russia: Kolendo.

7. Nizhneyansk (Yakutia)

Abandoned cities of Russia: Nizhneyansk.

8. Fin whale (Kamchatka Territory)

Abandoned cities of Russia: Finval.

9. Alykel (Taimyr Autonomous District)

Abandoned cities of Russia: Alykel.

10. Neftegorsk (Sakhalin region)

Abandoned cities of Russia: Neftegorsk.

11. Kursha-2 (Ryazan region)

Abandoned cities of Russia: Kursha-2.

12. Mologa (Yaroslavl region)

Abandoned cities of Russia: Mologa.

13. Charonda (Vologda region)

Abandoned cities of Russia: Charonda.

14. Amderma (Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug)

Abandoned cities of Russia: Amderma.

15. Korzunovo (Murmansk region)

Abandoned cities of Russia: Korzunovo.

City of pilots and gunners. Yuri Gagarin served here in the 1950s.

16. Kadykchan (Magadan region)

Abandoned cities of Russia: Kadykchan.

A ghost town whose inhabitants mined coal for the Arkagalinskaya GRES.

17. Pripyat (Ukraine)

Abandoned cities on the territory of the former USSR: Pripyat.

18. Chernobyl-2 (Ukraine)

Abandoned cities on the territory of the former USSR: Chernobyl-2.

An abandoned city, and previously the military lived here, serving the Soviet over-the-horizon radar station "Duga" for an early detection system for intercontinental ballistic missile launches.

19. Sharp-eyed (Belarus)

Abandoned cities on the territory of the former USSR: Ostroglyady.

The ghost village was resettled after the Chernobyl disaster.

Without taking into account Pripyat, since this city is today not in Russia, but in Ukraine, let's name 10 ghost towns of our country, the most famous:

1. Mologa

The city was located near Rybinsk, at the confluence of the river of the same name into the Volga. It was created at the end of the 12th century, in the 15th-19th centuries it was a major trading center. In 1936, during the construction of the Rybinsk Hydroelectric Complex, it was flooded along with 700 villages. But this was not the cause of death. After 1941, the city was given by the authorities to be "torn to pieces" by convicts. The inhabitants watched with sadness as they dismantled their small homeland stone by stone. After the authorities decided to relocate the townspeople. Most of the people were forcibly taken to other cities. Of the approximately 5,000 people, only 294 Mologans remained. After a wave of suicides swept among them (many drowned themselves on the Mologozhsky reservoir), the authorities decided to evict the rest and cross Mologa out of the list of cities that have ever existed. Her mention as a place of birth was punishable by arrest and imprisonment. Soon Mologa went under water. Only twice a year does it come to the surface, exposing ancient cemeteries and bridge churches.

2. Iultin

The city, located in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, was once one of the largest polymetallic deposits. When in the early 90s molybdenum, tungsten and tin began to be mined unprofitably, workers began to slowly leave it. It completely emptied in 2000.

3. Alykel

Alykel (translated from Dolgan - "marshy meadow") is located near Norilsk. It has never been inhabited by people. No, of course, at first the authorities wanted military pilots to live there with their families, and even began building new houses for them. But soon, for unknown reasons, everything was abandoned. Today, the city is left to be torn apart by ruthless time, difficult weather conditions and marauders.

4. Kadykchan

The city of the Magadan region, whose name in Even language means "small gorge", was built by political prisoners in wartime along with a mine. In 1986, an explosion occurred at the mine, killing 6 people. It was decided to close it. People began to move to other cities. In 2012, an elderly man lived in Kadykchan, who did not want to leave the place he was used to.

5. Halmer-Yu

The village, whose name alone is truly impressive (translated from the Nenets - "Dead River"), is located in the Komi Republic. It began to be built in 1943, when a valuable rock of coal was discovered here. On December 25, 1993, a decree was issued on its closure and liquidation of the mine. People began to be evicted with the help of OMON. They were forcibly herded into wagons and taken to Vorkuta. In 2005, during military exercises, the House of Culture was destroyed. 3 missiles were fired at it from the Tu-160 bomber, on which Vladimir Putin was, already being the president of Russia. Today no one lives in Halmer-Yu.

6. Nizhneyansk

The Yakut city of Nizhneyansk, located in the delta of the Yana River, arose in 1954 and for 10 years was inhabited by rivermen from Yansk, who were supposed to serve the river port and serve it. In 1958 it was designated as a working settlement. In 1989, about 3 thousand people still lived in it. To date, less than 150 people live in the city, or rather, "live out" their days, and no one needs them. And he himself is badly damaged.

7. Old Gubakha (Perm Territory)

It was once a mining village. Today it is very much destroyed.

8. Nave tegorsk (Sakhalin region)

Until 1970, it was called Vostok and consisted of about 3,100 people. May 28, 1995 was destroyed by an earthquake that occurred at one in the morning. Over 1000 people died. To date, the city has not been restored. A memorial complex was built on its territory, a chapel was built and a cemetery was placed where all the dead are buried. It should be noted that the "landscape design" of Neftegorsk can be used for filming films about the Apocalypse.

9. Kursha-2 (Ryazan region)

The workers' settlement was built almost immediately after the revolution. The main task of its inhabitants was the development of significant reserves of the Central Meshchera forest. In 1936, a strong fire broke out here, which, with the help of the wind, quickly reached the village and swallowed up all its inhabitants, leaving only 20 out of 1,200 people.

10. Industrial (Komi Republic)

The city was founded on November 30, 1956. 2 mines operated on its territory: "Industrial", which was closed in 1995, and "Central". On the second at 03:46 hours on January 18, 1998, a terrible fire broke out, which led to an explosion of methane and the appearance of coal dust. 27 miners out of 49 who were there at the moment died, 17 were missing. After the incident, the Central mine was liquidated. In 2005, a school in Promyshlenny was closed, and people began to leave. In 2007, the village was officially closed. At that time, 450 people lived in it.

This list is closed, but far from complete. How many more cities, villages and villages have died out, how many people are left without their small homeland, probably no one can count.

Kadykchan

Kadykchan, Magadan - literally means "Death Valley". It was a small densely populated town, near which rich coal deposits were found. In the 80s of the last century, more than ten thousand people lived on the territory of Kadykchan. However, after an explosion in one of the mines and the defrosting of the city's boiler house, it was rapidly abandoned by the inhabitants and eventually turned into a city.

Halmer-Yu

Khalmer-Yu (“Dead River”) is an urban-type settlement in the Komi Republic. It became a ghost town in 1993 after the decision of the Russian government to liquidate the village, many people were then forcibly evicted. Today it has turned into a military training ground, where exercises are regularly held.

Alykel is an unfinished city of military pilots. While the military unit was alive, several apartment buildings were built here, ready to receive many families, but after the squadron was disbanded, the village was abandoned.

Neftegorsk

Neftegorsk, Sakhalin region - a dead city, from which only ruins remained. At the beginning of May 1995, more than 3,000 people lived in the city. On the night of May 28, 1995, a powerful earthquake of magnitude 9 occurred, which destroyed Neftegorsk to the ground and claimed the lives of most of its population. According to official figures, more than two thousand people died under concrete rubble in their own beds that terrible night. After the tragedy, the city was decided not to be restored. The only new construction was a memorial and a chapel near the cemetery where the victims of the earthquake are buried.

Bechevinka-fin whale

Bechevinka-Finval is a military town on Sakhalin intended for families of military sailors. In the early 90s, this small town, like many others, turned out to be unnecessary to the new authorities and the military unit was disbanded. The houses in Bechevinskaya Bay are empty, but they continue to stand, making a frightening impression on the rare visitors to this place.

In the 1990s, dozens of cities, urban-type settlements and hundreds of villages disappeared from the map of Russia. They turned out to be no longer needed by their homeland and became ghost towns: Iultin, Korzunovo, Promyshlenny, Kolendo, Amderma.

Mologa

Mologa is a city with one of the most mysterious stories of the Soviet period. The history of this city at the time of its death totaled eight centuries; it was a fairly large trading center with a developed infrastructure. In 1939, for the sake of building the Rybinsk reservoir, this city and 700 villages adjacent to it were decided to be flooded. There were rumors that not all residents agreed to move, more than two hundred people, contrary to the orders of the authorities, decided to stay and the city was flooded with them, and those who survived committed suicide. After the liquidation, it was forbidden to even mention its existence under pain of criminal punishment, although this is more like a scary tale about the horrors of Stalinism.

Buying your own home is a very important step towards independence and organizing your personal life. It is important to know what you need to pay attention to so that the house or apartment you buy does not disappoint you.

Instruction

Decide where you want to buy a house or apartment. It is desirable that the area is located in an ecologically safe zone, but at the same time it has good infrastructure. Find out in advance about the purity of the air in the chosen place, the proximity of transport interchanges, the availability of a good road, whether there is a kindergarten, school, clinic, shops in the area.

Contact a real estate agency. Professionals will be able to help in the selection of options, but each of them should be checked personally.

When choosing, pay attention to the age of the house and the date of the last overhaul. This does not mean that a dwelling built later will necessarily be better in quality. A Soviet house may be inferior to a modern one in terms of layout and price, but be more reliable and durable. Inspect the apartment from the inside, including assessing the condition of its walls, ceiling, floor, heating system. An important indicator of dilapidation can also be the appearance of the balcony - if it is damaged and even crumbles from below, then the condition of the entire structure may be poor.

When buying a private house or cottage, contact a master builder who will help you evaluate not only the quality of the walls and roof, but also sewerage and other auxiliary systems, the repair of which costs a decent amount.

Find out who will be your neighbors. Talk to some of them, ask if there are any apartments nearby with alcoholics, drug addicts or just lovers of noisy parties living there. An unpleasant neighborhood can greatly spoil your life in a new apartment.

Evaluate the apartment in terms of security and legal purity of the transaction. By the time of purchase, all of its old occupants must be deregistered, and there must be no cases or applications in the local magistrate's court regarding challenging previous transactions with this housing.

System elections in Russia, as in any other democratic state, is an essential element of the political system. It is regulated by the electoral law - a set of norms, laws, binding on all subjects of the Russian Federation. The electoral system reflects the principles and conditions for the formation of state bodies, and also establishes the procedure and organization of the process elections are direct, general elections carried out by secret ballot. It is designed to ensure freedom of election campaigning and equal rights for all candidates participating in the election. During the election campaign. A feature of the election process Russia is the mixed principle of the representation system. It uses both majoritarian and proportional methods of nominating candidates. With a majoritarian approach, one from one constituency by an absolute or relative majority of votes. But in this case, the minority does not have its own representation in the authorities. The use of a proportional scheme allows the minority to receive seats in and have representation adequate to the size of this minority. With it, a correspondence is established between the number of votes cast for a particular party and the number of seats that representatives of this party will receive in parliament. A significant drawback of this system is that the connection between the electorate and a specific deputy, a representative of the party that won the election, is lost. Because in Russia this process has not yet been completed and new parties are constantly emerging on the political field, recently there has been talk of stopping for the time being at elections.

Abandoned cities in a very short time begin to collapse. Paths in parks are overgrown with bushes, iron structures are rusting. One of these cities is Pripyat, because of the radiation here even the animals have changed.

Cities are born for a long time, but they can die in an instant. A terrible tragedy occurred in Ukraine in 1986 - a nuclear reactor exploded. Since then, no one has lived in Pripyat. The city will be overgrown with trees and soon there will be no trace left of it. Recently, enterprising people organize excursions for those who are not afraid of radiation and want to tickle their nerves. Eyewitnesses say they saw strange animals and birds in these places. It is better not to walk alone here, because the animals have become intelligent and hunt for aliens for food.

In Taiwan, the small town of Sanji was built. It had houses of an unusual shape, and he himself was very interesting. In 1980, people left him due to financial difficulties. Later they tried to use it as a resort, but again nothing came of it. So he stands idle. Locals say that strange and terrible things happen in this place, so it was not worth creating any buildings at all. It is known that some extreme people disappeared in an abandoned city and then it was impossible to find them.

In some cases, the scariest cities look downright ordinary at first glance. However, it is known that megacities also have their own, secret life, which differs significantly from the usual, daytime one. At night in such places, it is best not to leave the house at all. It happens because of crime. Drug addicts, ready to kill anyone for a dose, hunt for lonely passers-by at night in order to steal at least some money and buy themselves dope. They will kill without hesitation anyone who gets in their way. In Honduras, there is the city of San Pedro Sula, which is home to an incredible number of drug traffickers. Murders happen here all the time.

In Russia, Perm is considered one of the most terrible cities. There are several bandit groups that commit robberies and murders. Rarely does a day go by without such horrific crimes. In America, Detroit and Oakland enjoy similar fame. The cause of crime here is called the very poor financial situation of people, because of this they are forced to earn their living in such a barbaric way. Many are accustomed to consider America a prosperous country, but 40% of the inhabitants live in it below the poverty line. They are poorly educated, cannot find a job and receive legal income, and therefore go to crime.

There are scary cities in Western Europe as well. In the Czech Republic, in the city of Kutna Hora, there is a museum that can terrify the most courageous person. In 1278, a monk brought here some earth from Calvary, and people from almost all of the Czech Republic began to be buried in this place. Over time, the cemetery has outgrown all imaginable sizes. Then the old bones were dug up to make room for new burials. An experienced wood carver was invited, who created various figures from skulls and other remains. Some people like it, others don't, but at least it's very unusual and attracts visitors.

Bran Castle was built in the Carpathians during the Middle Ages. It is made in the Gothic style and is located in the mountains. A rather creepy place, especially considering that one of the most cruel people lived here, later called the vampire Dracula. The castle was also named after him. According to legend, the baron kidnapped young girls and drank their blood, thanks to which he gained immortality. Now a museum is equipped here, which lovers of mysticism visit with pleasure.

Cities are scary for a variety of reasons. Sometimes due to the fact that people leave them and settlements become ghosts, overgrown with trees and destroyed. In other cases, the cause is crime.

There are many ghost towns on the planet, and they are in almost every country. Such places appear for various reasons: due to man-made or natural disasters, genocide, or simply a decline in economic activity in the settlement. All this makes people leave their homes. So, the infamous Pripyat turned into a ghost town after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the inhabitants left the Italian Krako because of landslides, there are dozens of mining villages in Africa, and there are abandoned cities in India. But most of these cities are in China. True, these are not just abandoned cities, but quite the opposite, cities “for growth”: settlements are constantly being built, but no one lives in them. There are about twenty such cities in the Middle Kingdom, and 64 million houses are empty in them. And this is in overpopulated China, where problems with housing and population have reached the national level! We decided to show you one of them - the largest ghost town in the world.

City for the future?

Ordos began to be built in the early 2000s in the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia (hence the Turkic roots and the connection with the word "horde").

It is designed for 1 million inhabitants. However, no more than 20 thousand people live here, and approximately 98% of the buildings are empty. In fact, a terrible picture, it seems that some kind of epidemic broke out in Ordos and most of the population simply died out.

Skyscrapers, administrative buildings, residential buildings and towers are empty here, there are even universities in Ordos, and there is not a soul in them either. All this is connected by communications and roads, but no one lives here.

And when night falls, the landscapes here become even more eerie.

A goldmine that didn't live up to expectations

In the Kangbashi region, where the Ordos was rebuilt, huge reserves of coal and other natural resources were discovered in the early 2000s. Therefore, skyscrapers, museums, theaters and administrative buildings instantly grew in these territories.

They also built sleeping areas, where there are even cozy cottages for more prosperous Chinese. The construction of Ordos was completed in 2010, and it is spread over a vast area of 355 square kilometers. But the city found itself in some kind of financial bubble: rich Chinese, who head large funds, almost immediately bought out all the real estate, considering the purchases as investments. After all, the city was potentially supposed to be successful, so the plans were to resell all the property at a higher price. However, residents of Inner Mongolia simply do not have the money to buy apartments.

Even during construction, the developer set the price for housing at 10-11 thousand dollars per square meter, and after a few years it fell by 2-3 times. Still, 4-4.5 thousand dollars per square meter is an exorbitant price for residents of the region, where average wages barely exceed $400 a month.

The fate of the giant ghost town

Of course, after the delivery of real estate in Ordos, you will not envy the management companies. They suffer huge losses, as they fully serve the infrastructure of the city: they repair the streets, clean up, plant trees and shrubs in areas, there are not even interruptions in lighting. It takes about 10-12 million dollars every month.

So, despite the fact that the city is empty, he lives. But to say (as they say about other Chinese cities) that life is seething in it is completely impossible. Ordos is under constant guard, there are policemen who keep order. No one plundered the city, so tourists have nothing to fear here. You can walk around the desert metropolis, ride bicycles or skateboards right along the roads, take amazing and a little frightening photos and imagine yourself as the hero of a post-apocalyptic film - this is what travelers go to Ordos for.

Of course, you can meet residents here, but very rarely. Basically, these are law enforcement officers, or a few factory workers who managed to buy an apartment.

By the way, the Chinese government plans to buy apartments for retired military men here, however, at best, there will be no more than 20-25 thousand people, and this is another 2-2.5% of the living citizens. At this rate of settlement, Ordos would only become populated half a century later.