Mysterious Places

Kolmanskop was a small settlement in Namibia that saw a boom in the early 1900s when German settlers realized that the area was rich in diamonds. The surge of wealth gave out after WWI, however, when the diamond field began to deplete. By the 1950s, the town was completely deserted, and is now visited by photographers and tourists.

Jutting out of the waters of the Thames Estuary, The Maunsell Forts slowly rust. Built in 1942, these offshore fortified towers were designed to provide anti-aircraft fire during the Second World War. After they were decommissioned in the late 1950s, a number of the structures were re-occupied by pirate radio stations. However, for the past three decades the forts have stood abandoned and largely unknown.

This former United States ocean liner was wrecked in 1994 after 54 years of service.

The former headquarters of Bulgaria’s Communist Party are just as eerie on the outside as on the inside. The flying-saucer-like building, while probably a wonder while it was in use from 1981 until 1991, went into disrepair soon after the fall of the Soviet Union. It is now a ghost of its former self, although plans are being made to restore it.

Empty since 1967, this “Model Prison” still radiates desperation and paranoia. Inspired by the Panopticon, its oppressive architecture was designed to create a sense of constant, invisible omniscience. Commissioned in 1926 by dictator  Gerardo Machado , the prison’s inmates once included Fidel Castro. However, under Castro’s government the population ballooned to over 6,000 “enemies” of the state. Now a museum, visitors can experience the forbidding atmosphere still present in these echoing corridors and vacant cells.

These small domed structures were built in 1981 on Cape Romano off the coast of Florida in the U.S. They were the summer home of oil producer  Bob Lee  before falling into disrepair. What their fate will be today is still uncertain.