From Rome to Cairo to Beijing, some of the oldest settlements in the world are still in a perpetual state of change, where the remnants of the past continue to be replaced by parts of the present to give them their unique historic look. Then, there are these places that seem stuck in time due to abandonment or neglect, giving us rare glimpses into their past when they were thriving communities and booming industrial settlements.
10. Bodie, California
Bodie, California was once a busy mining town during the Gold Rush period in the late 19th century, with a population of nearly 10,000 people and over 2,000 buildings. Its peak was short-lived, however, with the mines rapidly depleting by 1881 and multiple fires devastating many parts of the town in the subsequent years. Today, Bodie is one of the largest and best-preserved ghost towns in the United States.
In 1962, the California Department of Parks and Recreation took over Bodie, implementing a preservation strategy they called ‘arrested decay’. When the last residents departed, they made sure that the interiors and structures across the town were left untouched – including about 200 buildings like hotels, a jail, a church, and the Standard Stamp Mill. Today, visitors can explore the town and take daily tours to learn about the gold extraction process.
9. Oasis Bordello Museum, Idaho
The Oasis Bordello Museum in Wallace, Idaho is a glimpse into an illegal mining-town brothel that operated at the property until 1988. This establishment, then run by one ‘Madam Ginger’, saw a lot of activity every day, with each worker attending to an average of 40 customers a night. Wallace itself was a busy mining community during the turn of the century, although with a gender imbalance of about 200 men for every woman.
The museum has preserved the rooms and artifacts left behind by the sex workers, allowing visitors to see the everyday details of their lives. From lingerie to nail polish and even a list of clients, one can still see the tiny things that made up everyday life at the brothel at its peak. It wasn’t just a place of indulgence, either, as the madame that owned the brothel also contributed towards the local school marching band’s uniforms. The operation was ultimately shut down after an FBI raid in 1988.
8. Leningradskaya, Antarctica
Located in Antarctica’s Victoria Land region, the Leningradskaya research station dates back to the Soviet era of scientific exploration in the Antarctic region. It was established in 1971 by the Soviet Antarctic Expedition, serving as an important overseas research base for about two decades in fields like meteorology, magnetism, and oceanology.
The station sits on top of a rocky outcrop and operated until 1991, before it was abandoned due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, high cost of its maintenance, and its remote location. In the years since, Leningradskaya has changed little from its active days, as most of its structures and equipment remain largely untouched. While the Russian Antarctic Expedition has considered reopening it for research in the past few decades, the station remains closed and inoperative as of now.
7. Pripyat, Ukraine
Once a bustling city near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, Pripyat is now a ghost town due to the infamous events of April 26, 1986. After the Chernobyl disaster – often called one of the worst nuclear accidents in history – the city was heavily affected by radiation and promptly abandoned by all of its residents. This sudden evacuation left Pripyat’s urban trees largely untouched, resulting in a unique city forest that has remained almost the same for over a quarter of a century.
Pripyat used to house about 50,000 residents, and visitors can still explore the remains of everyday life in the town, including an abandoned amusement park with decaying bumper cars and a ferris wheel. While radiation levels are still a huge concern for the entire region, a few tours are allowed for brief periods, as Ukrainian authorities claim that visiting Chernobyl exposes tourists to less radiation than a routine chest X-ray. The country now wants to designate parts of the 1,000-square-mile Chernobyl exclusion zone, including Pripyat, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
6. Oradour-Sur-Glane, France
Oradour-sur-Glane is a rural town in central France, and the site of a horrific atrocity during the Second World War. On June 10, 1944, exactly two years after something similar happened in the Czechoslovakian village of Lidice, German Waffen-SS troops massacred 642 men, women, and children living in the town, followed by setting fire to most of its structures.
The reason for the German attack is still a subject of debate among historians. Some suggest that it was a reprisal attack for the assassination of SS Sturmbannführer Helmut Kämpfe, while others think that the town was unfortunate enough to be on the route to Normandy in the earlier phases of the war. Regardless of the motive, the village was almost-completely destroyed during the raid.
After the war, the ruins of Oradour-sur-Glane were carefully preserved by the French government to serve as a reminder of the horrors of the war. Spread across about 40 acres, the site receives hundreds of thousands of visitors annually and is maintained by the Ministry of Culture.
5. Old Town Museum, Denmark
Located in central Aarhus in the eastern Jutland region of Denmark, Den Gamle By – also called the Old Town Museum – is an open-air museum built to replicate the historical eras of the country, from the late 19th century to the 1970s. The museum features over 70 half-timbered houses brought from various regions of Denmark, some of them reconstructed to resemble a provincial market town from the period of Hans Christian Andersen.
If you want to visit, you can hop onto one of the many horse-drawn wagons riding around the site during most hours. Every building, store, and workshop houses craftsmen and other skilled workers practicing their trades exactly like they would in their respective eras. The central museum is made up of many smaller museums, like the Danish Poster Museum, Toy Museum, and Gallery of Decorative Arts.
4. Wieliczka Salt Mine, Poland
Dating back to the Middle Ages, the Wieliczka Salt Mine is now a UNESCO World Heritage that attracts over a million visitors annually. The mine served as a crucial resource for Poland’s economy at the time, producing table salt from the 13th century until 2006 when it was transformed into a tourist attraction. Today, one can see intricate statues, chandeliers, and entire chapels from salt blocks designed by skilled miners-turned-sculptors. The central attraction is the underground cathedral called the Chapel of St. Kinga, complete with a statue of Pope John Paul II and a depiction of The Last Supper.
According to the legends, the place is full of hidden treasures and supernatural activities. Today, the Wieliczka Salt Mine doubles up as a cultural venue for events, concerts, exhibitions, and even weddings. Some say that the microclimate within the mine – with its humidity and air-borne salt particles – holds therapeutic properties, especially for respiratory conditions.
3. Tyneham, UK
In December 1943, all the residents of Tyneham in Dorset, UK, were abruptly forced to evacuate within 28 days as a part of the British military’s preparations for D-Day. The sudden departure left the village deserted, with its once-thriving community of farmers and fishermen gone overnight. Today, Tyneham remains a part of the Lulworth firing ranges owned by the Ministry of Defence. While tourists can still visit the town, it’s still not accessible 24/7 due to sporadic military training exercises and limited road access.
One can still see many parts of regular life from before and during the Second World War throughout the town, including the village’s telephone kiosk and a 1929 K1 Mark 236. Much of the town’s appearance has been restored by the authorities to give it a historic, ‘frozen in time’ look. The village church still displays the villagers’ daily lives during that time, including a letter pinned to its door from 1943 that promises the return of all of its residents. That never happened, as the location remained in use by the military after the beginning of the Cold War.
2. Parque El Capricho Bunker, Spain
The Parque el Capricho Bunker is located in the Capricho Park in Madrid, Spain. While the park was originally commissioned by the Duchess of Osuna between 1787 and 1839, it turned into a major center of Republican activity during the Spanish Civil War, resulting in the building of a secure, underground bunker that exists in its original form even today.
The bunker, also known as Posición Jaca, provided refuge to many high-ranking Republicans defending Madrid from Nationalist forces. Concealed beneath many layers of soil, the subterranean space could accommodate up to 200 people for extended periods, complete with amenities like toilets, offices, and electricity. Features like ventilation chimneys and an interconnected communications system further ensured their safety and connection with the outside world.
1. Havana, Cuba
Havana, Cuba, is one of the few cities around the world that seem to be stuck in time. One can spot photographers around the city documenting its colonial buildings and vintage cars, earning the Old Town of Havana the designation of a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Much of the old look of Havana could be attributed to the continuous US embargo that limits the city’s access to modern alternatives. According to some reports, Havana is home to around 60,000 Pontiacs, Buicks, and Fords dating back to decades ago, many of them repurposed and repainted multiple times to preserve their functionality. Despite the visual appeal of its old-town charm, however, the residents of the city continue to face real-life hardships like the unbearable heat, lack of internet connectivity, and a strictly cash-based economy.