When we see a building sitting abandoned, it’s easy to forget how much had to happen for it to exist in the first place. Someone had to have a big idea and follow through on it enough to not only secure some land and have the place built, but also ensure that all the T’s were crossed and I’s were dotted when it came to zoning laws and planning permission.
But no matter how much of their love and effort went into that building, something clearly went wrong along the way and nobody could find a use for it anymore. This likely has something to do with why they always seem to have a haunting quality when urban explorers check them out.
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And as we’ll see, they also have a distinct, compelling aesthetic that makes it easy to see why those explorers keep coming back.
This ski jump ramp in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina has a surprisingly dark history behind it.
During the ’90s, what began as a part of the 1984 Olympic Games ended up seeing use as an artillery position during the Siege of Sarajevo.
This was also true of the bobsled and luge track, which visitors can still see the bullet holes in today.
You’ve likely heard that schools of the past used to operate in one room and it seems that some of those early schoolhouses still stand.
Although it’s obviously fallen into disrepair, it’s still interesting to see that the books in this 1884 schoolhouse in Snake Run, Indiana were relatively untouched.
When a building is abandoned in a rural setting, it’s fairly easy to predict what will eventually happen.
As we can see, this English farmhouse is deep in the process of being reclaimed by nature. It may get to the point where we forget that a house was even here.
Based on the lovely architecture, it’s clear that this was once a very respectable establishment.
Apparently, it was a hotel in Scotland, but no matter how beautiful it is, that only means so much in an industry as volatile as the hospitality one.
Although it’s often a mystery as to how the buildings we see came to be abandoned, there’s a pretty clear reason in this case.
As the uploader wrote , this tower in Sanford, North Carolina was once a factory and then a fabric store.
However, it quickly became neither of those things once it had a fire.
Each abandoned building has its own character, but none are more haunting than an abandoned asylum.
Here we see what remains of the electroencephalogram machine. In a place like this, it can feel like the ghosts of the pain that was experienced here almost emanate from the walls.
Although we can see some fascinating dilapidation at the Alameda Naval Base in California, it may not look like this for long.
At least, that seems to be the impression that commenters from the area are getting because a new round of development seems to be going on in more recent times.
Sometimes, it’s not exactly accurate to call a place “abandoned.”
Although this Florida elementary school was closed 12 years ago, it’s clearly been fairly well-maintained and still has electricity.
Indeed, more than a few urban explorers have found out the hard way that some of these seemingly abandoned buildings still have owners who care about trespassers.
It’s kind of interesting how the right architecture can make a building with a perfectly mundane purpose seem sinister.
This abandoned structure, for instance, seems a lot more imposing than its history as a lime kiln would suggest.
The fact that it apparently hasn’t served that purpose since 1944 doesn’t help, of course.
When a railroad stops seeing use, it’s not unheard of to find a train lying abandoned on its tracks.
And that’s precisely what this explorer is taking their photo inside of. And based on all the graffiti, they’re clearly not the first person to discover it.
Based on its design, it seems likely that this part of the Rocky Edge Estate in Indiana was once a greenhouse.
And considering that nature seems to be flourishing here now that everyone else is gone, I suppose we can say that it’s still serving its purpose.
Somewhere in Croatia exists an abandoned plane that seems popular with urban explorers nowadays.
And while many abandoned sites feature a lot of graffiti, we can see from this photo that this plane’s visitors prefer to leave their mark with stickers.
Based on a short documentary posted to YouTube by the uploader , it’s clear that far more of these stickers were left on the exterior than inside the cockpit.
While much of the site surrounding the former Chernobyl power plant has since become open to the public, this chamber is a notable exception.
What we’re seeing here is the plant’s Reactor Block 5, but the reason why it’s off-limits likely has more to do with the fact that there wasn’t a chance to finish it before the disaster occurred than any radioactive danger.
As we’ve seen, abandoned sights are a prime spot for graffiti, but this former strip mall in Arkadelphia, Arkansas bears some actual street art.
It’s unclear what exactly inspired someone to paint the Pokémon Octillery on this wall, but the likeness is pretty good nonetheless.
In some cases, urban explorers provide the only means for us to see the lovely imperfections of an abandoned building.
While many of them still stand today, it seems that this former coal wash plant in Indiana has since been demolished.
There’s an oddly lifeless sense of serenity when we come across an abandoned building in a secluded place.
While I’ve never been to this abandoned barn in Missouri, I imagine it would be hard not to look around nervously as you venture inside.
That is, if the fact that it looks like it could fall apart at any time doesn’t deter you from doing that.
The unique architecture of a place can really stand out when there’s nothing else around to distract you from it.
That’s the first thought that came to mind when someone shared these domed ticket booths from an abandoned children’s zoo in Detroit.
There may still be animals here, but they’re hardly what we’d call exotic and they showed up on their own.
When a castle lies in disrepair, we really do get a sense that the mighty have fallen.
Someone was once powerful enough to have this place adorned with an array of elegant pillars, but that power has obviously waned enough that anyone can just show up and doodle all over them now.
This was once the military stockade at Fort Ord in Seaside, California, but it seems like it would have a hard time holding anybody now.
Although I suppose that all the sand and debris that now litter the ground would make for some fairly difficult terrain.
Even escalators in abandoned malls are often too cut off from nature for a scene like this to be possible, but this one obviously started in a different environment.
While it’s a strangely beautiful sight on its own, I think it’s the rarity of a sight like this that makes it all the more special.
