8 ghost cities to discover in Europe

Do you want to shiver during an unusual experience? If so, here is a selection of ghost cities to discover in Europe!

Whether you’re a temeral, an urban or just curious exploration fair, visiting a ghost town is an unforgettable moment. Human beings may be forced to leave their territory for a large number of reasons: ecological disaster, economic marasm, war or industrial accident. In these cases, what he has begun to build is quickly a fantomatic appearance bathing things in a supernatural aura. This explains the fascination of tourists of a new genre, who have come to discover unusual and sometimes very anxious places. Operators are even starting to exploit this financial network for the least astonishing, at a thousand places of classic tourist destinations.

Did you know that not far from home were some of the world's most famous abandoned cities? We decided to talk to you about these ghost cities to discover in Europe to learn more.

Here are some of the most amazing ghost cities in the European continent, carefully chosen by Wanderlix. Here we go!

1. Pripyat, Ukraine

Pripyat is a Ukrainian city of 50,000 inhabitants who had the special feature of welcoming the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in its periphery. Built in 1970, it was completely deserted sixteen years later when the plant experienced a major nuclear incident. Today Pripyat is an authentic ghost town, quite scary. Tour operators of a new genre exploit this macabre filon to take tourists to visit this abandoned city to nature.

Overlooked by a large wheel with vehicle wrecks, empty buildings and deserted places, Pripyat is also a very interesting site to realize the resilience of nature. It has regained its rights, gradually recovering human constructions from plants. If you want to realize the state of this ghost city to discover in Europe, one solution: to get there.

2. Oradour-sur-Glane, France

The city of Oradour-sur-Glane is located in the department of Haute-Vienne. For horribly historical reasons, she is part of the ghost cities to be discovered in Europe. During the Second World War, the Nazi occupant decided to carry out a retaliation operation in the heart of the village. After gathering the inhabitants of the village, the Nazis decided to execute them summarily before destroying the village. Review: 642 victims and a village almost shaved. After the war, it was decided not to rebuild it to make it a sanctuary in memory of the unfortunate victims...

Today it is possible to visit this place of memory where a museum has been erected. Young French people often visit the village as part of school trips. You can do as much if you wish, alone or during a guided tour.

3. Pyramid, Norway

Pyramidn? No, it’s not in Egypt that’s happening: you’re talking about a town on Spitzberg Island, in Svalbard, one of the coldest places in the world! No one has lived there since the 1990s. After being sold to the USSR and then to a mining company, this city, where coal was extracted, was abandoned after the latter’s reefing. And today... Nothing lives in Pyramiden. We can see buildings caught in the ice, some polar bears, and that’s all.

If you bring an interest to ghost cities to discover in Europe and you go there, you will be a privileged one. Due to the difficulty of accessing the place, few tourists had the chance to set foot there!

4. Craco, Italy

The village of Craco really has nothing to do with ghost cities to discover in Europe cited above: it was founded more than 1,300 years ago! Located south of Italy, built on a hill, it is Mother Nature that he owes his abandonment. Indeed, many landslides made human presence impossible. But the village, though deserted, is not all the time: used by filmmakers from all over the world for its picturesque side, it is also taken by the scientific community.

In fact, the researchers come to study the delightful effects of landslides on constructions, making Craco a leading scientific place of interest for engineers to refine the design of antisismic buildings.

5. Belchite, Spain

The story of Belchite resembles that of Oradour-sur-Glane. Belchite was the thunder of multiple confrontations over the last centuries: during the war of independence in 1809, and the civil war between 1936 and 1939. The bombings and massacres ended up being right about the hamlet of Belchite, which Franco decided not to rebuild to make it a place of memory. Finally, the population decided to build a second village in the area to respect the memory of the many disappeared.

Today... we can explore the ruins that seem to be smoking as the place pierces the horror of war. Belchite is certainly one of the ghost cities to be discovered in Europe that forever mark the visitor of one day: sensations guaranteed!

6. Mystra, Greece

Mystra is a city that the Byzantines built in the hills of the Peloponnese. If the ancient city is now part of the ghost cities to be discovered in Europe, it was not always the case. Previously, she was even one of the richest in the area. Mystra was one of the most powerful cities in the region, and the spearhead of Byzantine culture! But it was abandoned during the 19th century: History and various influences were due to the opulence of the city. We can still distinguish, in the ruins of buildings, frescoes and exceptional artistic vestiges.

This former fortress is a very interesting historical and archaeological site, and a must to visit in the region. Rather accessible, you can also enjoy shuttles and guides that will lead you to the site to learn more. So when do you leave?

7. Doel, Belgium

Closer to us, Doel is an abandoned town for a rather cozy reason. This small Flemish village located on the side of Antwerp was nestled by the city, including the harbour area of Antwerp. In a few decades, the maritime and commercial activity ended up making life to Doel so unpleasant that the residents decided to... abandon their commune. Yes, purely and simply! Today, there are about 20 inhabitants. And these, the only ones who wish to keep their real estate, live in the middle of a completely dead village.

We invite you to go there: the cracked walls, the crushed paint, the shredded windows... everything is there. Squatters had eventually taken over the place in mass, but the city’s mayor (maire) eventually increased the police presence. Today, the village sometimes serves as a film decor... and a must-see tourist site!

8. Varosha, Cyprus

Varosha is a gigantic neighborhood of the city of Famagouste, on the island of Cyprus. During its creation in 1972, the area was designed to host a seaside resort to attract Western tourists. Problem: in 1974, two years later, a Turkish military intervention pushed the inhabitants to desert the area. Today, Varosha is one of the most emblematic ghost cities in Europe. The high buildings designed to house holidaymakers are populated with rocks and serve as nests for birds.

Cats, turtles, indigenous plants are very happy and have regained their rights in this area built by Man. Proof, if it was necessary, that we are very few things in the face of the power of nature.

So you'll be aware of it on your trip to Cyprus!