WORLD’S LARGEST ABANDONED CITIES

Have you ever felt like you just want to pack your bags and move to a new place where you can start fresh? You know, leave your old life behind?

Well, while it’s always just a dream to many, some people have packed up and left everything behind… as in packed up and off they went. Some cities were left abandoned before anyone even moved in.

Be Amazed recently compiled a list of the world’s largest abandoned cities, here are our favourites.

Gunkanjima, also known as Battleship Island, is located directly above a coal deposit in the ocean close to Japan. The island was built by Mitsubishi in the early 1990s and, by the 1940s, the one square kilometre island was turned into a thriving city to house all its workers.

Mitsubishi built schools, offices, apartment buildings, restaurants and courtyards for the nearly 6,000 people that lived on this floating island. But, when the coal ran out, the mine was closed.

The people living on Gunkanjima packed up and only took the necessities with them. Now this floating island is just a reminder of a once successful coal mine.

Varosha in Cyprus was once a bustling holiday destination visited by Hollywood celebs like Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor back in the 1970s. It was a stylish island with world class accommodation, hotels and pristine beaches.

But then, in 1974, Turkey invaded Cyprus and the locals had to flee the island to stay alive. Since then, nobody but the Turkish military and members from the United Nations have been allowed to enter the cordoned off area on the island.

From pristine island to an abandoned war zone, that’s the sad story of Varosha.

Speaking of Turkey… Burj Al Babas is another abandoned city and it’s located roughly between Istanbul and Ankara.

Before the developer went bankrupt in 2018, 587 out of the planned 732 castles – yes, that’s right, castles – were completed.

The idea behind the city was that it would be home to the mega rich and they would be able to live in a fairy tale castle. It is now abandoned and far from a happy ending, but the developers are hoping someone else might start where they had to finish and make it a reality.

Watch the Be Amazed video below for more large cities that have been abandoned across the world.

Image credit: Para Analiz