Here’s a brief tour of some of the more notable human settlements across the globe that were abandoned by their inhabitants for some reason or other.
Pripyat
The town of Pripyat, located in the modern-day Ukraine, was evacuated in a hurry in the wake of Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster, with its empty streets and houses now standing as testament to one of the worst man-made disasters in history.
Kayakoy
Once a lively community in Turkey populated by both Anatolian Muslims and Greek Orthodox Christians, the village of Kayakoy became deserted following the Greco-Turkish War of 1919-1922 and the subsequent population exchange between the two countries.
Tkvarcheli
The coal mining town of Tkvarcheli, located in Abkhazia, boasted a population of nearly 22,000 by 1989. The War in Abkhazia however dealt a severe blow to the city, driving it into decline and leaving large parts of the settlement desolate.
Al Ula
Founded over two thousand years ago, the city of Al Ula – a walled community of some 800 mud-brick and stone houses in Saudi Arabia- was vacated by the last of its residents in 1980s.
San Juan Parangaricutiro
The village of San Juan Parangaricutiro in Mexico was destroyed during the formation of the Parícutin volcano in 1943, with only a scant few buildings surviving a barrage of volcanic ash and lava.
