The coolest abandoned buildings around the world

Some can be truly eerie, like something out of a horror movie with monsters seemingly lurking behind each door, but others can be serene and powerful, demonstrating nature’s almost immediate ability to reclaim an area.

These are some of the coolest abandoned buildings and structures around the world, including an island featured in a James Bond film, old fun parks and a towering structure that once powered an entire city.

Maunsell Sea Fort – England

Maunsell Sea Forts, Britain. Photo: Russss

Constructed in 1942 to defend Great Britain from invading forces during the war, these towering concrete towers emerge powerfully from the Thames estuary. Connected by walkways and boasting strong arsenals, the forts aimed to repel attacks by the Luftwaffe.

The structures were decommissioned after less than a decade and have been abandoned ever since, but many still stand. They’ve been used for a variety of purposes since, including for pirate radio broadcasts and as the home of the illegitimate and unrecognised self-proclaimed “world’s smallest nation”, the Principality of Sealand.

All the Rivers Run set – Australia

The set of the 1980s TV series All The Rivers Run, Victoria. Photo: Adam Selwood/Flickr

The set for All the Rivers Run, a popular Australian TV series from the 1980s, still stands, eerily abandoned near the Wombat State Park, near Dalesford in Victoria, encompassing nearly an entire town. The series starred Sigrid Thornton and John Waters, and the site has since attracted many local explorers.

Hashima Island – Japan

Hashima Island, Japan. Photo: Σ64

Hashima Island was once the most densely populated place per square metre on Earth. Now it’s known as Ghost Island.

The island was previously bustling thanks to a nearby underground coal mine, with a population of more than 5000 on the 6.3-hectare site. But when the mine was closed, the island was soon abandoned and quickly became derelict.

Surrounded by a sea wall and with nature now taking back over from the buildings, the site has proved popular with tourists, and was formally approved as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2015.

It’s also proved popular with filmmakers, including in James Bond movie Skyfall as the super villain’s secret island headquarters.

The Floating Forest – Australia

The shipwreck in Homebush Bay. Photo: Brent Pearson/Flickr

The SS Ayrfield was a large steamship that carried coal from Newcastle to Sydney, and was also used to transport supplies to American troops in the Pacific Ocean during WWII.

It was eventually condemned to be dismantled, but when the yard it was sent to shut down, it remained in Sydney’s Homebush Bay. And it’s been there ever since.

Now it’s a testament to nature’s ability to reclaim its territory, with a thriving ecosystem and forest now climbing from the hull.

The Old Power Station – Belgium

The abandoned power station, Belgium. Photo: Lennart Tange/Flickr

Forty years ago this power station was the main source of energy to the wider Monceau area in Belgium. But it was closed in 2007 due to the large amounts of carbon dioxide it emitted and protests by Greenpeace.

The massive cooling tower still stands though, which once served to introduce hot water to the structure, but now looms over the city like something out of a dystopian sci-fi film.

Security guards that routinely patrol the site have done little to deter masses of tourists that explore the site each year.

Castle Fun Park – Australia

Castle Fun Park, Mandurah, WA. Photo: Supplied

Opened in 1979, this fun park was once every West Australian child’s dream holiday destination, with a miniature castle, Australia-shaped swimming pool, mini-golf course and kiosk. But when a bypass bridge was built nearby, a large portion of its visitors, who typically drove past, were lost.

After closing in the early 2000s, much of the adventure park, which is in town of Mandurah, was lost in a bushfire in 2007, but the castle and dilapidated swimming pool still remain.

Nara Dreamland – Japan

Nara Dreamland. Photo: Jordy Meow

In the late 1950s a Japanese businessman visited Disneyland in the US and became inspired to bring the wonderland to his home country. After being unable to come to a deal with Disney, he built an almost identical park called Nara Dreamland instead.

During its glory days the park would have 1.6 million visitors each year, but when the real Disneyland set up shop in Tokyo in 1983, visitors began to dwindle, and when Universal Studios Japan opened only 40 kilometres up the road, the park didn’t stand a chance.

It was officially closed in 2006 and after a buyer couldn’t be found, the site remained abandoned and has become very popular among tourists and Instagram-posters.

The House of the Bulgarian Communist Party – Bulgaria

The former Bulgarian Community Party building. Photo: Stanislav Traykov

Resembling a futuristic UFO dropped on top of a remote hill in Bulgaria, this imposing structure was built in the 1970s and typifies the brutalist nature of communist buildings at the time.

But with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 the party gave up power and the building quickly became abandoned and is now the target of vandals. It’s now a symbol of a completely different political time, with “forget your past” now graffitied at its entrance.