Located in southern Africa's Namib Desert, visitors can tour sand-filled Kolmanskop, a former diamond mining town that was abandoned in 1956. In 1912, the town was producing close to 12% of the world's diamonds, but when supply depleted, townspeople moved where more diamonds had been discovered in the south.

Kolmanskop, Namibia

Once owned by Mitsubishi Corporation, vibrant grass and flowers have sprouted through walls on Hashima Island, a former mining town. Its underwater coal mine eventually closed, and by 1974, the land was completely abandoned, but the Nagasaki location has since been used in multiple movies, including the James Bond film "Skyfall.”

Hashima Island

The murals, broken windows, and decaying structure all bring character to the Buzludzha Monument, a 230-foot-tall dome built in 1981 as an homage to the Bulgarian Socialist Party. In 1999, it was abandoned by government officials, and looters quickly took any valuable material and destroyed the walls and ceilings.

Buzludzha Monument

Located on an island in the Hudson River in New York, Bannerman Castle was used by Francis Bannerman, a Scottish immigrant who supplied military goods, to store his surplus equipment and ammunition. Today, the castle’s crumbling remnants covered in bright shrubbery and flowers still hold a bit of magic.

Bannerman Castle

Bodiam Castle looks like it was plucked straight from the Medieval Times. Originally built in 1385 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, a knight in East Sussex, England, the castle has long since been abandoned, but visitors can still tour the grounds and learn more about its history and the wildlife that now call it home.

Bodiam Castle