Atlas of Improbable Places

London

DREAM CREATIONS FLEVOPOLDERThe region reclaimed from the sea   ZHELEZNOGORSKFormer closed Soviet city   FREE CHRISTIANIASquatter-city   AUROVILLE1960s utopian city   SLAB CITYThe squatter metropolis   PORTMEIRIONThe Village   ZVYOZDNY GORODOKStar City   HEARST CASTLERandolph Hearst’s Xanadu-esque home   DESERTED DESTINATIONS TEUFELSBERGAbandoned U.S. spy station   PRESIDIO MODELO Cuba’s most notorious former penitentiary   BATTLESHIP ISLANDDeserted mining settlement   NO MAN’S LAND FORTA long shunned coastal bulwark   THE LOST CITY OF SAN JUAN PARANGARICUTIROAbandoned after the eruption of 1943   HUMBERSTONE AND SANTA LAURARedundant saltpetre works   WONDERLANDAbandoned Disneyland-style theme park   ORADOUR-SUR-GLANEVillage left abandoned since the Second World War   MUYNAKDrained port   WITTENOOMAsbestos-ridden industrial town   ANI, KARSRuins of one-time capital of the Armenian Empire   CONCRETE CITYGarden city of the anthracite region   VAROSHAAbandoned tourist resort   ARCHITECTURAL ODDITIES MARYHILL STONEHENGEConcrete Stonehenge   SPIJKENISSEThe ‘real’ fictional euro bridges   KABAYANThe Ibaloi mummy caves   SANTURIO MADONNA DELLA CORONAChapel hangs midway down a sheer cliffside   LONDON BRIDGE, LAKE HAVASUThe 1831 London Bridge   THE AFRICAN RENAISSANCE MONUMENTControversial symbol of independence   TEN COMMANDMENTS MOUNTAINThe Fields of the Wood   FLOATING WORLDS THE PALM 105An artificial island paradise   THE KINGDOM OF REDONDAUninhabited Caribbean island   POVEGLIA ISLANDFormer plague quarantine island   GREAT BLASKETUninhabited since 1954   HOLLAND ISLANDIsland slowly being eroded by the water   PALMERSTONA community formed in its founder’s image   WRANGEL ISLANDA place frozen in time   MOUNT RORAIMAThe Lost World   ROSS ISLANDBritish Indian penal settlement   HIRTAThe Edge of the World   OTHERWORLDLY SPACES AOKIGAHARAThe Demon Forest   COLMACity of the dead   LEAP CASTLEThe world’s most haunted residence   DARVAZA CRATERDoor to Hell   THE HILL OF CROSSESHome to some 100,000 crosses   THE ISLAND OF DOLLSA terrifying attraction   SUBTERRANEAN REALMS THE UNDERGROUND POSTAL RAILWAYRail Mail   COLD WAR SPY TUNNELThe telephone tapping centre   BEIJING UNDERGROUNDBunkers to beat the bomb   MOOSE JAWIllicit tunnels   CINCINNATIAbandoned subway   ZKP TAGANSKY, AKA BUNKER 42Cold War communications bunker   PUERTO PRINCESASubterranean river