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The world's strangest ghost towns are home to dark secrets, creepy buildings and eerie sights; new discoveries reveal why they were abandoned...
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00:00:04Annihilated, contaminated, or simply abandoned in the furthest reaches of the planet.
00:00:12Some of the buildings look as though they're clinging on to the rock for dear life.
00:00:17If you walk out of the front door, it's just a sheer drop.
00:00:21This is one of the most inhospitable places on Earth.
00:00:26Why would you build this?
00:00:29Casualties of war, natural disasters, or events far more surprising.
00:00:37What was left behind was so strange and eerie.
00:00:40This town was now covered in a layer of something really mysterious.
00:00:45It's the victim of something that most of us couldn't believe could happen.
00:00:50These are the world's 10 strangest ghost towns.
00:00:57Engineering marvels now abandoned.
00:01:00Ruins shrouded in mystery.
00:01:03Within these decaying structures are the echoes of history.
00:01:08They speak of death and destruction.
00:01:11But also human ingenuity and endeavor.
00:01:16Each haunted shell ready to be unmasked and tell its own unique story.
00:01:35The Earth is littered with eerie ghost towns.
00:01:40And 10 sites still baffle the modern world.
00:01:43The first of these is found in the heartlands of Argentina.
00:01:51It looks like a post-apocalyptic landscape.
00:01:57The only access is down this pothole track.
00:02:01It really gives you this feeling of, you know, this place is creepy.
00:02:07Everything is dusted with white.
00:02:09The remnants of trees look like something fossilized.
00:02:14You really can't tell what created this strange ruin.
00:02:19It has this really eerie ghostly feel to it.
00:02:23Staircases that lead to nowhere or kind of corroded structures.
00:02:33The torturous landscape holds the secrets of what this place was.
00:02:40But the real clue to the town's demise is the white substance that clings to every surface.
00:02:47You know, it looks like it could be ash.
00:02:50You have to wonder, you know, was it bombed?
00:02:53If so, why?
00:02:53By who?
00:02:54Did anyone survive?
00:02:55What happened here?
00:02:57There's swimming pools and you can see the remnants of cafes and hotels.
00:03:04So clearly this was not a, you know, a military site or something like that.
00:03:11It was apparently a lovely place in its day.
00:03:16So was this place burnt to the ground?
00:03:19Or could that white substance reveal an altogether stranger ending?
00:03:29Today, the streets appear haunted and desolate.
00:03:34But while this place remains largely abandoned, incredibly, one man still dares to call this ghost town home.
00:03:48I am Pablo Novak, the only resident left in the ruins.
00:03:53I was born here, my two brothers also.
00:03:57On the 25th of January, I turned 88 years old.
00:04:05Bravely refusing to accept defeat, Pablo was the only resident unwilling to flee the area.
00:04:16I stayed, and I was sure someone would come back eventually.
00:04:21It used to be so famous.
00:04:24So many people used to come from all over.
00:04:28With the town's origins back in the 1920s, what appears scarred and torn today was once seen as a luxurious
00:04:38retreat that catered to the elite of Buenos Aires.
00:04:42For decades, these streets were filled with people escaping the city.
00:04:48By the mid-20th century, it had grown into a lovely little resort.
00:04:53You'd have as many as 25,000 people a year coming to visit.
00:04:59What they all came in search of is still visible today.
00:05:04The legendary waters of a nearby lake and spring that have since crept into the heart of the settlement.
00:05:14This is all that remains of the town of Villa Epiquen.
00:05:23Throughout history, humans have gravitated towards hot springs, waters with a lot of minerals in them, with the idea that
00:05:32this is good for your health.
00:05:33The therapeutic powers of the lake had been famous for centuries, and it is said that the spring could cure
00:05:41all sorts of things, from depression to rheumatism.
00:05:45It started off as a sleepy village, but then grew to this bustling tourist resort.
00:05:53But while the belief in the healing power of the water drew people in, few recognized the true destructive force
00:06:02it contained.
00:06:03So the town kept on growing, with hotels for the visitors, a slaughterhouse to feed everyone, and all kinds of
00:06:12attractions.
00:06:17This was started as the Recreo Almaza, a dance hall, and because the room was small, and lots of people
00:06:24came, they also used it for a theatre, with theatre companies coming from Buenos Aires.
00:06:33The town was flourishing.
00:06:36The growth appeared sustainable.
00:06:38But disaster was about to strike.
00:06:45In November 1985, it started to rain, and the thing is, it never stopped.
00:06:52The rainfall was reaching record levels, and the lake was threatening to burst its banks.
00:06:58The very thing that was this town's lifeline was about to become its downfall.
00:07:06A particular problem where you have big water bodies that are bound by land is a phenomenon called the Seiche.
00:07:14And it's very much like when you're in a bath, you know, you're sort of playing around in a bath,
00:07:17and occasionally, poof, oh, up in your face, you get this freak wave.
00:07:20And that's because you've got all of these different waves interacting, and eventually, they all come together and make a
00:07:25much larger wave.
00:07:26And that's thought to be what caused the demise of the flood defences in this particular town.
00:07:31And once the flooding started, then essentially, the sort of, the floodgates were open.
00:07:38The town's occupants had no choice but to head to higher ground.
00:07:44Fortunately for the residents, the water rose slowly enough, they had time to get out, but not a lot of
00:07:50time.
00:07:50So, 1,500 people just had to pack up and move in a matter of days.
00:07:57The floodwaters gradually, slowly consumed the entire town.
00:08:03And by 1993, it was submerged under 30 feet of water, effectively becoming a modern-day Atlantis.
00:08:16Everything that you can see now hadn't been seen for 20 years.
00:08:20That was a bonus.
00:08:24Over the course of decades, the water slowly began to recede.
00:08:30However, instead of showing its supposed healing powers, it has inflicted a lasting scar upon the land.
00:08:42When the town was exposed again, of course, a lot of the buildings had collapsed.
00:08:46But everything was covered with this eerie coating of white.
00:08:53And the twist is, this highly saline water left the town covered in a thick layer of salt,
00:09:00giving it this unique appearance as though it's been bombed and covered in ash.
00:09:07The same minerals that had drawn people to the hot springs to soak their aches and pains away now coated
00:09:15all the buildings of the village.
00:09:24With the remains of Villa Epiquen now standing above water once more, it feels like the worst is over.
00:09:33But Pablo is still battling to remain here.
00:09:41When I turned 70, my daughters gave me money, as they thought I couldn't live here alone anymore.
00:09:48But I'm 88 now, and still here.
00:09:51And as long as I can walk, talk, and have a good memory, I will stay here.
00:10:07At the other end of the Americas lies our next abandoned town,
00:10:12at the base of a rugged, steep-sided gorge in the mountain state of West Virginia.
00:10:23The town itself is set sort of deep within a sort of risen gorge.
00:10:28And so in some ways, it's kind of almost protected by the rocks around it and quite hidden.
00:10:34Despite the feeling of isolation, it's a strangely familiar scene.
00:10:42You kind of feel like you're walking into a movie set from a late 19th century, early 20th century scene
00:10:49where maybe there should be some poker dealers, maybe a few ladies of ill repute.
00:10:54It really is as though people were there yesterday, and now things have stopped and they've moved on.
00:11:01A strip of stores flanking a railway line look almost totally intact.
00:11:08It's not like your typical ghost town where everything's falling down or in ruins.
00:11:12The buildings look like someone could move in and fix them up and turn the lights back on.
00:11:21Spooky interiors reveal gold-lined walls, elaborate flooring, and a hefty safe.
00:11:28Doors open, as if raided only yesterday.
00:11:35Other buildings have clearly fared less well.
00:11:41When you go up on the hills around Thurman, you see these ruined old houses.
00:11:45They look like something out of a horror movie.
00:11:50Yet the occasional train still flashes past, and clues point to a once bustling town.
00:11:59In the distance, through the mist, you can just about make out a strange structure protruding above the trees.
00:12:07And that gives you a clue as to why this town is here.
00:12:14How did this innocuous-looking place become a notorious district that met a suspicious end?
00:12:35Deep in the mountains of West Virginia is a ghost town.
00:12:39Its appearance today belies its once notorious reputation.
00:12:49Over a hundred years ago, this town was thriving.
00:12:52As Leah Perkowski, of the New River Gorge National Park, explains.
00:13:00The overwhelming feeling for many is that it is the end of nowhere.
00:13:08When in truth, in the early 1900s, it was the beginning of everywhere.
00:13:15The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company built a depot here in 1904.
00:13:21With rail the only way in or out of the gorge, just two years later, there were 36 stops over
00:13:29a 53-mile route.
00:13:32And the busiest of them all was this, Thurmond.
00:13:41Thurmond was really a transportation center as well as a social center for the New River Gorge.
00:13:48You know, there were multiple stores, avenues for entertainment, and transportation.
00:13:56Hard to imagine now, but up to 20 passenger trains once stopped here every day.
00:14:03They're engines fueled by the mighty coal station that still dominates the town today.
00:14:13In 1910 alone, the depot served 76,000 passengers.
00:14:19Local newspapers referred to it as the biggest little town.
00:14:25Its boom was driven by black gold.
00:14:31From the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century, the American economy really ran on coal.
00:14:38You had the steel industry.
00:14:39You had coal-powered trains traveling all over.
00:14:42All that coal had to be mined, and the New River Gorge was one of the best places to mine
00:14:47it.
00:14:48Through the gorge, seams of coal have been exposed in the mountainside.
00:14:53But this isn't just any ordinary coal.
00:14:56This is top-quality, smokeless coal.
00:15:02Thurmond's trains enabled this precious resource to be swiftly moved from the local mines to customers across America.
00:15:12And wealth started to flood in.
00:15:18Once you've built up a lot of infrastructure, then come the banks, then come the people,
00:15:23then come the hotels.
00:15:26The banks here became the wealthiest in the state.
00:15:30Yet this was very much a railway town, by its nature transient.
00:15:37And transients went hand-in-hand with debauchery.
00:15:45You had all these workers moving through.
00:15:48You had all the support staff for the mines.
00:15:50So the town needed everything that a major city would have.
00:15:54You needed butcher shops and stores and shoemakers.
00:15:58And they even had a red-light district.
00:16:01W.D. Thurmond, founder of the town, ran his territory according to his strict Baptist beliefs,
00:16:09banning alcohol on his land.
00:16:13Yet, to his dismay, the hotels of his town became synonymous with alcohol, and much more besides.
00:16:22The most notorious was located just across the river.
00:16:28The Dunn Glen Hotel was kind of the hub of everything.
00:16:32And it was pretty extravagant for the time period.
00:16:35There were three stories, a hundred rooms.
00:16:39A lot of businessmen stayed there.
00:16:43This was the social core of the town, where coal barons and laborers alike partied hard.
00:16:50Around this beating heart developed the red-light district.
00:16:58The Dunn Glen Hotel developed a notorious reputation.
00:17:03Prostitution, gambling, and supposedly, it hosted the longest poker game ever in history.
00:17:13It was rumored to have lasted 14 years.
00:17:19As the Dunn Glen became a nationally famous resort, they flaunted prohibition laws, so police raids were common.
00:17:29But in July 1930, that all came to an end when the entire building was burnt to a cinder.
00:17:37The circumstances seemed suspicious.
00:17:41In court, it was argued the owner of a rival hotel had conspired to burn down the Dunn Glen.
00:17:54There's several theories of why the hotel burned, but really and truly, it is a mystery.
00:18:04Thurmond was, in reality, on the decline long before this iconic hotel burnt to the ground.
00:18:12The effects of prohibition, as well as the rise of the automobile, was compounded by industrial change.
00:18:21Gradually, technology changed.
00:18:24There were other ways to mine coal.
00:18:26Strip mining began to replace the kind of deep underground mining that was done in the New River Gorge.
00:18:33So, over time, the mines began to shut down.
00:18:36The economic high tide of that era began to recede, and with it went the fortunes of the town.
00:18:45The railroad kept Thurmond alive into the 1950s,
00:18:49before it was struck by yet another blow.
00:18:53This one proved fatal.
00:18:57What truly sealed the fate for Thurmond was the arrival of the diesel engine.
00:19:02This was a town built around the steam engine,
00:19:05but now its many rail yards and repair shops were rendered obsolete.
00:19:12With little of the town left around them,
00:19:15the railroad offices finally closed in 1984.
00:19:27Today, trains still rumble through Thurmond's haunting remains.
00:19:33A distant reminder of its once bustling past.
00:19:41Thurmond rode the boom and bust of coal in the United States.
00:19:48The reasons that a thriving town grew up in this particular time and place,
00:19:54those change, and with it go the people.
00:20:03Our next ghost town takes us 7,500 miles away to the west coast of Namibia in Africa,
00:20:10where a mysterious settlement is preserved in an arid wasteland.
00:20:17In the middle of a barren landscape,
00:20:20a cluster of buildings unexpectedly emerge from the shifting sands.
00:20:27This place, it's just super strange.
00:20:31You're clearly in a desert.
00:20:33You turn round and then there's this strange cowboy-type town.
00:20:37But if you look a bit more in detail, it's a bit more sophisticated than that.
00:20:45Some of the architecture is really quite interesting,
00:20:48so it makes you wonder, where did the money come from to build these lavish structures?
00:20:55It's definitely a place where people wanted to be at the time, but why?
00:21:01The money and people have vanished, and Mother Nature is reclaiming the town.
00:21:09You've got bathtubs full of sand.
00:21:13You've got piles of sand as you walk into the houses.
00:21:17The only thing that this is home to now is the desert.
00:21:22And the only signs of life are snakes and scorpions.
00:21:26It makes you wonder, who would ever want to have built here?
00:21:33Despite the searing sandstorms and lack of water,
00:21:37a community not only survived here, but flourished,
00:21:41living in apparent luxury.
00:21:45Certainly, it was a place that was very affluent.
00:21:48They created an ice factory on site, so they could actually make their own ice.
00:21:55They had butchers, they had everything that you would kind of want for a town.
00:22:02What drew them here in the first place,
00:22:04and why has it become such a haunted ghost town?
00:22:12Who went to such extraordinary lengths to create a luxury town
00:22:17in the most inhospitable of outposts?
00:22:32In the arid desert sands of western Namibia lies a bemusing settlement.
00:22:38A once wealthy town, now ghostly in its emptiness, swallowed up by the desert.
00:22:49In the early 1900s, Namibia was part of German southwest Africa.
00:22:56Over 500 miles from the busy port of Cape Town,
00:23:00this area still lay bare,
00:23:02with nothing but a solitary railway track
00:23:05passing through to the German harbor town of Luteritz.
00:23:11These areas were remote areas under exploration,
00:23:15so to make an area that's remote and a desert
00:23:19somewhere that's a place where people can live,
00:23:23you need a commodity.
00:23:25Soon, that commodity was unearthed.
00:23:29In 1908, a local railway worker made a discovery.
00:23:33He found diamonds in the sand, and that changed everything.
00:23:39This settlement, slowly being swallowed by the desert,
00:23:43was built by these precious minerals.
00:23:46It is Namibia's ghost town,
00:23:50Kolmanskog.
00:23:53Surprisingly, for such a remote location,
00:23:56the residents enjoyed a wide range of luxuries,
00:24:00as local expert William Thomson reveals.
00:24:04Now, this is where the shopkeeper used to stay,
00:24:07and she was also the richest lady here in Kolmanskog.
00:24:12On this table is a list of all the stuff
00:24:14that she imported from Germany.
00:24:17You will be amazed at everything she ordered,
00:24:19from cumin birch cheese to the finest of some pains.
00:24:24So what caused this vibrant oasis to simply disappear?
00:24:30At first, it couldn't have been easier
00:24:33for German prospectors who flocked here
00:24:35to make their fortune.
00:24:39We think of diamond mines being complex structures,
00:24:43but that wasn't how they started.
00:24:45I mean, really, you had men crawling on their hands and knees
00:24:49under the moonlight looking for a glistening precious stone
00:24:53in the sand, and they found them.
00:24:57There's tales, actually, from the time
00:24:58where they would dig trenches,
00:25:00and the diamonds were so proliferous on the ground
00:25:03that you could sweep them into the trenches.
00:25:05You'd sweep the dust into the trenches
00:25:06and then have people move along the trenches
00:25:09picking out the diamonds.
00:25:14By 1912, this area was home
00:25:17to one of the richest diamond deposits in the world.
00:25:23Kolmanskog rapidly developed
00:25:25into a thriving diamond mining town.
00:25:29You know, at its peak,
00:25:3112% of the world's diamonds were mined here.
00:25:36With this deluge of wealth,
00:25:38a town grew to support the industry.
00:25:44Despite that, the harsh climate
00:25:46and the very isolated setting,
00:25:49the town actually had many European luxuries.
00:25:56So they had a bowling alley here.
00:25:59Opera singers from Europe and Germany
00:26:02came to Bershomia.
00:26:03They had a seawater swimming pool
00:26:06in the middle of the desert.
00:26:08It had a theater,
00:26:09a performance hall.
00:26:11It quickly developed
00:26:12into a lively little haven
00:26:14of German culture.
00:26:19But there was one overriding problem.
00:26:24Water.
00:26:28Kormanskog and Ludwitz had no fresh water.
00:26:31Look, they had some underground water,
00:26:33but it wasn't sufficient for everyone.
00:26:35It wasn't enough for everyone.
00:26:37It was very brackish and very salty.
00:26:40That cement reservoir on top of the hill.
00:26:43That was for the fresh water here at Kormanskog.
00:26:46What they did is they imported all their fresh water
00:26:49all the way from Cape Town.
00:26:50A thousand tons of fresh water per month.
00:26:55As Kormanskog grew rich,
00:26:57it could buy its way out of water shortages
00:27:00thanks to this British supply.
00:27:02But with the clouds of war rumbling across Europe,
00:27:05how long could this arrangement last?
00:27:08And would a lack of water spell disaster?
00:27:14While the money flowed,
00:27:16Kormanskog became a center
00:27:18for cutting-edge technology.
00:27:21A window into what was the most important thing
00:27:24in this town is highlighted by the fact
00:27:27that it was the first place ever in Southern Africa
00:27:30to have an x-ray machine.
00:27:32But that wasn't just to check for broken bones.
00:27:36It was to check to see if somebody had swallowed a diamond
00:27:39and was taking it at home after work.
00:27:43What could possibly cause this community
00:27:46to turn their backs on such wealth and splendor?
00:27:49Did a lack of water or some unexpected calamity
00:27:53drive them out?
00:28:04In Western Namibia is the ghostly shell
00:28:08of an old German boomtown
00:28:10that flourished in the early 1900s.
00:28:13Driven by diamonds,
00:28:15this community enjoyed wealth and luxury.
00:28:18But it was short-lived.
00:28:22The beginning of the end
00:28:24came with the cataclysmic events of 1914.
00:28:30With the outbreak of World War I in 1914,
00:28:34a lot of the Germans were interned,
00:28:36sent back to Germany and everything.
00:28:38But the final straw came in 1927
00:28:42when extensive diamond deposits
00:28:45were found in the north of the Orange River mouth.
00:28:47And the diamonds they found there
00:28:50were six times bigger
00:28:52than the diamonds they found there at Coleman's Cook.
00:28:55And I think that was three Coleman's Cook.
00:28:57It did send.
00:29:01The inhabitants of this town,
00:29:03on hearing that they could have something bigger and better,
00:29:07just literally dropped their tools,
00:29:09left all their possessions,
00:29:11and joined the rush south.
00:29:16Coleman's Cook struggled on.
00:29:18But in 1956,
00:29:20with the supply of diamonds exhausted,
00:29:22the final resident left,
00:29:24and the town was abandoned to the desert.
00:29:36Today, Coleman's Cook is ghostly silent
00:29:40and preserved by the arid climate.
00:29:42Yet discoveries are still being made in the region.
00:29:47Diamonds are still being mined in Namibia.
00:29:50And interestingly,
00:29:52not so far from here,
00:29:54they're actually finding diamonds on the sea floor.
00:30:04Some ghost towns only witnessed a short burst of life,
00:30:08while others have centuries of history,
00:30:11as found in a ruined site in Turkey.
00:30:18As you come inland from the coasts of Anatolia,
00:30:22through the pine forests,
00:30:24a vista suddenly opens.
00:30:25But as you approach closer,
00:30:28you realize there's something a little wrong with it.
00:30:33This is a devastated village.
00:30:37It's clearly been abandoned for a long, long time.
00:30:42It just keeps on going.
00:30:44It is absolutely huge.
00:30:48Carved into the side of this valley
00:30:50are hundreds upon hundreds of deserted buildings.
00:30:57You've got trees growing out of where there once was roofs.
00:31:01You've got just undergrowth everywhere.
00:31:06This place is clearly just a shadow of its former glory.
00:31:11The level of destruction here is on such a scale
00:31:13that some major event has happened.
00:31:16This is not a one-off small occurrence.
00:31:21Was it some kind of natural disaster?
00:31:24Was it war?
00:31:26People fled en masse, but why?
00:31:36Spread far and wide across this hillside,
00:31:39the ruins here not only tell a story of abandonment,
00:31:43but also of a long, rich history.
00:31:50This town goes back almost 1,000 years.
00:31:55It's clearly moderately prosperous.
00:31:58This town was clearly important at some time.
00:32:02These aren't temporary shacks that are built.
00:32:04It's very well located for local and even international trade.
00:32:09You feel here that this was a place that had strong, deep roots.
00:32:14The inhabitants nurtured a close relationship
00:32:17with the farmers in the valley below,
00:32:19but there was a key difference between these two peoples.
00:32:24The architecture reveals a lot about the people,
00:32:27but it's not only houses that are part of this village.
00:32:30There's one key building that still survives
00:32:34and gives the clue to who this community were.
00:32:40This structure is amazing.
00:32:42This is a place for the Greek people
00:32:45who lived in that area hundreds, hundreds of years ago.
00:32:50For centuries, this area had been part of the Ottoman Empire,
00:32:55a predominantly Turkish-Muslim society,
00:32:58but one that encompassed different nationalities and cultures,
00:33:02including those who lived here.
00:33:08These are the remains of the town of Kayakoy,
00:33:12the home of a Greek-Christian community
00:33:15who have long since disappeared.
00:33:21It was a Christian community,
00:33:24but on the other side, in the valley,
00:33:28the Turks were living over there.
00:33:30So they were neighbours, Muslim and Christian people.
00:33:34It was a multicultural community.
00:33:37They lived together, like, in peace.
00:33:46In many parts of the world,
00:33:48identity, ethnicity and culture
00:33:50often form no part of daily life.
00:33:53Communities cohere
00:33:55and undertake the project of building their lives.
00:33:58But we also know that those very same factors
00:34:01can be the basis
00:34:03for some of the bloodiest conflicts in history.
00:34:07For over 500 years,
00:34:10the two communities lived and worked side by side,
00:34:14often coming together in the maze of streets.
00:34:20There is a typical streets of Kayakoy.
00:34:24You can see around some buildings
00:34:26and some houses or shops around.
00:34:30Can you imagine kids were playing together?
00:34:33The Muslim people and the Christian community,
00:34:35they were talking about business, trade,
00:34:38or any normal, formal things.
00:34:43Here you had these two communities
00:34:46working together and forming friendships.
00:34:52While this vibrant town
00:34:54had flourished over hundreds of years,
00:34:57as the Ottoman Empire began to struggle
00:35:00at the start of the 20th century,
00:35:02cracks began to appear.
00:35:07Life in Kayakoy was about to change.
00:35:10The conditions, the politics,
00:35:13everything changed in that area
00:35:15for their lives too.
00:35:18So what destructive force
00:35:20would obliterate this town?
00:35:23And what happened to the people
00:35:24that once called this place home?
00:35:39The disintegrating remains
00:35:42of the ghost town of Kayakoy
00:35:44tell of the desperate years
00:35:46following the First World War
00:35:48as the Ottoman Empire collapsed
00:35:50and ignited a heated battle
00:35:52between two opposing nationalist movements.
00:35:57In Greece,
00:35:59you have a movement
00:36:01towards a greater Greece.
00:36:05From the Turkish side,
00:36:07they want to create a republic
00:36:10for all the Turkish ethnic people.
00:36:13These two powerful national forces collide.
00:36:19As the conflict enveloped modern-day Turkey,
00:36:22many small rural communities
00:36:25were rapidly drawn in.
00:36:29Despite the centuries of harmony
00:36:32within these communities,
00:36:34the arrival of war
00:36:35meant that all the horrors of war
00:36:37came with it.
00:36:38Torture, atrocities,
00:36:41intense cruelty on both sides.
00:36:47We know about the abuses
00:36:50that the Greeks carried out
00:36:52on the Turks.
00:36:52We're talking murders,
00:36:54we're talking destructed homes.
00:36:56Now we have reports
00:36:58about the Turks
00:37:00carrying out revenge attacks,
00:37:02burning Greek properties,
00:37:04killing Greeks.
00:37:07By 1922,
00:37:09hundreds of thousands
00:37:11of Turks and Greeks
00:37:12had been killed.
00:37:14Both sides agreed upon
00:37:16a so-called compulsory exchange
00:37:18of populations.
00:37:20And even communities
00:37:22that had remained on good terms
00:37:24were forced to leave.
00:37:28So this is one of the examples
00:37:30of Greek houses in Kayaköy.
00:37:34This is actually their kitchen.
00:37:36When they learned,
00:37:38they had to leave to Greece,
00:37:40they chatted with their neighbors,
00:37:43Turkish, Turks, Muslims,
00:37:45and they told them
00:37:47just look after their homes
00:37:49because they expected to come back,
00:37:51but they never come back.
00:37:54Half a million ethnic Turks
00:37:57who are living within Greek territory
00:37:59are simply deprived
00:38:01of their property.
00:38:02They are shipped out to Turkey.
00:38:06About a million and a half
00:38:08ethnic Greeks
00:38:10who had lived,
00:38:12in some cases,
00:38:14in majority Greek villages,
00:38:16are expelled.
00:38:20You've got this once
00:38:22beautiful town
00:38:23with these communities
00:38:25thriving side by side
00:38:27and a joyful town,
00:38:29and then it's abandoned.
00:38:31Its soul is ripped out of it.
00:38:37In 1957,
00:38:39the abandoned remains
00:38:41suffered a final insult
00:38:43as an earthquake struck,
00:38:45pulling down roofs and walls,
00:38:47but the true damage
00:38:48had already been done.
00:38:50It's hard to overestimate
00:38:53the seriousness of the effect
00:38:55of these kinds of actions.
00:38:57If facing the culture of a people,
00:39:00which is what this is doing,
00:39:01is seen as on a par
00:39:03with facing actual people,
00:39:05because if you take away
00:39:07culture and history,
00:39:08you leave nothing.
00:39:10Ultimately,
00:39:10that's all communities have.
00:39:20In a remote forest
00:39:22in northern Ukraine
00:39:23lie the remains
00:39:25of a once modern
00:39:26and technologically advanced town
00:39:28of the former Soviet Union.
00:39:34Overgrown
00:39:35and slowly being consumed
00:39:37by nature
00:39:38is a haunting sight
00:39:40of over 150 buildings
00:39:42spread across 15 square miles.
00:39:47This elaborate
00:39:48and rich metropolis
00:39:50seemed to have everything
00:39:51it needed to survive
00:39:53and to thrive.
00:39:56Yet this area
00:39:57became linked
00:39:58to one of the most
00:39:59infamous disasters
00:40:01in living memory.
00:40:05In the 1970s,
00:40:07this was meant
00:40:08to be a showpiece city
00:40:10that would help power
00:40:11the future
00:40:11of the Soviet Union.
00:40:15Places like this
00:40:16were built
00:40:17to attract
00:40:17the brightest minds
00:40:18and the most devoted workers.
00:40:23It was a purpose-built town
00:40:25able to cater
00:40:26for up to 50,000 people.
00:40:30And one of those
00:40:31who hoped to be counted
00:40:32amongst its inhabitants
00:40:33was Sergei Cherno.
00:40:39It was very well planned
00:40:41with a beautiful environment
00:40:43and technological services.
00:40:46It was a city of young people.
00:40:48The average age
00:40:49of those living here
00:40:50was just 26 years old.
00:40:55all around the town
00:40:57are clues
00:40:58to what made this place
00:40:59so important
00:41:00to the Soviets.
00:41:02But also
00:41:04to what ultimately
00:41:05caused
00:41:06its catastrophic demise.
00:41:12Right now,
00:41:14we're in the central square
00:41:15and this building
00:41:16right in front
00:41:16was the so-called
00:41:18cultural building
00:41:19which was called
00:41:20energetic.
00:41:22Over there
00:41:22on that five-story building
00:41:24there's an emotive slogan
00:41:25that says
00:41:26let the atom be a worker
00:41:28rather than a soldier.
00:41:31It didn't manage
00:41:32to follow through
00:41:32on that idea
00:41:33as you know.
00:41:36This
00:41:36is Pripriert
00:41:38the town built
00:41:40to service
00:41:40the infamous
00:41:41nuclear power plant
00:41:43of Chernobyl.
00:41:46Reactor number four
00:41:48exploded
00:41:48spewing radiation
00:41:49over much of Europe.
00:41:51Radiation levels
00:41:52were expected to rise
00:41:53over the ensuing weeks.
00:41:57The entire population
00:41:59was quickly evacuated.
00:42:01As many as
00:42:028,000 people
00:42:03have died
00:42:04as a result
00:42:04of the world's
00:42:05worst nuclear accident.
00:42:07The whole area
00:42:08was cordoned off.
00:42:09It signaled
00:42:10the end
00:42:11for this town.
00:42:13All that remained
00:42:14was this ghostly
00:42:16deserted wasteland.
00:42:24It was dangerous
00:42:26as you know
00:42:26to build a town
00:42:27in the vicinity
00:42:28of a nuclear plant
00:42:29but that was
00:42:30common practice.
00:42:40still to come
00:42:42the haunted remains
00:42:44of the wild west
00:42:46a ghost town
00:42:48that has all
00:42:48but disappeared
00:42:49and sights
00:42:50that continue
00:42:51to confuse
00:42:52and intrigue.
00:43:05Coming up
00:43:06on the world's
00:43:07strangest ghost towns
00:43:08a frozen relic
00:43:11from the Cold War
00:43:12the crumbling towers
00:43:15of an ancient settlement
00:43:16and scenes
00:43:18of pure evil
00:43:20and devastation.
00:43:24But first
00:43:25near the border
00:43:26between California
00:43:27and Nevada
00:43:28are the ghostly remains
00:43:30of a once dangerous
00:43:32town
00:43:32built on greed.
00:43:39It's like you've
00:43:40just walked
00:43:40onto the set
00:43:41of Westworld.
00:43:44You're expecting
00:43:45to see outlaws
00:43:46and gunslingers
00:43:47coming around
00:43:47the corner.
00:43:51There's something
00:43:52spooky
00:43:52about seeing
00:43:53a town
00:43:54that looks like
00:43:55the buildings
00:43:56are intact
00:43:56but there's
00:43:58nobody around.
00:43:59The wind
00:43:59just blows
00:44:00through.
00:44:04And you can
00:44:05just see
00:44:06this big
00:44:06layer of dust
00:44:08over the
00:44:08tables and
00:44:09chairs
00:44:10that have been
00:44:10left there
00:44:12for years.
00:44:15Some parts
00:44:16or buildings
00:44:17just falling down
00:44:18or shacks
00:44:18that have
00:44:19kind of collapsed.
00:44:20Other sections
00:44:21like you could
00:44:22move into
00:44:22some of these
00:44:23buildings.
00:44:27On the edge
00:44:28of town
00:44:29you've got
00:44:30what looks like
00:44:31the guts
00:44:32of some
00:44:33kind of industry
00:44:34and I think
00:44:35that is the clue
00:44:36to what happened
00:44:37in this town.
00:44:39But for everything
00:44:40that is here
00:44:41it feels like
00:44:43something more
00:44:43is missing.
00:44:46What's interesting
00:44:47about this place
00:44:48is you come
00:44:49to this point
00:44:49which seems
00:44:50like it should
00:44:51be the start
00:44:52of the main street
00:44:53but there's
00:44:54no buildings
00:44:55on it.
00:44:57You get the
00:44:58sense that
00:44:58the structures
00:44:59that do remain
00:45:00were part
00:45:00of a much
00:45:01larger community
00:45:02so that begs
00:45:03the question
00:45:04what happened
00:45:05to the rest
00:45:05of it?
00:45:06Where did it go?
00:45:12Defined
00:45:13by its eerie
00:45:14emptiness today
00:45:15in the late
00:45:1719th century
00:45:18these streets
00:45:20were filled
00:45:20with the hopes
00:45:21and dreams
00:45:22of prospectors
00:45:23exploring the
00:45:24open lands
00:45:25of the west.
00:45:29You're really
00:45:30in the middle
00:45:31of nowhere
00:45:31even today
00:45:32you are miles
00:45:34and miles away
00:45:34from anything.
00:45:36The motivation
00:45:37for coming
00:45:38to such a remote
00:45:39and desolate
00:45:41location
00:45:42clearly it was money
00:45:43it was all about
00:45:44finding something
00:45:45precious
00:45:46and then selling it.
00:45:49the dusty remains
00:45:51of this town
00:45:52show something
00:45:53was clearly
00:45:54worth sticking
00:45:54around for
00:45:56but this could
00:45:57be a deadly
00:45:58place to set
00:45:59up shop.
00:46:03The west
00:46:04was unchartered
00:46:05territory
00:46:06there was no
00:46:08law enforcement
00:46:09this was the
00:46:10wild west
00:46:11everyone
00:46:12for themselves.
00:46:16preserved for decades
00:46:18by the dry
00:46:19climate
00:46:19the remaining
00:46:21structures
00:46:21only offer
00:46:22a glimpse
00:46:23of the town's
00:46:24true scale
00:46:25as park ranger
00:46:27Catherine Jones
00:46:28explains
00:46:30what we see
00:46:32today
00:46:32is only
00:46:335%
00:46:34or so
00:46:35of what
00:46:35was here
00:46:36so there are
00:46:37many homes
00:46:37left
00:46:38but there would
00:46:38have been
00:46:39many many
00:46:39more
00:46:40as far
00:46:41as you can
00:46:41see
00:46:42especially
00:46:43down to
00:46:44main street
00:46:44which would
00:46:46have been
00:46:46virtually
00:46:46wall-to-wall
00:46:47buildings
00:46:48for over
00:46:49a mile.
00:46:51The resource
00:46:53that transformed
00:46:54this empty
00:46:54wilderness
00:46:55was gold.
00:46:57This is
00:46:59the ghost
00:46:59town
00:46:59of Bodhi.
00:47:03It was
00:47:04once home
00:47:04to around
00:47:0510,000
00:47:06inhabitants
00:47:07filling this
00:47:07landscape
00:47:08with a feverish
00:47:09level of
00:47:10activity.
00:47:13What's really
00:47:14interesting
00:47:15is not
00:47:15what's left
00:47:16but what's
00:47:17missing.
00:47:18Clearly
00:47:18a lot
00:47:19is gone
00:47:20but where
00:47:21did it go
00:47:21and why?
00:47:25After Bodhi's
00:47:26initial discovery
00:47:27there wasn't
00:47:28much activity
00:47:29probably wasn't
00:47:30a whole lot
00:47:31of hope
00:47:31of discovering
00:47:32a lot of gold
00:47:33here.
00:47:34They were mining
00:47:35up on the hillside
00:47:36you can see
00:47:38the rock piles
00:47:39up on the hill
00:47:40indicate where
00:47:41mines were.
00:47:43But these
00:47:44early mines
00:47:45offered up
00:47:46little gold
00:47:47until 1875
00:47:49when a dangerous
00:47:50collapse
00:47:51changed everything.
00:47:54they went
00:47:55to investigate
00:47:56and found
00:47:57that the
00:47:57collapse
00:47:58had exposed
00:47:58a very rich
00:47:59vein
00:47:59of ore
00:48:01and that's
00:48:02what started
00:48:02the boom
00:48:03here in this
00:48:04area
00:48:04and formed
00:48:05the town
00:48:05of Bodhi.
00:48:08All of a sudden
00:48:09Bodhi was on
00:48:09the map
00:48:10everybody heard
00:48:11about Bodhi
00:48:11everyone
00:48:12wanted to get
00:48:13there
00:48:13and be part
00:48:14of this
00:48:15exciting
00:48:16operation.
00:48:19But as the
00:48:20masses descended
00:48:21upon the
00:48:22town
00:48:22a trail
00:48:23of vice
00:48:24death
00:48:25and destruction
00:48:26soon threatened
00:48:27to bring it
00:48:27all crashing
00:48:28down.
00:48:41In 1875
00:48:43the discovery
00:48:44of a rich
00:48:45vein of gold
00:48:45in Bodhi
00:48:46sent mining
00:48:47operations
00:48:48into overdrive
00:48:49and processing
00:48:51plants
00:48:51like this one
00:48:52from a later
00:48:53date
00:48:53began running
00:48:55non-stop.
00:48:56That building
00:48:57on the edge
00:48:58of town
00:48:58that is what
00:48:59really gives
00:49:00you a clue
00:49:01as to the
00:49:02scale of the
00:49:03operation that
00:49:03was happening
00:49:04in Bodhi.
00:49:08This is the
00:49:09main processing
00:49:10room of the
00:49:11stamp mill.
00:49:12The gold
00:49:13and silver
00:49:13ore makes
00:49:14its way
00:49:15into these
00:49:15boxes
00:49:16that contain
00:49:17the 1,000
00:49:18pound stamps.
00:49:19Each of
00:49:20these stamps
00:49:20is lifting
00:49:21and dropping
00:49:2290 times a
00:49:23minute.
00:49:25Operating 24
00:49:26hours a day
00:49:27six days a
00:49:28week,
00:49:28this was the
00:49:30sound of money
00:49:31raining down
00:49:32on Bodhi.
00:49:34It's rumored
00:49:35the boom years
00:49:36earned the mining
00:49:37companies around
00:49:38100 million
00:49:39dollars.
00:49:40And every day
00:49:4110 new people
00:49:43would arrive here
00:49:44seeking their
00:49:44fortune.
00:49:46By 1879,
00:49:48there were over
00:49:492,000 buildings
00:49:50in this town.
00:49:51But the lust for
00:49:53gold had a
00:49:53dangerous habit
00:49:54of bringing out
00:49:55the worst in
00:49:56people.
00:50:00Bodhi had become
00:50:01the sort of
00:50:01Las Vegas
00:50:02of its day.
00:50:04Anything that you
00:50:04could sell,
00:50:05anything that you'd
00:50:06want to buy,
00:50:06you'd find it
00:50:07here.
00:50:08Outlaws,
00:50:09they looked at
00:50:10Bodhi and said,
00:50:11here's an
00:50:11opportunity to
00:50:12make a lot of
00:50:13money very fast.
00:50:17It was so wild
00:50:18that one year
00:50:19the newspapers
00:50:20reported the
00:50:21amazing news
00:50:22that no one
00:50:23had been killed
00:50:24in the entire
00:50:25previous week.
00:50:27Apparently,
00:50:27that was a
00:50:27first.
00:50:30In the northern
00:50:31end of town
00:50:32was the Red
00:50:33Light District,
00:50:34filled with
00:50:35brothels,
00:50:36and opium
00:50:37dens.
00:50:38This lawless
00:50:39settlement appeared
00:50:40to be on a
00:50:41path to
00:50:42destruction.
00:50:43And in 1892,
00:50:45a devastating
00:50:45fire broke
00:50:46out.
00:50:49Somehow,
00:50:50fire started
00:50:51and it spread
00:50:52quickly.
00:50:53There were
00:50:54wooden buildings
00:50:55and as one
00:50:56began to burn,
00:50:57the one next
00:50:58to it began
00:50:59to burn.
00:50:59And before
00:51:00long, there
00:51:02wasn't much
00:51:02left of that
00:51:03part of Bodhi.
00:51:06But this
00:51:07wasn't started
00:51:08from the kind
00:51:09of debauchery
00:51:09that Bodhi
00:51:10was famous
00:51:11for.
00:51:12Times had
00:51:13changed.
00:51:15With these
00:51:16boom towns,
00:51:17they are literally
00:51:18erected overnight.
00:51:20But as soon as
00:51:21somewhere where
00:51:22gold is easier
00:51:23to find is found,
00:51:24people go.
00:51:26So what you're
00:51:27left with are
00:51:28abandoned wooden
00:51:29buildings in an
00:51:31extremely dry
00:51:32climate,
00:51:33that's a recipe
00:51:34for disaster.
00:51:37By 1881,
00:51:39thousands of
00:51:40people were
00:51:40leaving.
00:51:41So when the
00:51:43fire happened
00:51:44in 1892,
00:51:45a lot of
00:51:46abandoned buildings
00:51:47burnt down
00:51:48and were never
00:51:48rebuilt.
00:51:51The fire was
00:51:52the first
00:51:53disaster,
00:51:54but there was
00:51:54more to come
00:51:56that would
00:51:56eventually wipe
00:51:57most of Bodhi
00:51:58off the map.
00:52:00The gradual
00:52:01demise continued
00:52:03until 1932,
00:52:04when a raging
00:52:06fire consumed
00:52:07the town,
00:52:08ripping out
00:52:09the heart
00:52:10of this
00:52:10faltering
00:52:11Wild West
00:52:12settlement.
00:52:14That fire
00:52:15just traveled
00:52:15down Main Street
00:52:16and wiped out
00:52:17almost everything.
00:52:22A hearty few
00:52:24continued living
00:52:25in Bodhi
00:52:26until the
00:52:261940s,
00:52:27and the
00:52:28remaining
00:52:29structures
00:52:29still bear
00:52:30the marks
00:52:31of those
00:52:31final days.
00:52:34This is only
00:52:35a small portion
00:52:36of what was
00:52:37here.
00:52:37It's just a
00:52:38small glimpse,
00:52:39but it's like
00:52:40their lives
00:52:40were frozen
00:52:41in time.
00:52:47Over
00:52:474,000 miles
00:52:49away in the
00:52:49Arctic Ocean
00:52:50is the
00:52:51Norwegian
00:52:51archipelago
00:52:52of Svelbar,
00:52:54home to a
00:52:55ghost town
00:52:55with a hidden
00:52:56agenda.
00:53:01To find
00:53:02something on
00:53:03this scale,
00:53:04it's amazing.
00:53:07Everything
00:53:07seems to be
00:53:08in pretty good
00:53:09condition.
00:53:10It's all very
00:53:11well built,
00:53:11but what strikes
00:53:12you is the
00:53:13backdrop to this
00:53:14town is this
00:53:15quite strange
00:53:17looking pyramid
00:53:18shaped mountain,
00:53:19and it gives the
00:53:20whole place a
00:53:20kind of mystical
00:53:21feel.
00:53:23although beautiful,
00:53:25this breathtaking
00:53:26scenery can
00:53:28also be
00:53:29deadly.
00:53:30This is miles
00:53:31away from any
00:53:32other kinds of
00:53:33civilization.
00:53:33It's subjected
00:53:34to such brutal
00:53:36environmental
00:53:36conditions.
00:53:38This is quite
00:53:39a dangerous
00:53:40place to be,
00:53:41cut off from
00:53:42the rest of the
00:53:43world, freezing
00:53:44temperatures, and
00:53:45long, dark
00:53:46winters.
00:53:48The brutal
00:53:49conditions would
00:53:50have most
00:53:51people running
00:53:52scared, but
00:53:54this was
00:53:56clearly no
00:53:56ordinary
00:53:57outpost.
00:54:00There was
00:54:01something more
00:54:02to this town
00:54:02than just
00:54:03functionality.
00:54:04There was
00:54:05certain air of
00:54:05grandiosity or
00:54:07showiness.
00:54:08It's engineered,
00:54:10it's built,
00:54:11it's decorated,
00:54:13the piano is
00:54:14waiting to be
00:54:15played.
00:54:16All that is
00:54:17lacking is a
00:54:18population.
00:54:22So why
00:54:24construct such
00:54:25an elaborate
00:54:25settlement miles
00:54:27from anywhere?
00:54:28And did this
00:54:29extravagance
00:54:30somehow cause
00:54:32its downfall?
00:54:39For almost
00:54:41a century,
00:54:42the islands
00:54:42of Svalbard
00:54:43have been a
00:54:44part of Norway.
00:54:47But everything
00:54:48on show here
00:54:49suggests a
00:54:50different occupying
00:54:51force was in
00:54:52control.
00:54:58everywhere you
00:54:59look, there's
00:54:59a flavor and
00:55:00a really
00:55:01strong hint
00:55:02of the Soviet
00:55:03Union, down
00:55:04to the signs,
00:55:05the architecture,
00:55:07and the bust
00:55:08of Lenin in
00:55:09the town's
00:55:10central square.
00:55:13It's astonishing
00:55:14to see the
00:55:15head of Lenin
00:55:17still looking
00:55:19boldly across
00:55:20a town, just
00:55:21as though the
00:55:22Berlin Wall
00:55:23never fell.
00:55:27Named after
00:55:28the strange
00:55:29shaped mountain
00:55:30that looms
00:55:30over the
00:55:31buildings, this
00:55:32is the Soviet
00:55:34town of
00:55:35Pyramiden.
00:55:40At its peak,
00:55:42this was home
00:55:43to over
00:55:431,000 people.
00:55:46Today, just a
00:55:48handful of
00:55:49individuals like
00:55:50Garlyna Noserchenko
00:55:51tend this
00:55:52site.
00:55:53But they
00:55:54are not alone
00:55:56here.
00:56:10Curiously,
00:56:11the disappearance
00:56:12of its population
00:56:13has made the
00:56:14town even
00:56:15deadlier.
00:56:18Now it's
00:56:19kind of
00:56:20danger
00:56:20with polar
00:56:21bears, and
00:56:22now it's
00:56:22more than
00:56:23before, because
00:56:24mostly it's
00:56:25quiet and
00:56:26it's better
00:56:27for polar
00:56:27bears to
00:56:29come here.
00:56:29It's easier.
00:56:34So what
00:56:35could possibly
00:56:36make living
00:56:37out here
00:56:37worthwhile?
00:56:40In the
00:56:41beginning, at
00:56:42least, it
00:56:43seemed the
00:56:43answer lay
00:56:44underground.
00:56:46Cold.
00:56:49There were
00:56:50lots of
00:56:50countries that
00:56:51were interested
00:56:51in this
00:56:52place because
00:56:52of the
00:56:52coal, but
00:56:54when you
00:56:54weighed up
00:56:54all the
00:56:55options, many
00:56:56people thought
00:56:57it wasn't
00:56:57worth it, but
00:56:58the Soviets
00:56:59felt it was.
00:57:00It's such an
00:57:01incredibly
00:57:03inhospitable
00:57:04environment to
00:57:05live in, let
00:57:06alone mining.
00:57:07How do you
00:57:08create a
00:57:09settlement there
00:57:09and turn a
00:57:10profit?
00:57:15But was
00:57:16coal really
00:57:17what the
00:57:17Soviets were
00:57:18after?
00:57:18Or was
00:57:19this town
00:57:20built for a
00:57:21very different
00:57:21purpose?
00:57:34In the
00:57:35freezing wilderness
00:57:36of Svalbard
00:57:37sits the
00:57:38ghost town
00:57:39of Pyramidid.
00:57:41The
00:57:42USSR first
00:57:43obtained mining
00:57:43rights here
00:57:44in 1927.
00:57:46And by the
00:57:47middle of the
00:57:48century, during
00:57:49the Cold War
00:57:50era, they
00:57:51were pouring
00:57:51money into
00:57:52this settlement.
00:57:56But the
00:57:57extravagance on
00:57:58display suggests
00:57:59this was about
00:58:00something more
00:58:01than just
00:58:02mining.
00:58:05As an
00:58:06engineering
00:58:06project, it
00:58:07wasn't just
00:58:08the basic
00:58:09necessities.
00:58:10there was a
00:58:11level of
00:58:11luxury to
00:58:12this place
00:58:13that suggested
00:58:14that there
00:58:15were other
00:58:16reasons for
00:58:17being here.
00:58:19They don't
00:58:20only bring
00:58:21coal mining
00:58:22equipment and
00:58:23sheds.
00:58:24They build
00:58:25first-rate
00:58:26accommodation for
00:58:27everybody.
00:58:28They make it so
00:58:29that it's easier
00:58:31to live at this
00:58:33mining station in
00:58:34Svalbard than it
00:58:36is to live in
00:58:37the USSR
00:58:38itself.
00:58:40They put a lot
00:58:41of stuff for
00:58:42culture life and
00:58:44for sport life
00:58:44also.
00:58:45It's a swimming
00:58:46pool, it's a
00:58:47culture center, a
00:58:48sport field inside
00:58:49culture center.
00:58:51It was very nice
00:58:53for people.
00:58:57located over 700
00:58:59miles from the
00:59:00USSR, the
00:59:02first-class
00:59:03facilities were
00:59:03above and
00:59:04beyond those of
00:59:06a mining town
00:59:06behind the
00:59:07Iron Curtain.
00:59:10It seems coal
00:59:12wasn't the only
00:59:14interest here.
00:59:17Some people
00:59:18believe that there
00:59:18was never enough
00:59:19coal there to
00:59:20sustain a
00:59:21prosperous town and
00:59:22community and
00:59:23that in fact its
00:59:24real purpose all
00:59:26along was to
00:59:27gain a foothold in
00:59:28the West.
00:59:31In the stalemate
00:59:32of the Cold War,
00:59:33any access to the
00:59:35West could provide
00:59:36the Soviets with
00:59:37an opportunity to
00:59:38exploit.
00:59:40But this wasn't
00:59:41built for spying
00:59:42or for the
00:59:43military.
00:59:45This was
00:59:46something different.
00:59:51This was an
00:59:52opportunity for
00:59:53propaganda, an
00:59:55opportunity to
00:59:56showcase to the
00:59:57West, in the
00:59:58West, how
00:59:59communism actually
01:00:00worked.
01:00:01Building a
01:00:02showpiece city in
01:00:04Svalbard meant
01:00:05that on Norwegian
01:00:07territory, in a
01:00:09place theoretically
01:00:10visible to the
01:00:11entire world,
01:00:12everything that was
01:00:14the best about the
01:00:15Soviet Union could
01:00:16be put on display.
01:00:20While the money
01:00:21and support
01:00:22lasted, Pyramiden
01:00:24was a beacon of
01:00:25communist glory.
01:00:27But when the
01:00:28Iron Curtain finally
01:00:29fell in 1991,
01:00:32reality began to
01:00:33set in.
01:00:35The original threat
01:00:37caught up with this
01:00:38place.
01:00:39To get to the
01:00:40lucrative coal, you
01:00:42had to dig deeper
01:00:43and it just wasn't
01:00:44worth it in the
01:00:44end.
01:00:45As the mine
01:00:47slowly edged
01:00:48towards abandonment,
01:00:49a disastrous scene
01:00:51involving many of
01:00:52the town's
01:00:53inhabitants suddenly
01:00:54accelerated its
01:00:56decline.
01:00:59Tragically, in
01:01:001996, a plane
01:01:02flying from
01:01:02Moscow crashed on
01:01:04descent to the
01:01:05island.
01:01:07Searchers say
01:01:08wreckage is spread
01:01:08across the top of
01:01:09Opera Mountain and
01:01:11their speculation may
01:01:12have been trying to
01:01:13keep below the
01:01:14cloud cover.
01:01:15In total, 141
01:01:19people lost their
01:01:20lives.
01:01:21The community
01:01:22never recovered from
01:01:24this disaster.
01:01:30With the last ton of
01:01:32coal finally extracted
01:01:34on March 31st, 1998,
01:01:37the last occupants
01:01:38fled the town for good.
01:01:43What Pyramiden shows us
01:01:45is that you can pour a
01:01:46huge amount of money
01:01:47into an engineering
01:01:48ambition, but if that
01:01:50engineering ambition
01:01:51doesn't support itself,
01:01:53it will eventually
01:01:54disintegrate.
01:02:02In a very different
01:02:04part of the world, in the
01:02:06arch of the famous
01:02:07boot of Italy, overlooking
01:02:09a lunar landscape is a
01:02:11truly epic site.
01:02:16This rock sits in the
01:02:18middle of an area known
01:02:19as the Badlands.
01:02:21It's an unpopulated area,
01:02:23empty as far as the eye
01:02:25can see.
01:02:27Yet a town grows out of
01:02:29an imposing mountain,
01:02:321,300 feet above the
01:02:34surrounding plains.
01:02:36It's a stunning site.
01:02:38You can hardly tell where
01:02:39the cliff face ends and
01:02:41the masonry begins.
01:02:44It's almost as if they've
01:02:45organically integrated
01:02:46their town with the rock
01:02:49itself.
01:02:51Some of the buildings look
01:02:52as though they're clinging
01:02:53onto the rock for dear
01:02:54life.
01:02:55And in one instance, if you
01:02:57walk out of the front door,
01:02:59it's just a sheer drop.
01:03:02It's really quite an
01:03:03impressive sight.
01:03:04How the hell would you
01:03:05build something up there?
01:03:09As you get up close,
01:03:10another layer is added to
01:03:12this mysterious, dramatic
01:03:14looking site.
01:03:18When you look closer, you
01:03:19can see the buildings have
01:03:21been battered and light is
01:03:23streaming in through the
01:03:23missing church dome.
01:03:25The whole thing is
01:03:26virtually flattened and it
01:03:28makes you wonder, what
01:03:30happened here?
01:03:31Was it bombed?
01:03:32Did anyone survive?
01:03:38Although empty, the
01:03:40weather-beaten buildings
01:03:42suggest this settlement was
01:03:44occupied for many
01:03:45centuries.
01:03:48At the top of the town's
01:03:50imposing tower, local
01:03:52guide Severio Grippo explains
01:03:54what made this location so
01:03:57special.
01:04:01As you can see, we are on the
01:04:03top of the tower, and you
01:04:04can understand how important
01:04:06was this location to have a
01:04:08wide view and dominate all
01:04:10the territories.
01:04:11In fact, from here, we have a
01:04:13360-degree panoramic view.
01:04:18This is Krakow.
01:04:21Set high on a steep mountain,
01:04:24built in the Middle Ages, this
01:04:26settlement's stunning location
01:04:28is no accident.
01:04:33The heavy tower, with its
01:04:35arrow slits and fortifications,
01:04:37gives a hint when this village
01:04:39was built, because it was at a
01:04:41time when Islamic pirates roved
01:04:44the Mediterranean and frequently
01:04:46raided inland.
01:04:47This was a defensive village.
01:04:52However, further inspection shows
01:04:56this is not simply a sacked
01:04:59medieval town.
01:05:02A modern community lived here.
01:05:05It's something that was destroyed
01:05:07recently.
01:05:08The question is, how and why?
01:05:24Clinging to the precipice of an
01:05:26imposing rock in southern Italy
01:05:28is the battered settlement of
01:05:30Krakow.
01:05:31It appears ancient, yet clues
01:05:34suggest it was home to a modern
01:05:37community.
01:05:39The seeds of its destruction were
01:05:42sown by its own economic success.
01:05:46By the 15th century, wealthy local
01:05:49landowners were moving into the town.
01:05:54As Krakow mayor Pino Laci-Cherkia
01:05:57explains.
01:05:58The economic and commercial growth
01:06:05developed the urban center.
01:06:08That grew and expanded around the
01:06:10tower, which was itself surrounded by
01:06:14the houses that belonged to the landowners.
01:06:20In the following centuries, Krakow's
01:06:22infrastructure continued to extend.
01:06:27As buildings sprawled down onto the
01:06:30surrounding slopes.
01:06:34Yet today, they have vanished.
01:06:38A striking feature is that large parts of the
01:06:42new town have completely disappeared.
01:06:44But the old town remains largely intact, which
01:06:48begs the question, why then does so much of it
01:06:51resemble an area from a war zone?
01:06:56There's a line where the old medieval
01:06:58settlements meet the new town.
01:07:01And in that new town square, it's actually sunk about 10 feet
01:07:06from where it used to be.
01:07:09The whole place has been decimated.
01:07:13The answer to this odd situation can be found underground.
01:07:19While the medieval site is built on solid rock,
01:07:23the new town sits on less stable ground.
01:07:28This land sits on layers of different types of clay.
01:07:33And new infrastructure works were putting ever greater
01:07:36pressure on this unstable ground.
01:07:39The result was landslides.
01:07:44A landslide is a mass movement of rock and debris
01:07:47that usually forms on some sort of weakness.
01:07:50That might be a weak bed or a join between
01:07:52two different types of rocks, really.
01:07:54Landslides are lubricated by water.
01:08:00The community here always co-existed with the landslides,
01:08:05fixing buildings that were damaged and carrying on.
01:08:10By the early 1960s,
01:08:14Krakow was experiencing landslides so powerful
01:08:17that retaining walls were constructed
01:08:20to keep the new town safe.
01:08:23But the earth continued to move.
01:08:30By 1963, the landslides had caused untold damage.
01:08:34The entire new part of the village
01:08:36had slipped away down the hill.
01:08:38The football pitch had disappeared
01:08:40and even the retaining wall that was meant to guard
01:08:42against landslides had gone.
01:08:48Remarkably, these worsening landslides
01:08:51were largely self-inflected.
01:08:55They reinforced the area with concrete,
01:08:59which is extremely heavy and required drilling.
01:09:02And as a result, the added weight sped up the landslide.
01:09:11They found that it was actually leaking pipes and sewers and so on
01:09:14that were contributing to the water that was fluxing
01:09:17and feeding the landslide.
01:09:19So it's actually a man-made problem
01:09:21that caused the landslides,
01:09:23that caused the evacuation of the town.
01:09:28Landslides may have wiped out the new town,
01:09:30but what caused such extensive damage
01:09:34to the medieval parts of Krakow?
01:09:39The other problem that you have in this part of the world
01:09:43are earthquakes.
01:09:44And you can imagine a solid building
01:09:47attached to solid rock,
01:09:48when that shakes, it's going to start falling apart.
01:09:51There was a big earthquake in 1980
01:09:53and that caused major destruction with the town
01:09:57and it eventually really kind of
01:09:58tipped it right over the edge
01:10:00to make it almost uninhabitable.
01:10:06And this is the last abandoned house of Krakow.
01:10:09The last family lived here until the beginning of 90s.
01:10:13Inside, you can still have signs of life.
01:10:16An oven, some chair on the floor,
01:10:19and even bottles on the fireplace.
01:10:24After standing nearly a thousand years,
01:10:28Krakow finally got hit
01:10:29with a series of calamities
01:10:32that it really couldn't survive.
01:10:37Today, Krakow is an empty shell,
01:10:41a haunting destination for curious tourists.
01:10:46However, the town's suffering
01:10:49has not all been in vain.
01:10:53Given all of the things that have happened
01:10:55to this village,
01:10:56it's become a bit of a mecca for scientists
01:10:57to try and understand exactly
01:10:59how you can mitigate against such problems,
01:11:02how you can go from a perfectly working town
01:11:05to a destroyed town.
01:11:07And hopefully, we'll learn something from this
01:11:09from the science into the future.
01:11:16On the northern fringes of Germany
01:11:19is the Baltic island of Rugen.
01:11:27Emerging from its thick pine forest
01:11:29is an epic structure.
01:11:32Its innocuous appearance belies its sinister purpose.
01:11:38What lurks within
01:11:40are the echoes of a dark and chilling past.
01:11:46In the mid-1930s,
01:11:49Hitler's Nazi propaganda machine
01:11:51was in full flow.
01:11:53He needed millions of Germans
01:11:56to buy into his vision
01:11:58of a great empire
01:11:59befitting the superior Aryan race.
01:12:03Central to Hitler's plan
01:12:05was Strength Through Joy,
01:12:08an organization that worked
01:12:10to raise the status of German workers
01:12:12and buy their loyalty.
01:12:15The most visual legacy of their work
01:12:18is this,
01:12:19the coastal town of Prora.
01:12:26In 1936,
01:12:28construction began
01:12:29on what was one of the longest buildings
01:12:32in Europe.
01:12:33Designed to accommodate
01:12:3420,000 loyal Germans,
01:12:37it would include
01:12:38a movie theater,
01:12:41bowling alleys,
01:12:42swimming pools,
01:12:44and at its heart
01:12:45an almighty auditorium.
01:12:49Yet this was no typical beach resort.
01:12:54Beneath the veneer
01:12:55of peaceful tranquility
01:12:57lay a sinister motivation.
01:13:02People were to be manipulated
01:13:04and influenced here.
01:13:06The idea behind that
01:13:08was that people were to get
01:13:09maximum rest and recovery
01:13:10without having a single moment
01:13:13of spare time.
01:13:14Gestapo spies ensured
01:13:16everyone towed the party line.
01:13:18A barrage of propaganda films
01:13:20and lectures
01:13:21would leave holidaymakers
01:13:22well and truly indoctrinated
01:13:24with the Nazi creed,
01:13:25with one ultimate aim.
01:13:28To get fit
01:13:29and strong for the war,
01:13:31to achieve better work results
01:13:33and actually also
01:13:34to be conditioned
01:13:35for mass murder.
01:13:39When war came in 1939,
01:13:42holidays were forbidden,
01:13:44strength through joy
01:13:46mothballed,
01:13:47and Prora became a ghost town
01:13:49before it was even a town.
01:13:53Today,
01:13:55Prora is being remodeled,
01:13:57set to once again
01:13:58become a holiday town.
01:14:00Yet,
01:14:01it remains a stark reminder
01:14:03of Hitler's
01:14:04ruthless totalitarian rule.
01:14:09Still to come,
01:14:11an American community
01:14:12almost wiped off
01:14:13the face of the earth,
01:14:15but still hiding
01:14:16a burning secret
01:14:18at its heart.
01:14:31From America
01:14:32to the Arctic Ocean,
01:14:34through scenes
01:14:35of natural disasters
01:14:36and man-made catastrophes,
01:14:39across continents
01:14:40and centuries of history,
01:14:44these are the strangest
01:14:46ghost towns
01:14:47in the world.
01:14:52Finally,
01:14:53we come to a town
01:14:54virtually wiped off
01:14:56the face of the earth,
01:14:57and it's found
01:14:59in Columbia County,
01:15:01Pennsylvania.
01:15:07It's clear that there's been
01:15:08some massive time break here.
01:15:10You know,
01:15:11something's gone on.
01:15:13It's the victim
01:15:15of something
01:15:15that most of us
01:15:16couldn't believe
01:15:17could happen.
01:15:19there are no people there.
01:15:22It's eerie.
01:15:25Roads neatly laid out
01:15:27in a grid-like system
01:15:28suggest this was once
01:15:30a typical American town.
01:15:34Most of the buildings
01:15:35themselves are gone.
01:15:36In a way,
01:15:37it's a ghost town
01:15:38without the town.
01:15:41foundations yet no houses,
01:15:43a police station,
01:15:45but no police force,
01:15:46a settlement
01:15:48that has vanished.
01:15:52Clues hint
01:15:53at some kind
01:15:55of natural disaster.
01:15:57It's almost as though
01:15:58that the tarmac's all cracked up.
01:16:00You know,
01:16:00as the ground heaved,
01:16:01was there an earthquake?
01:16:02Is that the reason
01:16:03why there's nobody there?
01:16:04It's really rather strange.
01:16:06A person visiting
01:16:07for the first time
01:16:08might think that
01:16:09the town was a victim
01:16:10of some kind of
01:16:10volcanic activity.
01:16:12There's cracks visible,
01:16:14there's steam
01:16:15coming up out of the ground.
01:16:16It seems like
01:16:17some kind of a
01:16:19volcanic wasteland.
01:16:22Why has this town
01:16:24been erased
01:16:24from history?
01:16:30It's hard to believe now,
01:16:32but this desolate site
01:16:34had been part
01:16:35of the history
01:16:36of American industry
01:16:37since the 1850s.
01:16:40Connected by road and rail,
01:16:42this was once
01:16:43a thriving town
01:16:44of 1,400 people.
01:16:47It was called
01:16:48Centralia.
01:16:51Local author
01:16:53David D. Cook
01:16:54remembers it
01:16:55as a very different place.
01:16:59The shot was taken
01:17:00in October of 1983,
01:17:02looking up toward
01:17:03the top of town,
01:17:04and you can see
01:17:05there was an entire town
01:17:06there that's now gone.
01:17:08So it really drives home,
01:17:11I think,
01:17:12how much was lost here.
01:17:15How the town vanished
01:17:17is a tale stranger
01:17:19than fiction.
01:17:20Back in 1979,
01:17:23at the local gas station,
01:17:24they started noticing
01:17:26something odd.
01:17:29John Coddington's
01:17:30gas station
01:17:31had to shut down
01:17:32because the gasoline
01:17:34in the underground tanks
01:17:35was very hot.
01:17:36So the state police said,
01:17:38you know,
01:17:38sorry, John,
01:17:39you've got to close.
01:17:40And he didn't fight it.
01:17:40I mean,
01:17:41his family lived
01:17:42above the station.
01:17:43So, you know,
01:17:44he had a lot of skin
01:17:45in the game there.
01:17:47Coddington wasn't the only
01:17:50Centralia resident
01:17:51experiencing strange phenomena.
01:17:56A local kid
01:17:57by the name
01:17:58of Todd Dombolski
01:17:59was walking
01:18:00in the backyard
01:18:01when suddenly
01:18:02a sinkhole opened up
01:18:04and he fell in.
01:18:06He was able
01:18:07to grab hold
01:18:08of a tree root
01:18:09and keep hold
01:18:10of it
01:18:11until a friend
01:18:11could come
01:18:12and rescue him,
01:18:13pull him out.
01:18:14But this brought
01:18:15national attention
01:18:16to this town's
01:18:17bizarre plight.
01:18:19And soon,
01:18:21it got worse.
01:18:23The earth
01:18:24began to erupt.
01:18:26When they first
01:18:27saw these cracks,
01:18:28people just wondered
01:18:29what could possibly
01:18:31cause this?
01:18:32You know,
01:18:32it's maybe
01:18:33three feet wide,
01:18:34two and a half feet deep,
01:18:35and maybe as much
01:18:36as 20 to 30 feet long.
01:18:40What was responsible
01:18:42for these gaping holes
01:18:43and cracks?
01:18:57In the town
01:18:58of Centralia,
01:19:00a few scattered
01:19:01foundations
01:19:02are all that remains
01:19:03of a community
01:19:04struck by a series
01:19:06of strange phenomena
01:19:07through the 1980s
01:19:08and 1990s.
01:19:12Initially,
01:19:14speculation was rife.
01:19:18For a while,
01:19:19at least,
01:19:19for several years,
01:19:20you would see steam
01:19:21coming out
01:19:22of this gigantic
01:19:22highway crack.
01:19:24People wondered
01:19:25what was causing this.
01:19:26They may have thought
01:19:27it was some kind
01:19:28of volcano
01:19:29down there, maybe.
01:19:31The source
01:19:32of the steam,
01:19:33however,
01:19:33was something
01:19:34no one could have guessed.
01:19:38What's actually
01:19:38happening
01:19:39is something
01:19:39that sounds impossible,
01:19:40which is a fire
01:19:42burning underground.
01:19:43And it's been burning
01:19:45for more than 50 years.
01:19:48It's venting gases
01:19:50through any cracks
01:19:51and seams in the ground.
01:19:53Imagine if you had
01:19:53cellars in the houses,
01:19:55they could be
01:19:55potentially targets
01:19:57for escaping gases.
01:19:59And those gases
01:20:00can be poisonous.
01:20:02And you can imagine
01:20:03that fire is moving
01:20:04in different parts.
01:20:06The fire moved
01:20:07under the highway.
01:20:08There were voluminous
01:20:09clouds of steam
01:20:10that would come
01:20:11out of the ground
01:20:12either side
01:20:12of the highway.
01:20:15The highway
01:20:17may have closed
01:20:18in 1983,
01:20:19but the fire
01:20:21still burns today.
01:20:24So this is a borehole.
01:20:26And if we unscrew
01:20:27this cap,
01:20:28we are going to see
01:20:29what the fire
01:20:31is like underneath.
01:20:38Ooh, nice and hot.
01:20:40That's heath
01:20:41coming up to the surface.
01:20:42I can smell
01:20:43the distinctive
01:20:45kind of sulfurish
01:20:46smell of the fire.
01:20:48You see these little
01:20:49beads of water
01:20:50just jumping
01:20:51and floating in the air.
01:20:53When I talked
01:20:54to one of the state
01:20:54officials recently,
01:20:55he said that
01:20:56when they last tested it,
01:20:57it was about 140 degrees,
01:21:00you know,
01:21:00maybe down 25, 30 feet.
01:21:05So what caused
01:21:06this raging fire
01:21:08spreading beneath the town?
01:21:12So this may look
01:21:13like just a clearing
01:21:14in the forest,
01:21:15but back in 1962,
01:21:17there was a huge pit here
01:21:18that Centralia used
01:21:20as its landfill.
01:21:22And they wanted
01:21:23to clean up the dump.
01:21:25And the way they did that
01:21:26was to have some guys
01:21:27from the fire department
01:21:28come and set it on fire,
01:21:30burn up the stuff
01:21:31that could be burned,
01:21:33wash it down with water
01:21:34from a tanker truck,
01:21:35and then go away
01:21:36and everything was
01:21:37supposed to be fine.
01:21:38But it wasn't.
01:21:40Something really odd
01:21:41actually happened,
01:21:42which is a phenomenon
01:21:43called a coal seam fire.
01:21:45There's coal mine
01:21:46underground,
01:21:47ground, and what happened
01:21:49is somehow the fire
01:21:50got into that coal area
01:21:52and all of a sudden
01:21:53it sparked
01:21:54a whole new problem.
01:21:56The fire would quietly
01:21:58burn below Centralia
01:22:00for the next 20 years.
01:22:04What you don't see
01:22:05on the surface
01:22:06is that underneath
01:22:07this town,
01:22:08and extending far and wide,
01:22:09is a giant labyrinth
01:22:11of coal mines.
01:22:13And it's these coal mines
01:22:14that are on fire.
01:22:17Centralia sits right on top
01:22:19of one of the richest
01:22:21coal mining areas
01:22:22in the world.
01:22:23So it's very difficult
01:22:24to figure out
01:22:25how to put the fire out
01:22:27because the underground
01:22:28environment is so complex.
01:22:31Coal seam fires themselves
01:22:33are a big problem
01:22:34in coal areas.
01:22:35And obviously
01:22:36as you burn away
01:22:37bits of the coal
01:22:37and you destabilize
01:22:39the subterranean network
01:22:41of tunnels
01:22:41and coal seams
01:22:42and so on,
01:22:43you can actually cause
01:22:44there to be
01:22:45instabilities
01:22:46on the surface.
01:22:48A sinkhole that developed
01:22:50probably due to this
01:22:51undermining
01:22:52of the stability
01:22:53of the surface.
01:22:56With no way
01:22:57of extinguishing the fire
01:22:59and the eyes
01:23:00of the world
01:23:00on Centralia,
01:23:01the federal government
01:23:03could ignore
01:23:04the problem no longer.
01:23:08After Todd Amosky's
01:23:10incident and it got
01:23:12all this attention
01:23:12and there were
01:23:14citizen groups
01:23:15in Centralia saying,
01:23:16hey, you've got to
01:23:16get us out of here.
01:23:18But they still took
01:23:19almost two years
01:23:21to come up
01:23:22with a solution.
01:23:24Eventually,
01:23:25in 1984,
01:23:27the entire population
01:23:28of Centralia
01:23:29was given the go-ahead
01:23:31to relocate
01:23:32with the help
01:23:33of $42 million
01:23:35federal dollars.
01:23:40All but a stubborn few
01:23:42of the town's
01:23:43previous inhabitants
01:23:44have been relocated
01:23:45and today,
01:23:46there is little evidence
01:23:48that the community
01:23:49of Centralia
01:23:50ever existed.
01:23:52You see how quickly
01:23:55nature reclaims
01:23:56man-made space,
01:23:58even streets
01:23:59and driveways,
01:24:00all of that
01:24:01gradually starts
01:24:03reverting to forest.
01:24:05But when will
01:24:06the fire
01:24:07finally stop
01:24:08flickering
01:24:09beneath Centralia's
01:24:10empty streets?
01:24:12So how long
01:24:13could it burn?
01:24:14I've heard figures
01:24:15like 200 years,
01:24:16250 years,
01:24:18but in the end,
01:24:19nobody really knows.
01:24:20It'll go until
01:24:20it stops burning,
01:24:22runs out of fuel,
01:24:23runs out of air.
01:24:24Neither of those
01:24:25are likely to happen
01:24:26anytime soon.
01:24:26I'll see you next time.
01:24:28pretty?
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