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SALT LAKE CITY — In the movies, the end of civilization is much less beautiful.
But in real life, there are long-abandoned places that have an ethereal, haunting beauty that just might make you pine for the end of the world. Almost.
House of the Bulgarian Communist Party
At the top of Mount Buzludzha in the center of Bulgaria stands an unintentional monument to defeated power. The domed concrete structure that once was the House of the Bulgarian Communist Party was built in modern times — it opened in 1981 — but looks more at home in a ’60s dystopian sci-fi film. With the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, the building was abandoned, leaving to time and the elements massive mosaic murals of communist heroes Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin and Bulgaria's communist dictator Todor Zhivkov. The building is filled with crumbling debris and covered in graffiti, and icy snow drifts surround and creep into the decaying structure. The country does not have the resources to preserve the building, instead telling the Daily Mail, "Let them take care of it if they're so proud of it."
El Hotel del Salto, Colombia
In 1928, the opulent Hotel del Salto opened to host wealthy visitors to the Tequendama Falls near Bogota, Colombia. Perched atop a cliff with a direct view of the falls, the hotel flourished until the river became contaminated and visitors dwindled. El Hotel del Salto struggled to remain open until it was finally abandoned in the ’90s. According to Deserted Places, legend has it that many people have committed suicide there, leading to a reputation of being haunted. Despite the lore, the hotel didn't stay empty for long; it is now a museum, and visitors once again flock to the area.
Kasteel van Mesen, Belgium
Few things evoke more mystery and romance than an abandoned castle. Kasteel van Mesen in Lede, Belgium, has seen its share. Built in the 1600s by a wealthy aristocratic family, the castle was a private royal residence for 200 years until the winds of change inevitably took their toll. The castle was sold in the 1800s and, in the rush of the Industrial Revolution, the building subsequently became a gin distillery, a sugar refinery and a tobacco factory. Just after World War I, the castle was converted to a boarding school for girls. Due to a change of law, the school closed in 1971 and the castle has been abandoned ever since. The building was scheduled for demolition in 2010, but a battle over the historic site has kept the sprawling gothic castle intact, for now.
Pripyat Amusement Park, Ukraine
The only thing more haunting than the images of this abandoned location is the story of its brief existence: Pripyat Amusement Park in Ukraine was open for just one day — April 27, 1986 — providing entertainment for those evacuating the city after the Chernobyl disaster. Slated for a grand opening of May 1, the catastrophic April 26 nuclear accident immediately shuttered the park and its hopeful future. According to Atlas Obscura, once-festive opening day decorations still hang, and visitors brave enough to face the lingering radiation are known to leave stuffed animals on the park's rides in loving memoriam.
Detroit, Mich.
The rapidly decaying city of Detroit serves not as a beautiful vision of days gone by but a harsh reminder of brutal economic realities. The once-bustling city of Detroit was home to nearly 2 million people in its heydey, but the current population sits at about 700,000 — leaving two-thirds of the homes abandoned, as well as great swaths of the city that once stood as America's great automotive capitol. While much of Detroit, which filed for bankruptcy in July, is overrun by crime or crumbling in decay, homes are not the only buildings left to ruin: Hotels, municipal buildings, hospitals, schools, churches and even skyscrapers have been abandoned in equal share, leaving the remains of the city and its inhabitants to tread unknown waters.
