drb
logo



"QUANTUM SHOT" #659
Link - article by Avi Abrams

      Siberian Nearly-Abandoned & "Ghost" Cities Could Be the Worst Halloween
        Scare Ever

      We'd like to call them "ghost towns", but they are clearly not abandoned.
      Amazingly, people still live in them, go to work in the harshest possible
      conditions (paradoxically making it the richest and mightiest industrial
      area in Russia) and then come "home" to relax in inhuman weather,
      non-existing infrastructure, in dangerously dilapidated buildings...
      
      Truly, this is an "abandoned, terrifying, ruined environment", multiplied
      to the N-th degree! Judge for yourself:

      
      
      
      (Norilsk, Siberia - images credit:
        Schegloff)

      Just in time for Halloween: no skeletons, witches, or giant spiders -
      instead, something real and more terrifying - witness the life in
      Cherepovetz City (the name loosely translates as "City of Skulls"),
      the center of the Russian North-West SeveroStal industrial zone:

      
      
      (image credit:
        Elena Chinarina)

      Welcome to Norilsk - the Very Definition of Cold Hell

      Norilsk is a true "Wild East" Siberian town, the quintessence of
      tough living, tough conditions and tough-as-nails people.

      
      
      (images via 1,
        2)

      The average life expectancy in Norilsk is 46-48 years... 
      
      Here is why (this is not a complete list, by any means): 
      
      - minus 10 degrees Celsius is considered "warm weather" 
      - this city is built on permafrost, so buildings
      deteriorate quickly and most are in crumbling conditions 
      - the city was originally built by prisoners (untold numbers of them died), 
      so it is very probably haunted... 
      - the industrial pollution is on par with the worst towns in China 
      - it's officially one of the ten most polluted cities in the world 
      - there are no homeless people, because nobody can survive minus 56 degrees Celsius. 
      - they have literally 45 days of night 
      - the depressing, miserable Arctic night 
      - the city often endures severe punishing winds, up to 25 meters per second 
      
      The ecology around Norilsk is so atrocious that trees can spontaneously ignite from
      industrial chemicals in the ground - and so only burned sticks are left:

      
      (images credit:
        Schegloff)

      The local forest:

      

      The local grocery store:

      

      People spend their lives (and murderously cold winters!) in these
      apartments -

      
      
      
      
      (images via 1,
        2)

      Some apartments still stand, while others have already fallen apart, their
      basements plundered for concrete by locals to build garages and more shaky
      housing:

      
      

      Santa Claus lives here?... I think not -

      
      (image credit:
        Vladimir Maltsev)

      Those on the bottom floors fare the worst during the brutal winter:

      
      
      
      
      
      (images credit:
        Evgeny Bugaev)

      Mysterious ruins:

      
      
      
      (images via 1,
        2)

      Permafrost:

      

      This permafrost makes any building's foundation unstable, which presents
      huge problems for long-term construction. In time, some areas begin to
      look like an earthquake disaster zone:

      
      (image via)

      Note the broken pipe leaking poisonous gases (right image):

      

      "Welcome to Norilsk" is written in bizarre block letters, indicating the
      harsh realities ahead. A visitor is also greeted by strange do-it-yourself
      SUVs:

      
      

      When winter comes, people are shuttled to work in buses... but it gets
      even more surreal inside:

      
      
      
      
      
      (images by V. Makushkin,
        via)

      Missing the bus could be a life-threatening situation:

      
      

      Help does not come quickly:

      

      This statue of Lenin points to a bright future, and a gaudy billboard
      proclaims a "Peace to All Children on Earth", but... happiness is a rare
      commodity in this terrifying place. See more pictures of Norilsk on
      GoogleMaps
      here.

      
      (images via 1,
        2)

      When the power lines fail, this town seems to become a perfect setting for
      a "30 Days of Night" movie sequel:

      

      Leaving Norilsk, we finally encounter a pleasing sight: the picture of a
      beautiful girl on a billboard. Which only reminds us of another billboard
      - a travel destination from The Truman Show - another surreal town
      "of no escape"...

      

      Kadykchan: The City of Broken Dreams (and a glorious Soviet past?)

      Only 300 citizens remain in
      this city, once a powerful resource center and a thriving coal mining community.
      Here is how it looked during the Soviet times:

      

      And here is how it looks today (most buildings were abandoned in 1983, but
      there are still people who live in this ghastly environment):

      
      
      

      Approaching the city, the atmosphere of abandonment and decay is palpable:

      
      
      
      
      
      
      (original unknown)

      CONTINUE TO "THE GHOSTS OF ANTARCTICA: ABANDONED STATIONS & HUTS"
            ->

      READ THE REST OF "ABANDONED PLACES" SERIES! ->




RECENT ARTICLES:

Visual Caffeine #8
Visual Caffeine, Issue 8

A thrilling blend of art, myths and technology

Visual Caffeine #7
Visual Caffeine, Issue 7

A thrilling blend of art, myths and technology

Art Deco
Imperial Dreams: Art Deco Update

Wings, Gears, & Glamorous Ladies

1970s SciFi
DRB Pics-of-the-Day

Grand Space Adventure 1970s Art



"Dark Roasted Blend" - All Kinds of Weird and Wonderful Things, Discovered Daily!"

DRB is a top-ranked and respected source for the best in art, travel and fascinating technology, with a highly eclectic presentation. Our in-depth articles in many categories make DRB a valued online magazine, bringing you quality info and entertainment every time you visit the site - About DRB

Connect with us and become part of DRB on Facebook and Twitter.



YOUR COMMENTS::

30 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't see any images???

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't understand... wikipedia doesn't seem to confirm this account, in particular it says there are 300,000 residents.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherepovets

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Woah. Its like something out of Fallout.

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

uhh yeah so this whole description is a complete lie, for one thing cherepovets has 100 time the people living in it. nice try tho, real spooooooky!

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The only population number they mentioned was for Kadykchan.

You realize that this article is about three different cities, right?

You read it before you started typing didn't u?

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Um, they said Kadakchan has 300 residents and linked to the source. There are three towns shown in those pictures.

That having been said, major geography fail nonetheless. If living on permafrost and/or tundra and in places where it's dark all winter is horribly dangerous, I've been doing it wrong for years! The article makes it sound like this weather is something the Soviets created... unlike the pollution or terrible working conditions, which really are something no one would want to live with if they had better options.

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nice try, liar!

___  
Anonymous Will said...

Pretty awesome post.

___  
Anonymous Bronson said...

wow, these are creepily cool photos.

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was born in Norilsk. The story about it here is almost a complete bullshit. It's really cold in there and ecology is quite bad, but the photos are taken from abandoned places and industrial areas. Same stuff could be posted about US if someone would go to bad areas of Detroit.

___  
Blogger msspurlock said...

Anyone who believes it looked that good during the Soviet era is living in a dream world.

That image is so heavily airbrushed it's ridiculous.

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was born in Norilsk. The story about it here is almost a complete bullshit. It's really cold in there and ecology is quite bad, but the photos are taken from abandoned places and industrial areas. Same stuff could be posted about US if someone would go to bad areas of Detroit."

fair enough, and I'll grant you that this quite likely won't make the Norilsk Travelers Guide, but none the less, I'm viewing it on Google Earth, and viewing the posted images there. It's a shiat whole, no matter how you rose color the viewfinder.
___

___  
Anonymous vikki said...

i cant help but think of stalker and fallout! nice pics

___  
Anonymous Clockwork Apple said...

Ive been to Norilsk and Siberian plains 2 years ago. It is nothing like on the pics (although it looks impressive :) There are some abandoned areas like in every industrial city and the pollution is indeed quite strong. However, you can not feel it in the air like in Beijing sometimes for example, so the whole thing is a bit exaggerated..
Shithole is a tin shed pavellas in Rio or a crackhouse in Laos! (both of which Ive seen) Norilsk is just a workers city with soviet era architecture build on permafrost. It is pretty harsh and ugly sometimes, takes time to adapt but definitely not a shithole..

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's looks like clouds over the mordor

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Why would Santa Claus live in Russia?
He lives in "Korvatunturi" in Finland.

___  
Anonymous Sokobanja said...

Looks like Silent Hill. Very scary

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

If this is what the communists call a "workers paradise", I would hate to see what the alternative was. Remember that each of these "apartments" housed up to three families. The reason that life expectancy is 48 . . . . vodka - lots of vodka. I think I would also drink myself to death if this was my life.

___  
Blogger Kristophr said...

The US has one similar town ... Whittier Alaska.

There is nothing shittier than a day in Whittier.

The town is an incredibly ugly conglomeration of government built housing set in one of the prettiest places in Alaska.

Only ways in or out are by sea or driving through the train tunnel to the port ... and they make you pay to leave through it. Heh.

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That "poisonous gas" is steam from the district heating pipes.

Getting snow on the windows spoils the view but insulates well from the cold.

___  
Anonymous BGE said...

Anonymous said...
"I was born in Norilsk. [...] Same stuff could be posted about US if someone would go to bad areas of Detroit."

Here are photos from the "dead city of Detroit"
http://goroda-prizraki.narod.ru/detroyt.html

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Get Out Of Here, Stalker!

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

well it seems as pity/ forsaken environments, bt are there for sale?

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

These cities look a lot like some of the cities in Minnesota, the Dakotas, and Alaska, haha.. Oh, except we don't even have buses where I live. So Siberia may just be more advanced than us!

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

comment from inside: those buildings and whole towns are created from 80-s and thru 90-s, which is from 'era of USSSR';in 90-s there a series of financial defaults and political of course do not help these small cities in remote regions to maitain Itself and pepole leave them and this not unusual.Worst climate conditions? Not bad than famous 'Chyrnobyl' in ukraine (radiation is not compare with ANY weather).Cherepovetz City, it's just a 'industrial city from 80-s' and you just try compare him with modern industrial towns(imho,the ufa is ALOT clean)
sorry for my english, it's not my default language(Guess, what my language native anyway^_^ )
btw welocome to my LJ - http://fima-007.livejournal.com/

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm sure people look on those photos with shock and horror. But folks, here in the West, we're not a world away from this scenario. America is bought and paid for by foreign interests, and many of us feel we have an incompetent clown/puppet in office instead of someone with some real balls. (shock horror: someone with an opinion, a racist, an extremist omg omg). What I am saying is, the American economy creates places like this..and the way things are going, it looks like this kind of thing is going to be the norm. To stem this demise they let countless illegals into the country, which only serves to perpetuate the problem and create even more extremes of poverty and hardship.

This may be the other side of the world, but it's not a world away in the real sense. Ask people who live in the US and UK, they will be able to tell of places similar to this.

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The guys who say Norilsk is a shithole judging by a few pics, STFU. Whenever I read somebody call any city a shithole I cringe. Yeah, you can find shit on NYC for example, but you can also find so much good stuff. Same could probably be said about Norilsk. At least people don't shit there on the street like in Africa.

I also know people from Norilsk. Norilsk is a city of middle to upper class by Russian standards. unlike the rest of Russia, people in Norilsk are actually happy, open (at least to a point of being Russian permits them). So think all you want. a few pictures of broken buses and abandoned street don't prove shit.

___  
Blogger Unknown said...

Hello.
In this collection the bottom photo - mine. This is a dead city "Kadykchan" - located in the "heart" of the former empire GULAG.
Here is a fresh photo - summer 2011: http://www.shintop.ru/phototrophy/user_photo.php?action=gallery&id=51

Here's another of those places something interesting: dead town "Petushki" - on the River Kolyma http://www.shintop.ru/phototrophy/user_photo.php?action=gallery&id=74

That's real uranium mine GULAG
"Lazo" near the village Sejmchan - http://www.shintop.ru/phototrophy/user_photo.php?action=gallery&id=53
Listen

___  
Anonymous Sitthapromwas Phornsaran said...

This city looks much better than Detroit!

___  
Blogger ChrisandMei said...

I'd also like to make some comments about Norilsk. Even though I've never been to Russia, I would much rather live in Norilsk than some of the shitholes that exist in rural North Carolina, the State I'm from. I've been kind of fascinated by Norilsk for a while now. You can't be a slacker and survive there and people must really depend on each other so there's probably more of a feeling of community than in a lot of other places. From what I have heard people are super friendly.

___  

Post a Comment

<< Home


SF ART & BOOK REVIEWS:
Don't miss: The Ultimate Guide to NEW SF&F Writers!
Fiction Reviews: Classic Cyberpunk: Extreme Fiction
Short Fiction Reviews: Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness" (with pics)
New Fiction Reviews: The Surreal Office



READ OTHER RECENT ARTICLES:


Abandoned, Dieselpunk
DRB Pic-of-the-Day

Abandoned: Streamlined Three-wheeler

Visual Caffeine #6
Visual Caffeine, Issue 6

A thrilling blend of art, myths and technology

Visual Caffeine #5
Visual Caffeine, Issue 5

A thrilling blend of art, myths and technology

Hellish Weather on Other Planets

Wild, Untamed, and Uncut

Medieval Suits of Armor

Metal Body Suits vs. Weapons of Medieval Destruction

World's Strangest Theme Parks

Amusement to the (twisted) extremes!

Enchanting Victorian Fairy Tale Art

"Then world behind and home ahead..."

Adorable Pedal Cars

Collectable Pedal Vehicles Showcase


Japanese Arcades: Gundam Pods & Other Guilty Pleasures

These machines have gone up to the next level


Modernist Tallinn Architecture

Delicious blend of old and new!


Early Supercomputers: A Visual Overview

"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons"


Futuristic Concept Cars of the 1970-80s

French, Italian & Japanese rare beauties


Epic 1970s French Space Comic Art

DRB Time-Slice: Valérian and Laureline


The Trees Are Escaping! The Abandoned Prison in French Guiana

"Great Escape" from the Devil's Island



FULL ARCHIVES
(with previews, fast loading):

2022/16
2015/14
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006

Link Lattes

Feel-Good & Biscotti Issues





CATEGORIES:
Feel-Good! | airplanes | animals | architecture | art | auto | boats | books | cool ads | famous | futurism | food
gadgets | health | japan | internet | link latte | military | music | nature | photo | russia | steampunk
sci-fi & fantasy | signs | space | technology | trains | travel | vintage | weird | abandoned