In the modern ‘Belvidere Village’ close to the Parkhead Stadium lies all that remains of the Belvidere Hospital for Infectious Diseases, opened in 1871. The hospital was originally purchased as a temporary facility by Glasgow’s city fathers as part of the Belvidere Estate. But by March 1871 the hospital had a bed capacity of 250, with 366 patients during the 1870 outbreak of ‘relapsing fever’ that swept the city, filling all existing fever accommodation at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary and the now demolished Kennedy Street Hospital (image credit: Robin Moffett.)
Glasgow’s Abandoned Belvidere Hospital for Infectious Diseases
When the Tillamook Rock Light was officially lit on January 21, 1881, it was the most expensive lighthouse ever built on the West Coast of the United States, and one of the most dangerous. Finally decommissioned in 1957, the structure stood in darkness for over two decades until it was repurposed as a resting place for the dead. (Image credit: US Coast Guard.)
The Abandoned Lighthouse that Became a Not-so-Peaceful Resting Place for the Dead
Abandoned Ghost Mansion: Urban Exploration at Villa de Vecchi
In the mountains east of Lake Como stands a beautiful Baroque villa abandoned for decades. Silent witness to tragedy and the source of local urban legend, Villa de Vecchi was built by a nobleman who travelled the world and served as a soldier before returning to his native Italy, bringing with him a passion for eastern architecture. READ MORE (Images: fabrice79, NomNomBurgerZ, Jeff Kerwin)
Nicosia International Airport has been abandoned as a commercial flight area since the Turkish Invasion of Cyprus in 1974. The runways and main airfield facilities are principally under the control of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, but the terminal building and two surviving aircraft – an Avro Shackleton and Hawker Siddeley Trident – lie derelict. Here, we get up close and personal to the crumbling infrastructure and wrecked planes courtesy of this amazing series of photographs by urban explorer Ilya Varlamov (see full Flickr set).
Visually striking abandoned theatre. Find more abandoned theatres, cinemas, music halls and ballrooms at Urban Ghosts. Images by Matt Lambros.
Experimental Sea Shadow stealth ship built by Lockheed, laid up with the Suisun Bay “ghost fleet” in California - soon to be recycled… (Photo by Amy Heiden)
Great photo!
(via thepinkbyrd)
Braddock Mosaic Park Transforms Abandoned Lot
(All images by James Simon (Simon Sculpture), reproduced with permission)
The mosaic park in the town of Braddock, Pittsburgh, has been transformed from a broken-down abandoned lot into a thriving urban art project. Sculptor James Simon came up with the original idea for the park, which was funded by a combination of state and donated money, to make use of the abandoned space which had become an eyesore for residents and visitors.
In the centre of the park is a beautiful mosaic pond, full of plants and fish pieced together from broken tiles and glass. Local youths from the Braddock Youth Project were responsible for putting the majority of the installation together, over the period of around a month.
“The project gave these young adults an opportunity to contribute to an art project that will have a long lasting positive visual impact on their community,” said James Simon.
The mosaics were inspired by art from all over the world, from Western examples to indigenous pieces, and the young people were encouraged to come up with their own ideas. The completed park has become a point of pride for the town of Braddock, with residents appreciative of the transformed space.
Brittany Quarles, who worked on the project, said: “I’ve lived in Braddock all my life, and this will make it better.”
All images courtesy of James Simon and reproduced with permission. Be sure to check out his website, Simon Sculpture.
Keep reading - check out Daniel Dancer’s amazing “Art for the Sky”, the recycled art of Susan Stockwell and guerrilla gardener Pete Dungey’s amazing pothole gardens.
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Forgotten Swedish Fighter Fleet at Rinkaby Military Range
(Image: Andeas Mathiasson, reproduced with permission)
Europe is littered with abandoned military airfields. Most have reverted back to the farmland they sprang from when war beckoned, their cracked runways and dispersals overcome by weeds. Rarely are they inhabited by the wrecked remains of old fighter planes, but Rinkaby in Sweden is one of the exceptions, as these urban explorers have documented.
(Image: Jorchr, public domain)
The former Rinkaby military airfield is used today as a shooting range to train Swedish, Danish and Norwegian soldiers in all aspects of combat. The gate to the site is guarded by a Saab Draken (above), displayed in a dramatic take off pose. But while it appears to be externally intact, the retired fighter plane is little more than a stripped-out shell with no engine or cockpit instrumentation to speak of.
(Images: Andeas Mathiasson, reproduced with permission)
Still, it has fared better than its counterparts at the site. Less well known - due to the lack of public access at Rinkaby - is that at the far end of the base, several Draken airframes are rusting away along with other dumped examples of redundant military hardware.
(Images via Google Earth)
The images above from Google Earth show three concrete runways, with the “displayed” Draken towards the top of the picture (and inset). To the right of the southernmost runway, adjacent to a copse of trees, can clearly be seen two more derelict jets and a plethora of assorted debris from scrap aircraft parts to a vehicle graveyard.
(Images: Andeas Mathiasson, reproduced with permission)
Close inspection shows the vehicles’ and planes’ conditions to be extremely decrepit. The old training aircraft on the back of the trailer is more stripped-out hulk than plane. Its cockpit control panels and space where the pilots’ seats were once fixed is now a mass of battered metal and tangled wiring.
(Images: Andeas Mathiasson, reproduced with permission)
The twisted remains of a third Draken suggests the vehicles have been - or soon will be - used as range targets. All that’s left of this jet is a battered fuselage riddled with small arms fire, with torn and twisted metal around the engine nozzle. The future certainly looks bleak for the other two (relatively) intact Draken airframes and trucks nearby. With that in mind, the fuel drums and rusting iron bombs (bottom left) are an even more ominous warning of things to come…
Thanks to Andreas Mathiasson for these rare images.
Keep reading - don’t miss this formerly abandoned Saab Draken that gained a new lease of life, and explore these abandoned aircraft, airfields, airbases and airport terminals.
