Abandoned

[femmeInterrupted]

Off the shores of Alexandria, the city of Alexander the Great, lies what is believed to be the ruins of the royal quarters of Cleopatra.
A team of marine archaeologists led by Frenchman Franck Goddio made excavations on this ancient city from where Cleopatra, the last queen of the Ptolemies, ruled Egypt.
Historians believe this site was submerged by earthquakes and tidal waves more than 1,600 years ago.

The excavations concentrated on the submerged island of Antirhodus. Cleopatra is said to have had a palace there.
Other discoveries include a well-preserved shipwreck and red granite columns with Greek inscriptions.
Two statues were also found and were lifted out of the harbour.
One was a priest of the goddess Isis; the other a sphinx whose face is said to represent Cleopatra's father, King Ptolemy XII.
The artifacts were returned to their silent, because the Egyptian Government says it wants to leave most of them in place to create an underwater museum.

Read more at http://www.oddee.com/item_96695.aspx...StmRs4O5oUg.99

[femmeInterrupted]

2 ancient cities in China were drowned in 1959 by a man-made lake and were forgotten about until discovered in 2001 by a tourist diving company.
The cities remain intact and in good condition.




The city of Shi cheng under water. (Photo: Chinese National Geography)



http://www.amusingplanet.com/2012/05...-lake-and.html

[femmeInterrupted]

http://www.messynessychic.com/2013/0...-of-a-problem/


Some cities have a litter problem, some suffer from high crime rates and others might have a lack of affordable housing.
And then you have Dubai, which for the last several years has been facing the unusual problem of high end sports cars being abandoned and left to gather thick layers of dust at airport car parks and on the roadside across the city.




Thousands of the finest automobiles ever made are now being abandoned every year since Dubai’s financial meltdown, left by expatriates and locals alike who flee in a hurry because they face crippling debts.
With big loans to repay to the banks (unpaid debt or even bouncing a cheque is a criminal offence in Dubai), the panicked car owners make their way to the airport at top speeds and leave their vehicles in the car park, hopping on the next flight out of there, never to return.







Last year, a Ferrari Enzo, one of only four hundred manufactured, was seized by police having spent several months in a car park collecting dust.
The million dollar motor went on sale at auction alongside other Ferraris, Porsches, Range Rovers and Mercedes plucked from the roadside.

[femmeInterrupted]

A 35 acre subterranean Cold War City that lies 100 feet beneath Corsham. Built in the late 50s this massive city complex was designed by Government personnel in the event of a nuclear strike.
A former Bath stone quarry the city, code named Burlington, was to be the site of the main Emergency Government War Headquarters - the hub of the Country's alternative seat of power outside London.

Over a kilometre in length, and boasting over 60 miles of roads. Blast proof and completely self-sufficient the secret underground site could accommodate up to 6,000 people, in complete isolation from the outside world, for up to three months.

An underground lake and treatment plant could provide all the drinking water needed whilst 12 huge tanks could store the fuel required to keep the four massive generators, in the underground power station, running for up to three months. And unlike most urban cities, above ground, the air within the complex could also be kept at a constant humidity and heated to around 20 degrees. The city was also equipped with the second largest telephone exchange in Britain, a BBC studio from which the PM could address the nation and an internal Lamson Tube system that could relay messages, using compressed air, throughout the complex.

Below are some photos of the unused facilities. It was maintained in working order until the late 1980's until it was cut back to a staff of 4 and then decommisioned in December 2005.

The BBC Article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/conte..._feature.shtml

http://www.theblogbelow.com/2008/07/...nker-at-c.html

[cinnamongrrl]

As ever, I am endlessly fascinated by this thread.... I so need to contribute to it....

I was just pondering the other day, the occurrence of things that just suddenly stop being useful to us. I see ancient (formerly horse drawn) plows left in fields....cars left in driveways of long empty houses...buildings crumbling...things that once had a purpose..and meant something to someone. I think about the very last time that place or thing was utilized...and how it's owner probably didn't know that would BE the last time...
I find roads in the woods all the time..that surely used to go somewhere...one thing I have learned about human nature is that we don't really do or make anything without a reason...being a history buff my brain loves to meander on the thoughts of many yesterdays ago...

[Gemme]

I just found out that there's an abandoned amusement park not too far from me. I am totally going to go see it!

[cinnamongrrl]

bumping a much loved (by me!) thread....

[Orema]

[Bèsame*]

[ProfPacker]