A lost city is an urban settlement that fell into terminal decline and became extensively or completely uninhabited, with the consequence that the site's former significance was no longer known to the wider world. The locations of many lost cities have been forgotten, but some have been rediscovered and studied extensively by scientists. Recently abandoned cities or cities whose location was never in question might be referred to as ruins or ghost towns. Smaller settlements may be referred to as abandoned villages. The search for such lost cities by European explorers and adventurers in Africa, the Americas, and Southeast Asia from the 15th century onwards eventually led to the development of archaeology.
A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed or ended for any reason. The town may have also declined because of natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, prolonged droughts, extreme heat or extreme cold, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, pollution, or nuclear and radiation-related accidents and incidents. The term can sometimes refer to cities, towns, and neighborhoods that, though still populated, are significantly less so than in past years; for example, those affected by high levels of unemployment and dereliction.
Vorkuta is a coal-mining town in the Komi Republic, Russia, situated just north of the Arctic Circle in the Pechora coal basin at the river Vorkuta. In 2010, its population was 70,548, down from 84,917 in 2002.
In the United Kingdom, a deserted medieval village (DMV) is a former settlement which was abandoned during the Middle Ages, typically leaving no trace apart from earthworks or cropmarks. If there are fewer than three inhabited houses the convention is to regard the site as deserted; if there are more than three houses, it is regarded as a shrunken medieval village. There are estimated to be more than 3,000 DMVs in England alone.
Pyramiden is an abandoned Soviet coal mining settlement on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard which has become a tourist destination. Founded by Sweden in 1910 and sold to the Soviet Union in 1927, Pyramiden was closed in 1998 and has since remained largely abandoned with most of its infrastructure and buildings still in place, the cold climate preserving much of the infrastructure left behind.
Fairbank is a ghost town in Cochise County, Arizona, next to the San Pedro River. First settled in 1881, Fairbank was the closest rail stop to nearby Tombstone, which made it an important location in the development of southeastern Arizona. The town was named for Chicago investor Nathaniel Kellogg Fairbank who partially financed the railroad, and was the founder of the Grand Central Mining Company, which had an interest in the silver mines in Tombstone. Today Fairbank is located within the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area.
St. Thomas, Nevada is a ghost town in Clark County, Nevada, United States, near where the Muddy River flows into the Colorado River. St. Thomas was purchased by the US Federal Government and abandoned as the waters of Lake Mead submerged the town in the 1930s.
An abandoned village is a village that has, for some reason, been deserted. In many countries, and throughout history, thousands of villages have been deserted for a variety of causes. Abandonment of villages is often related to epidemic, famine, war, climate change, economic depressions, environmental destruction, or deliberate clearances.
Kolmanskop is a ghost town in the Namib in southern Namibia, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) inland from the port town of Lüderitz. It was named after a transport driver named Johnny Coleman who, during a sand storm, abandoned his ox wagon on a small incline opposite the settlement. Once a small but very rich mining village, it is now a popular tourist destination run by Namdeb, a joint firm owned by the Namibian government and De Beers.
Newnes, an abandoned oil shale mining site of the Wolgan Valley, is located in the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. The site that was operational in the early 20th century is now partly surrounded by Wollemi National Park. The settlement was originally built by the Commonwealth Oil Corporation.
Kayaköy is a neighbourhood of the municipality and district of Fethiye, Muğla Province, Turkey. Its population is 975 (2022). Situated 8 km south of Fethiye, it is mostly abandoned. It was anciently known in Greek as Karmylessos, shortened to Lebessos and pronounced in Modern Greek as Leivissi. From Ancient Greek the town name shifted to Koine Greek by the Roman period, evolved into Byzantine Greek in the Middle Ages, and finally became the Modern Greek name still used by its townspeople before their final evacuation in 1923.
Wehrum is an abandoned coal mining company town in Buffington Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, United States, that thrived for a time during the early 20th century. The mine upon which it was entirely dependent closed in 1929, and the last known inhabitants left in 1934. Essentially all that remains of Wehrum today are shadowy remnants of some of the streets and various building foundations hidden in the woods. Wehrum is now one of the ghost towns included in Pennsylvania's Ghost Town Trail.
Rudolfov is a town in České Budějovice District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,600 inhabitants.
Advent City is an abandoned coal mining settlement located on the east side of Adventfjorden on the island of Spitsbergen in Svalbard, Norway. It was founded in the early 20th century and was the first year-round mining village in Svalbard. The village was situated on a fell field with a High Arctic tundra vegetation grazed by Svalbard reindeer and geese and dominated by mountain avens, polar willow, mosses and lichens. Today, the mine has caved in and Advent City only consists of ruins, the only visible remains being the building foundations. Most of the former buildings, however, are still present in their original state at Hiorthhamn (Moskushamn). In 2019, a team of archeologists made a 3D reconstruction of Advent City in its heyday.
The Cripple Creek Gold Rush was a period of gold production in the Cripple Creek area from the late 1800s until the early 1900s. Mining exchanges were in Cripple Creek, Colorado Springs, Pueblo and Victor. Smelting was in Gillett, Florence, and (Old) Colorado City. Mining communities sprang up quickly, but most lasted only as long as gold continued to be produced. Settlements included:
Mystic is a ghost town in Pennington County, South Dakota. It began as a placer mining encampment called Sitting Bull in 1876, later attracting multiple railroads to the area. Its population began to decline in the early 20th century, and it now has few to no permanent residents. The old townsite was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 under the name Mystic Townsite Historic District.
Sauk City, also known as Sauk, is a former unincorporated community in Skagit County, Washington. It was located along the Skagit River at its confluence with the Sauk River, west of the modern settlement of Rockport.
