A Short History of Abandoned Hollywood Filmsets sitting in the North African Desert

A skeletal fortress built for Lawrence of Arabia, an American gas station used for a forgettable horror film now inhabited by an old shepherd and his dog; entire fake villages have been left behind by Hollywood to be battered by the sands of the south moroccan deserts. Photographer/ filmmaker Ra Di Martino sets the cameras rolling once again…

Step Back in Time: The Forgotten Family Shoe Store Closed for 40 Years

Behind the security grills and dusty shop windows of a neglected building, hides an unlikely secret fashion museum of footwear dating back more than 70 years. And what do you do when you discover a goldmine of untouched vintage shoes? You put it on the internet of course! Reddit member Oktober75 shared photographs documenting…

The Real “No-Go Zone” of France: A Forbidden No Man’s Land Poisoned by War

When you imagine France and its scenic countryside, you might think of the picturesque villages, vineyards a plenty and endless rolling green hills to drive through on a blissful summer road trip. But there’s one corner of this scenic country that no one has been allowed to enter for nearly a century, known as the “Zone Rouge” (the red zone).…

DIY Historic Abandoned Homes For Sale!

We look at a lot of abandoned places here on MessyNessyChic; we take a look around the empty shells, wonder why such wonderful places could be left abandoned and then go about our day. But what about going a step further and actually entertaining the idea, the possibility, the dream of buying a forgotten historical…

Paris Launched a Contest to Re-Design its Derelict, Disused and Defunct Spaces

Three abandoned metro stations, two defunct underground nightclubs, a forgotten art nouveau shopping arcade, an old Renault garage, a disused water reservoir, and a post office– these are just a few of the 34 incredible hidden sites of Paris being presented as a creative canvas for potential designers, architects and urban planners as part of “Reinvent Paris 2”. The…

Forgotten Splendour of Victorian Spa Shuttered for Decades

“We all stink. No one smells,” were the alleged words of patron Saint Bernard when speaking of Europe’s general hygiene in the Middle Ages. For about four or five centuries, the Western world suffered a hiatus in cleanliness following the great plagues, when people believed that it was actually dangerous to bathe. Water was thought to carry…

How a Lost English Castle is Coming Back from its Hopeless Ruin

How to save a ruin? It’s a question that’s been on my mind lately since I discovered a derelict 17th century château just outside of Paris, which could soon be beyond saving. So when I came across the story of another 17th century historic ruin across the channel in England, arguably found in much worse shape than…

Oh, Just Harvesting Edible Mushrooms inside an Abandoned Water Park

We don’t hear enough follow-up stories about abandoned places that find happy endings, but today I came across a familiar derelict site from my archives that has secured itself a bright future. The last time I stumbled upon the old Tropicana water park in Rotterdam, it looked as if the mould was making itself quite comfortable around the edges…

The Underappreciated Art of Imaginary Wastelands

It’s my party and I’ll geek out if I want to and today I dove into the world of concept art, depicting dying, abandoned, lifeless, or post apocalyptic landscapes … as you do. On the endless rabbit hole that is Reddit.com I found a few sub forums dedicated entirely to imaginary wastelands and I got…

Pimping America’s Bank Buildings

Once upon a time, the American bank building was the biggest, baddest, strongest and shiniest building on the block. But New york city-based photographer Michael Yahrenwald has captured them at a rather unflattering moment in time. On the hustle, the once powerful and authoritative buildings have settled for new tenants; mostly drugstores, fast food restaurants, liquor…