Startling Photos of Abandoned Places Around the World

 Java's "Chicken Church".

Gereja Ayam, also known by its alternative nickname The Chicken Church of Java, is abandoned near Magelang. This unique underground temple is located against the dense and incredible Indonesian jungle. Built by Daniel Alamsjah in the 1990s, the divinely inspired monument served as a place of worship for followers of his religion.

After a series of financial constraints and resistance among the local people, the structure was eventually left incomplete and surrendered to the surrounding forest under the weight of its own wings. Originally intended as a dovecote, the temple got new life as stories of it circulated on the Internet. Java's eccentric Chikan Church is now decorated with jewel tiling and a cloud-painted ceiling. There are 12 prayer rooms in the catacombs of this dream-like religious monument. Beginner tourists can pay to tour the structure and watch the sunrise from the crown of the cock-shaped temple.

Indonesia's locomotive graveyard reminds of country's global steam age

Behind the grassy fields of Purwakarta lies a group of sad locomotives, many of which date from the early 20th century. The desolate resting place for these once majestic engineering marvels powered Indonesia's early industrial era. Today, these machines are rarely supported by their own massive steel frames. They are rusted and deprived of the bustling vitality that once powered these sturdy industrial pieces of machinery in the Indonesian countryside.

 

This eerie graveyard for retired engines stands as a lasting, if macabre, monument to the golden age of rail travel.

Japan's Aniwa Rock Lighthouse still exists as a relic of World War II

Magnificently perched on an uneven slope at the southern tip of Sakhalin Island, the Aniwa Rock Lighthouse takes a lonely stand over the Sea of Okhotsk, Japan. Now left to the elements, the lighthouse was originally constructed by Japanese engineers during the global depression of the 1930s. Known as one of the world's most remote lighthouses, the structure, also known as Nakashairatoko, supports nine floors 31 meters high.

Russia took control of the tower after the country annexed Sakhalin Island at the end of World War II. The beauty of its decaying facade strikes home the isolation endured by its original guardians, who diligently patrolled the area for sailors brave enough to cross these difficult straits. Its silent riposte and powerful character evoke its past as a lifeline to dozens of ship captains who found themselves lost at sea.

Tropical banyans reclaim history at the site of Anping Treehouse in Taiwan

The Anping Tree House in Tainan, Taiwan presents an unforgettable scene where nature collides with man-made habitat and coalesces into a new, unified whole. The building used to be a warehouse owned by Tait & Company, who conducted business from this long-abandoned structure, now overshadowed by an incredible group of banyan trees.

Their spreading roots and branches cover the building's walls and windows, weaving with the brick and plaster as if they were an intended part of the original architectural design. Tree leaves and wooden elements drip from the building, giving a hint of lush life to a structure that has long fallen into disuse.

The ruins of Bannerman Castle, New York, reflect the old fortunes and forgotten dreams of the Hudson Valley

Located in the pastoral setting of Polepele Island in the Hudson River, the ruins of Bannerman Castle tell a story of lost grandeur and the fabulous prosperity of the 20th century. Designed and built by Scottish entrepreneur Francis Bannerman VI, the castle was intended to serve as an armory and showcase for the architect's military surplus organisation.

The castellated towers, with their stone ramparts, suggest Bannerman's romantic vision of a northern European country fortress during the feudal era. Inconspicuously but almost entirely situated within its enigmatic upper space, the structure remains a striking sight of crumbling walls, sweeping windows and luxuriant ivy flowing across its magnificent stonework.

The Beelitz-Heilstetten district still houses this 1889 60-building sanatorium that was designed by the Berlin Worker's Health Insurance Cooperation.

The Bielitz-Heilstätten Sanatorium is located in the center of the historic district of Bielitz, Germany. The sprawling hospital, comprising 60 buildings, dates back decades before World War I, when it was originally conceived as a quiet respite for tuberculosis patients. This labyrinthine network of pavilions and treatment quarters is hidden in tranquil German woodlands.

Throughout its history, the sanatorium has witnessed the devastation of both world wars, operating under Soviet control until the fall of the Iron Curtain. Its luxurious design has since been left to the mercy of time and nature.