Pripyat or Prypiat (A Ghost Town) Northern Ukraine, Near The Ukraine–Belarus border, Russia

Pripyat or Prypiat is a ghost town in northern Ukraine, near the Ukraine–Belarus border. Named after the nearby river Pripyat, the town was founded on February 4, 1970, as the ninth "atomgrad", a type of closed town in the Soviet Union, to serve the nearby Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. It was officially proclaimed a city in 1979 and had grown to a population of 49,360 by the time it was evacuated on the afternoon of 27 April 1986, the day after the Chernobyl disaster. 

The town closest to the No. 4 reactor was Pripyat. It had 15 primary schools, a large hospital complex, 25 stores, 10 gyms, along with parks, cinemas, factories, pool, amusement park, and other marks of a thriving community. Due to people, who lived there, it was one of the most beautiful and luxury city in the Soviet Union. Only about three kilometers from the explosion, the entire city was forced to complete evacuate on April 27, in just three hours. It was possible just because this scenario was part of the building plans of the plant.

Although Pripyat is located within the administrative district of Vyshhorod Raion (prior to the 2020 raion reform Ivankiv Raion) the abandoned municipality now has the status of city of oblast significance within the larger Kyiv Oblast (province) and is administered directly from Kyiv. Pripyat is also supervised by Ukraine's Ministry of Emergencies, which manages activities for the entire Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. 

Access to Pripyat, unlike cities of military importance, was not restricted before the disaster, as the Soviet Union deemed nuclear power stations safer than other types of power plants. Nuclear power stations were presented as achievements of Soviet engineering, harnessing nuclear power for peaceful projects. The slogan "peaceful atom" (Russian: мирный атом, romanized: mirnyy atom) was popular during those times. The original plan had been to build the plant only 25 km (16 mi) from Kyiv, but the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, among other bodies, expressed concern that would be too close to the city. As a result, the power station and Pripyat were built at their current locations, about 100 km (62 mi) from Kyiv. After the disaster, the city of Pripyat was evacuated in two days.

In 1986, the city of Slavutych was constructed to replace Pripyat. After the city of Chernobyl, this was the second-largest city for accommodating power plant workers and scientists in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

One notable landmark often featured in photographs of the city and visible from aerial-imaging websites is the long-abandoned Ferris wheel located in the Pripyat amusement park, which had been scheduled to have its official opening five days after the disaster, in time for May Day celebrations. The Azure Swimming Pool and Avanhard Stadium are two other popular tourist sites.

 

On 4 February 2020, former residents of Pripyat gathered in the abandoned city to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pripyat's establishment. During the 2020 Chernobyl Exclusion Zone wildfires, the flames reached the outskirts of the town; they did not reach the plant.

Pripyat infrastructure and statistics before the Chernobyl disaster, 1983. The following statistics are from 1 January 1986.

Population: 49,400 before the disaster. The average age was about 26 years old. Total living space was 658,700 m2 (7,090,000 sq ft): 13,414 apartments in 160 apartment blocks, 18 halls of residence accommodating up to 7,621 single males or females, and eight halls of residence for married or de facto couples.

Education: 15 kindergartens and elementary schools for 4,980 children, and five secondary schools for 6,786 students.

Healthcare: One hospital that could accommodate up to 410 patients, and three clinics.

Trade: 25 stores and malls; 27 cafes, cafeterias, and restaurants that collectively could serve up to 5,535 customers simultaneously. 10 warehouses that could hold 4,430 tons of goods.

Culture: Three facilities: a culture palace, the Palace of Culture Energetik; a cinema; and a school of arts, with eight different societies.

Sports: 10 gyms, 10 shooting galleries, three indoor swimming-pools, two stadiums.

Recreation: One park, 35 playgrounds, 18,136 trees, 33,000 rose plants, 249,247 shrubs.

Industry: Four factories with total annual turnover of 477,000,000 rubles. One nuclear power plant with four reactors (plus two more planned).

Transportation: Yanov railway station, 167 urban buses, plus the nuclear power plant car park with 400 spaces.

Telecommunication: 2,926 local phones managed by the Pripyat Phone Company, plus 1,950 phones owned by Chernobyl power station's administration, Jupiter plant, and Department of Architecture and Urban Development.

A concern is whether it is safe to visit Pripyat and its surroundings. The Zone of Alienation is considered relatively safe to visit, and several Ukrainian companies offer guided tours around the area. In most places within the city, the level of radiation does not exceed an equivalent dose of 1 μSv (one microsievert) per hour. The climate of Pripyat is designated as Dfb (Warm-summer humid continental climate) on the Köppen Climate Classification System

Many movies has been filmed at Pripyat like - A Good Day to Die Hard (2013), Chernobyl Diaries (2012), Land of Oblivion (2011), History Channel documentary Life After People, Lost City of Chernobyl (May 2015), The documentary White Horse (2008). In many other movies and documentary used Pripyat as movie set location.

Over three decades later, this ghost town is a freeze-frame of the Soviet Union in 1986. Communist propaganda still hangs on walls, personal belongings litter the streets and abandoned buildings. The hammer and sickle decorate lampposts, awaiting May Day celebrations that never took place. Toys are strewn about a schoolhouse where they were last dropped by children who are now fully grown. All clocks are frozen at 11:55, the moment the electricity was cut.

Despite the common info, city was never completely abandoned. Military, police, scientist and other public authorities use the city as base to clean radiation in the newly created zone of alienation. The famous pool was in service until 1996. There is still electricity in some part of Pripyat, and to this day there is functional vehicle base in the city, water supply for the plant, and in former laundry… there are still laundry after 30 years, where uniforms of plants workers are washed. in the same building triangle radiation danger signs are made.

Ironically, the absence of humans has been excellent for wildlife. In 1986 wildlife was not doing well in Chernobyl, out competed for resources by pine and dairy farms. After people left the deer and boar populations returned almost immediately, and despite having radiation levels thousands of times higher than normal, they were not showing obvious signs of mutations (though the plants got pretty weird including some actual glowing) and the animal populations grew enormously. After the elk, moose, deer and boar returned so did their predators the wolves and lynx. Today the animal populations more closely resemble that of a national park than a radioactive containment zone. As it turns out, from the animals point of view, a nuclear disaster is preferable to normal human habitation.

To tour Pripyat, Chernobyl, and other surrounding villages, one must first obtain a day pass from the government. These passes can be obtained through the touring companies located in Kyiv, about 110 kilometers from the blast site. There are five well-known tour agencies that take visitors to Pripyat. However, due to the lack of repair, the buildings and other structures in the town are becoming increasingly dilapidated. Because of this, many tour companies will not allow visitors into the buildings.

Other than the crumbling buildings, safety is not a major concern. It takes between 300 and 500 roentgens per hour of radiation to deliver a lethal dose. Levels on the tour range from 15 to several hundred micro-roentgens per hour. All tours end with a screening for radiation levels.

Already, after only three decades of abandonment, Pripyat is beginning to be swallowed up by the surrounding forest. Someday soon, it will no doubt be completely overgrown. Though each tour differs slightly in the itinerary, most run a few hundred dollars per person, with the price going down the more people added in the group. This price also includes a lunch for every tour, and some even cover lodging. As stated before, each agency has a slightly different itinerary, but all the tours will visit roughly the same sites. 1. Chernobyl: The site of the explosion (all tourist must stay at least 200m from the Number 4 nuclear reactor sarcophagus, which was built to contain any further spills of the radioactive debris). There is a visitor center with a model of the reactor however, and questions about the explosion will be answered there. 2. Pripyat is also on the list. Sites to see include the public schools, a hospital, a never opened fairground complete with ferris wheel, and many homes and apartments, all abandoned. However, most tours do not allow people inside buildings due to their unsound structural instability. 3. Up until April 2008, visitors were also taken to the vehicle scrap yard where military machines used during the radioactive clean up were dumped. The Ukraine government has deemed this vehicle cemetery unfit for visitors due to it still lethal dose of radiation. Vehicles included helicopters, trucks, and ambulances. However, some tours take visitors to a safer abandoned shipyard instead. Some tours include trips to other abandoned villages around the area and optional survivor guides upon request. Lunch for all tours is provided by food from outside the contamination zone.

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The Victoria Memoria (Large Marble Building in India), Kolkata, India

The Victoria Memorial is a large marble building in Kolkata, which was built between 1906 and 1921. It is dedicated to the memory of Empress Victoria, and is now a museum under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture. The memorial lies on the Maidan and is one of the famous monuments of Kolkata. 

In January 1901, on the death of Empress Victoria,then Lord Curzon, suggested the creation of a fitting memorial. Lord Curzon proposed the construction of a grand building with a museum and gardens.

Curzon said,

    "Let us, therefore, have a building, stately, spacious, monumental and grand, to which every newcomer in Kolkata will turn, to which all the resident population, European and Native, will flock, where all classes will learn the lessons of history, and see revived before their eyes the marvels of the past."

The Prince of Wales, laid the foundation stone on 4 January 1906, and it was formally opened to the public in 1921.

In 1912, before the construction of the Victoria Memorial was finished, Emperor George V announced the transfer of the capital of India from Kolkata to New Delhi.Thus, the Victoria Memorial was built in what would be a provincial city rather than a capital.

The Victoria Memorial was mainly funded by British Officials, & individuals of India. The Politicians and people of India responded generously to Lord Curzon's appeal for funds, and the total cost of construction of the monument, amounting to one crore, five lakhs of Rupees, was entirely derived from their voluntary subscriptions.

The construction of the Victoria Memorial was delayed by Curzon's departure from India in 1905 with a subsequent loss of local enthusiasm for the project, and by the need for testing of the foundations. The Victoria Memorial's foundation stone was set in 1906 and the building opened in 1921. The work of construction was entrusted to Messrs. Martin & Co. of Kolkata. Work on the superstructure began in 1910. After 1947, some additions were made into the Memorial. 

The Victoria Memorial's architect was William Emerson (1843–1924).The design is in the Indo-Saracenic revivalist style which uses a mixture of British and Mughal elements with Venetian, Egyptian, Deccani architectural influences.The building is 338 by 228 feet (103 by 69 m) and rises to a height of 184 feet (56 m). It is constructed of white Makrana marble.The gardens of the Victoria Memorial were designed by Lord Redesdale and David Prain. Emerson's assistant, Vincent Jerome Esch, designed the bridge of the north aspect and the garden gates. In 1902, Emerson engaged Esch to sketch his original design for the Victoria Memorial.

Atop the central dome of the Victoria Memorial is the 16 ft (4.9 m) figure of the Angel of Victory. Surrounding the dome are allegorical sculptures including Art, Architecture, Justice, and Charity and above the North Porch are Motherhood, Prudence and Learning. The Victoria Memorial is built of white Makrana marble. In design it echoes the Taj Mahal with its dome, four subsidiaries, octagonal-domed chattris, high portals, terrace, and domed corner towers.

The Victoria Memorial has 25 galleries.These include the royal gallery, the national leaders gallery, the portrait gallery, central hall, the sculpture gallery, the arms and armoury gallery and the newer, Kolkata gallery. The Victoria Memorial has the largest single collection of the works of Thomas Daniell (1749–1840) and his nephew, William Daniell (1769–1837). It also has a collection of rare and antiquarian books such as the illustrated works of William Shakespeare, the Arabian Nights and the Rubaiyat by Omar Khayyam as well as books about kathak dance and thumri music by Nawab Wajid Ali Shah. However, the galleries and their exhibitions, the programmatic elements of the memorial do not compete with the purely architectural spaces or voids

The Victoria Gallery displays a number of portraits of Empress Victoria and Prince Albert, and paintings illustrating their lives, by Jansen and Winterhalter. The oil paintings are copies of those in London. They include: Victoria receiving the sacrament at her coronation in Westminster Abbey (June 1838); Victoria's marriage to Albert in the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace (1840); the christening of the Prince of Wales in Windsor Castle (1842); the marriage of Edward VII to Princess Alexandra (1863); Victoria at the First Jubilee service at Westminster Abbey (1887) and the Second Jubilee service at St. Paul's Cathedral (June 1897). Empress Victoria's childhood rosewood pianoforte and her correspondence desk from Windsor Castle stand in the centre of the room. Edward VII presented these items to the Victoria Memorial. On the south wall hangs the Russian artist Vasily Vereshchagin's oil painting of the state entry of Edward VII in Jaipur in 1876.

In the mid-1970s, the matter of a new gallery devoted to the visual history of Kolkata was promoted by Saiyid Nurul Hasan, the minister for education. In 1986, Hasan became the governor of West Bengal and chairman of the board of trustees of the Victoria Memorial. In November 1988, Hasan hosted an international seminar on the Historical perspectives for the Kolkata tercentenary. The Kolkata gallery concept was agreed and a design was developed leading to the opening of the gallery in 1992. The Kolkata gallery houses a visual display of the history and development of Kolkata, when the capital of India was transferred to New Delhi. The gallery also has a life-size diorama of Chitpur road in the late 1800s

The gardens at the Victoria memorial cover 64 acres (260,000 m2) and are maintained by a team of 21 gardeners. They were designed by Redesdale and David Prain. On Esch's bridge, between narrative panels by Goscombe John, there is a bronze statue of Victoria, by George Frampton. Empress Victoria is seated on her throne. In the paved quadrangles and elsewhere around the building, other statues commemorate Hastings, Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, Robert Clive, Arthur Wellesley, and James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie. To the south of the Victoria Memorial building is the Edward VII memorial arch. The arch has a bronze equestrian statue of Edward VII by Bertram Mackennal and a marble statue of Curzon by F. W. Pomeroy. The garden also contains statues of Lord William Bentinck, governor-general of India (1833–1835), George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon, governor-general of India (1880–84), and Rajendra Nath Mookerjee, a pioneer industrialist of Bengal. Following an order of the West Bengal High Court in 2004, an entry fee was imposed for the gardens, a decision welcomed by the general public except for few voices of dissent

 for more information - Official Website

Buzludzha, Central Balkan Mountains, Bulgaria

Buzludzha  is a historical peak in the Central Balkan Mountains, Bulgaria. The mountain is located to the east of the Shipka Pass near the town of Kazanlak and is a site of historical importance. The peak is 1,432 metres (4,698 feet) high. It was renamed to Hadzhi Dimitar in 1942 but remains popularly known as Buzludzha. The summit is limestone and granite. Its slopes are covered with grassy vegetation; its foothills and the neighbouring peaks sustain beech forests. The peak's name derives from Turkish: buzlu 'icy'. 

In 1868 it was the place of the final battle between Bulgarian rebels led by Hadzhi Dimitar and Stefan Karadzha and forces of the Ottoman Empire. On 31 July, Hadzhi Dimitar and a band of 30 chetniks fought a losing battle against 700 Ottoman troops; only four Bulgarians survived. Their action served as an inspiration for the Liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottomans ten years later; the decisive battle of that conflict was fought a few miles away at the Shipka Pass. The battle of Buzludzha inspired the renown Bulgarian poet and revolutionary Hristo Botev to write the poem "Hadzhi Dimitar":

    He who falls while fighting to be free
    can never die: for him the sky
    and earth, the trees and beasts shall keen,
    to him the minstrel's song shall rise…

In 1891 the mountain was the site chosen for the first congress of the Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers Party (later the Bulgarian Communist Party) led by Dimitar Blagoev. In 1944 the peak was the scene of fighting between Communist partisans and detachments of the Bulgarian Army when the latter were attacked whilst operating there.

Following a desire for a national monument at the peak to commemorate these events (proposed as early as 1898) the Buzludzha Monument was built between 1971 and 1981, by public subscription. The site has several other monuments to its history: A statue of Hadzhi Dimitar, a relief of the 1891 Congress, and a monument to the partisans who fought there in 1944. In 1974, TNT blasting was employed to remove more than 15,000 cubic metres of rock and create a level foundation for building the new memorial house. As a result, the peak was lowered by 9 metres (30 feet) – from 1,441 metres (4,728 feet) to its current height of 1,432 metres (4,698 feet).

Buzludzha can be reached by two side roads from the Shipka Pass: either a 16 km (10 mi) road from Kazanlak in the south or a 12 km (7 mi) road from Gabrovo on the north side of the mountain.

The main entrance has been sealed and therefore closed to public. However, there is still a little way to get into the building on the right hand side of the building. Inside the Buzludzha Monument, most of the artwork has been removed or destroyed, but the concrete structure still stands against the elements. 

A preservation team worked to get the monument listed as one of the seven most endangered heritage sites in Europe, and plans to preserve and restore the monuments are underway.

A guard has been put in place 24/7, so it is no longer possible to break inside. Visitors are still encouraged to visit the outside to experience the unique architecture. Approximately 12 km down a side road from the Shipka Pass. As of January 2018, guards have been placed at the site to deter urban explorers from illegally enter the building. They

In the opera Frankenstein by Mark Grey, the creature is discovered at a point with coordinates 42°44'09.4"N 25°23'37.6"E, which are those of the Buzludzha Monument. In December 2020, British pop-singer Rita Ora shot her new music video ‘Big’ Ora on Buzludzha Peak with a special permission from the local government.