Ghost Towns: A Guide To Abandoned Places In Greece

Ropoto is a village in central Greece in Thessalia that was deserted following a major landslide in 2012. For years since the 1980s, cracks appeared but were ignored, and in 2012 – after the landslide in the mountain of central Greece happened – considerable damages were reported in Ropoto, causing some buildings to collapse.

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The small village of Kallio in West Macedonia was submerged by the waters of the artificial lake, created by the construction of the Mornos river dam in 1980. Residents had no choice but to relocate a few kilometers away.

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The village of Sfentyli on the island of Crete is another victim of man’s intervention. To solve the water shortages affecting Irakleio and Agios Nikolaos, an ambitious dam project was undertaken, but the project caused the flooding of the small village right under the eyes of its devastated residents.

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Also located in the Gulf of Elounda in north-eastern Crete, Spinalonga used to be a leper colony that closed in 1957. Lepers were sent there as soon as the first symptoms appeared, and they had to enter the island through Dante’s Tunnel.

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Ellinikon (or Elliniko) International Airport was the main international airport of Athens for sixty years up until 2001. It was then replaced by the new Athens International Airport –Eleftherios Venizelos – located near Koropi and Spata. The airport was named after the small district of Elliniko, now a suburb of Athens.

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In August 2004, the Olympic Games came home to Greece, but now just a bit more than 10 years later – despite some facilities still in use for other purposes – many of the state-of-the-art venues are now desolated remnants of a not-so-distant past.

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Vathia is a small ghost village in the south of Peloponnese. Constructed on top of a hill in the typical Mani architecture, the view from the stone towers, houses, and churches to the sea is breathtaking. Vathia was a flourishing village founded in the 18th century, but in the early 20th century residents started moving to larger towns or abroad until the village was eventually abandoned. The Greek National Tourist Organization launched a project to restore the ghost village in 1980, and today some of the restored towers serve as guesthouses.

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