All language subtitles for the.unxplained.s04e04.1080p.web.h264-spamneggs.4

Vast
landscapes poisoned by radiation.

An English colony
that vanished without a trace.

And cities that have been
forsaken by the gods.

All over the world,
there are locations that were

once thriving
and full of activity

that are now abandoned,
empty, devoid of human life.

Why do people
desert these places?

Did they become too dangerous?

Did the area become
incapable of sustaining life?

Or is it possible
that some places

are actually destined
to be abandoned?

Well, that is what
we’ll try and find out.

In northern Ukraine
stand the remains

of an abandoned city
known as Pripyat.

Pripyat was founded
by the Soviet Union in 1970

to serve Chernobyl,
the nearby power plant.

At its height,
nearly 50,000 people lived here,

but today,
Pripyat’s streets are empty.

Its buildings have fallen
into disrepair.

Nature has reclaimed
large portions of the city.

And it’s all because
of a tragic event

that took place
on April 26, 1986.

An event known as
the Chernobyl disaster.

In 1986, we were horrified

to see the greatest
nuclear accident of all time

emerge at the Chernobyl
nuclear power plant.

The reactor went out of control,

creating an uncontrolled
chain reaction

like a small atomic bomb,

blowing the roof
right off the reactor.

A huge amount
of radioactive material

shot through the roof
and then into the atmosphere.

36 hours after the explosion,

officials finally determined
that the residents of Pripyat

needed to be moved to safety.

The city was then evacuated
in less than four hours.

They were evacuated very,
very quickly at that point.

And when they’re evacuated,
they can only take

certain things with them...
Small things.

And the government put guards

outside some
of these apartments,

basically saying,
"We’ll protect your material,"

suggesting the residents

would actually go back to
Pripyat, which they never did.

Pripyat was built to be
a self-contained town

which had everything
for the workers

of the Chernobyl power plant.

So that meant kindergartens
to send their kids to,

all this leisure activity.

So the Soviets, in that respect,
were getting better

at providing their workers
with facilities.

Working at Pripyat would be
a much better gig

than different towns
in the Soviet Union.

Before the Chernobyl
nuclear disaster in 1986,

Pripyat was a city of dreams

for the residents and the people
that lived around.

It offered amenities
and resources

that would not be found
in nearby cities and villages.

After the accident,
people were evacuated,

and they were forced to leave
their hopes and plans

for the future behind them.

And that’s really what we see
in Pripyat today

is what was left behind.

It is a ghost town.

Pripyat is an example
of an abandoned place

that was vacated
in a great hurry.

And so, of course,
you have vehicles

that are just left abandoned.

You have household objects,

children’s toys,

kitchen utensils
that were just dropped

in the middle
of meal preparation.

There are a lot
of hopeful murals

about science leading you
into a proud future.

And they’re in buildings
that have been abandoned

for over 30 years.

That’s something that is
sort of impossible

not to feel the weight of.

While the
nuclear meltdown was caused

by both human error
and technical failures,

there are some former
residents of Pripyat who claim

that the Chernobyl disaster
was actually destined to happen.

Some of the
workers at Chernobyl,

in the days immediately
preceding the explosion

and following,

reported seeing this
mysterious winged creature

with blazing red eyes.

This creature,
which is referred to

as the Black Bird
of Chernobyl today,

was thought to be
some sort of a warning

or a kind of crisis apparition.

The concept of a
harbinger of doom

is incredibly common and
incredibly long-standing.

Probably the most
famous example is

the Horsemen of the
Apocalypse, the Four Horsemen

who are said to foretell
the ending of the world.

So, when Chernobyl explodes,
the Black Bird of Chernobyl

was not just a strange
sighting in the sky.

People start to think
that maybe this wasn’t

so much an accident as it
was something predestined.

Is it possible that
Pripyat was destined to be abandoned?

As far-fetched as it may sound,

many locals believe
the answer is yes.

And for further evidence,
they point to a prophecy

of death and
destruction that is written

in the Book of Revelation
in the Holy Bible.

It’s interesting
because the word "Chernobyl"

is the Ukrainian
word for wormwood.

And wormwood
has a lot of historical

and cultural
affiliations with poison,

with bitterness, with darkness.

And we see that most
poignantly, perhaps,

prophesied in the Bible

that there will be seven
angels blowing seven trumpets.

And trumpet number
three is the trumpet

that causes the star
called Wormwood

to fall from the sky

and poison the
land and the waters

so that people who
drink the waters will die.

The story could be an
amazing symbolic description

of a nuclear power plant

exploding and
irradiating the landscape

so that people who
live in that space,

who touch those objects,
who drink that water will die.

It’s really compelling
to see that connection,

and it is hard to simply
write it off as a coincidence.

You can imagine the way

that people
reacted to this story

after the disaster in 1986.

The people that
lived in this region

were highly dependent
on water for their way of life,

and their lives were
forever disrupted

by the radioactive
materials that were thrown

out of the reactor on
the night of the disaster

and left in the environment.

When you add
up these different elements...

The spotting of a
winged creature

or some sort of a
harbinger of doom

and the fact that a falling
star in the Book of Revelation

has the same name as the
nuclear power plant itself...

You can understand how
some people read meaning

into the Chernobyl disaster.

Whether the
fate of Pripyat was predestined

or simply the result of modern
technology gone terribly wrong,

this abandoned city
continues to spark

both fascination and fear.

We are endlessly fascinated
with abandoned places,

whether they were abandoned
gradually or suddenly,

because buildings are
supposed to be filled with people.

They’re supposed to be used
for commerce or habitation.

And when they’re
empty, it seems ghostly.

The Chernobyl disaster
is a cautionary tale

that reminds us that our
cities can become dangerous

without any warning.

But not all abandoned
places are deserted so quickly.

Sometimes it happens over
a much longer period of time.

Like in the case of an
ancient temple complex

located in Cambodia that
is known as Angkor Wat.

Deep in the
northwestern jungles of this small nation

tucked between
Vietnam and Thailand

sits the abandoned
ruins of Angkor Wat,

a massive, ancient
complex of temples.

Experts believe that
Angkor Wat is the largest

religious structure ever built.

It’s just a
massive, impressive sight

swallowed up by the jungle.

Trees are wrapping around

some of the stones and
sculptures that-that remain,

yet you can still make out
some of the exquisite sculptures

between leaves and branches.

And you can see something
really majestic underneath.

Angkor Wat is huge.

When you walk up
to its front entrance,

it’s a bridge going
across the moat

and then a causeway going
to the temples themselves.

And they’re so far
off in the distance,

you walk across that
bridge for ten minutes,

and you’re still
not at the temple.

All told, Angkor Wat encompasses

more than 401 acres of
buildings, temples and gardens,

and a 700-foot-tall spire sits
at the center of the complex.

Angkor Wat was built
in the 12 century A.D.

by the Khmer people,

and it was the spiritual
center of their empire.

It’s difficult to explain

just how important
this place was.

In fact, "Angkor Wat" means
capital city or capital temple

or city temple, depending
how you translate it.

So this was not only
a religious center.

It was also a political
center. It was a military center.

There was absolutely
no separation

between religion and daily life.

The temple served
all of these purposes.

And it was home
to tens of thousands

of ordinary people who
were farmers, merchants

living in this tremendously
important religious center.

It was a massive, vibrant city.

The urban landscape extended

far beyond Angkor Wat
itself, in every direction,

for, uh, miles.

So there were anywhere
between about 750,000

to a million people living,
uh, around the city of Angkor.

In the year 1431 A.D.,

the Khmer people
abandoned Angkor Wat.

For decades, archaeologists
have speculated

as to what caused
the demise of the city.

Numerous theories,
blaming everything

from climate change
to invading armies,

have been proposed.

And yet, no one
knows for certain

why nearly a million
people chose to abandon

these magnificent temples.

The abandonment of Angkor Wat

illustrates to us that
something catastrophic

had occurred within
Khmer society.

This incredible
place was still capable

of supporting large
numbers of people.

It was still an
important temple,

but it was almost
completely abandoned.

It was just left.

And what that suggests is that

something changed
in the Khmer people.

Some experts have
proposed that because Angkor Wat

was such an
important religious site,

it may have been abandoned
for spiritual reasons.

Angkor Wat was the link between
mortal people and the gods.

And it was built by
Suryavarman II...

who fought a series
of military campaigns

to unify his people,

brought stability, prosperity.

And Suryavarman II intended
Angkor Wat to be his mausoleum.

The tomb of Suryavarman II

was intended to be located
underneath the central tower.

And there’s a hole at
the top of the central tower

that lets in a beam of light.

And that beam of
light would have shown

directly onto the tomb,

demonstrating in a
way that Suryavarman

was directly
linked to the divine.

Suryavarman II clearly intended
to be buried at Angkor Wat.

He would be interred
in the central temple.

But he died on a military
campaign in what is now Vietnam,

and nobody knows what
happened to the body.

Curiously,
after King Suryavarman died

and his body was not
placed in its intended tomb,

the living conditions
at Angkor Wat

took a turn for the worse.

There were repeated
droughts in the region,

which led to famine

because there was not
enough water for crops.

But on the other hand, there
were also huge monsoons

that at times would
cause major flooding.

Some scholars believe
that these calamities

may have been seen by
the Khmer people as a sign

that their connection to
the gods had been lost

and that it was time for
them to abandon Angkor Wat.

The Khmer people
would have remembered

the time of Suryavarman II,

of this golden age
that had existed.

But later, things
weren’t as good.

Could it be that the link

between mortals and
their god had been broken?

If what made Angkor City great

was the blessings that were
sent down from the gods,

then when things started
going more badly for the city,

people would
naturally interpret that

the gods again are
taking away their blessings.

And then that, in turn,
would serve as a cue

for the Khmer people to
also leave behind the city.

All civilizations on the planet,

no matter how big they
are, they eventually fall,

and Angkor was no different.

And the factors were not
just as simple as one thing.

There were a number
of things happening.

In many regards, the
abandonment of Angkor

was just an
acknowledgement that,

however large and
grand their life was there,

that the gods didn’t favor
it and it was time to end it.

Did the Khmer people
abandon Angkor Wat

because they believed

that they had fallen out
of favor with the gods?

Seems possible,
especially when you consider

that the entire complex
was built to honor the divine.

And devotion to God also
played a role in the construction

of an abandoned place
located in Portugal.

A structure that may have once
been home to the Holy Grail.

This popular tourist destination

is known for its
pristine beaches,

historic gardens and
numerous palatial estates.

One of those estates is
named Quinta da Regaleira.

This gothic palace
has been unoccupied

for more than 30 years,
and it has a reputation

for being a
mysterious, eerie place.

Regaleira is really the... it’s
the spooky mansion on the hill.

But when you get up
closer, it immediately

seizes your imagination
and draws you in,

and you begin to appreciate
the secrets that it holds,

compared to the other
more glitzy palaces nearby.

According to historical records,

Quinta da Regaleira
is an ancient estate

that dates back nearly
a thousand years.

And it was bought in
the late 19th century

by an eccentric
Portuguese businessman

named Carvalho Monteiro,

who reportedly had a
fascination with the occult.

Monteiro was a multimillionaire,

and he embraced all
manner of mystical, um,

philosophies and traditions.

And so he invested an awful
lot of his wealth at Quinta.

He enhanced the
property to add symbolism.

There are statues

and inscriptions and carvings

that are connected
with Freemasonry,

the Knights Templar

and occultists of
various descriptions.

Monteiro basically
adapted the property

into this extraordinary sort
of theme park to the occult.

People thought it was odd,

but to a serious occultist,
if you’ve got the money,

you’re gonna go for it, and
that’s exactly what he did.

Each year, thousands
of tourists visit Quinta da Regaleira

to walk through the
palace and gardens.

But what attracts
the most attention

is a curious
underground structure

known as the Initiation Well.

The Initiation Well is like
some kind of Gothic fantasy.

It’s called the Initiation
Well, but it’s not a well.

It’s like an inverted tower

that’s going 90 foot
deep into the ground,

and your senses are completely
confused by the sight of this.

When you enter,

you’re looking
down at this shaft

with the spiral
staircase full of niches

going, uh, clockwise

down this corkscrew,
deep into the earth,

and you become very aware
that you’re passing through

into a completely
new level of reality.

You almost have a
spiritual, uh, moment,

like a revelation.

The Initiation Well
is the most elaborate creation

in Monteiro’s sprawling
monument to the occult.

However, some historians
believe that Monteiro was not

the original
architect of the well.

They claim that he
merely refurbished it

and that this structure was
first built in the Middle Ages

by the Knights Templar,
who were a secretive group

of Christian warrior monks.

It’s highly likely

that the Templars were
responsible for the well.

The Templars were
the first deed holders

of the property that became
Regaleira many centuries later,

and they were definitely
working on this property

in the 12th century.

Another piece
of evidence which suggests

that the Knights Templar
built the Initiation Well

is the fact that there is a
network of underground tunnels

that extend out from it.

At the bottom of the
well, you suddenly find yourself

in this labyrinth of tunnels
which go every single direction.

Some of the tunnels extend
deep into the mountain

to the point where you
can come up underneath

a chapel or a convent in
a hilltop five miles away.

The whole place
is honeycombed with tunnels.

So there’s plenty of evidence
for the Templars being there.

Monteiro was effectively
buying a chunk of real estate

right on top of where
the Templars had been.

There’s no accident in this.

He’s then recreating

what he thinks the
Templars stood for.

It’s believed that
Monteiro may have been

looking for something
the Knights Templar

have left behind in
those many tunnels

that were underneath,

which may have
included the Holy Grail.

According
to Christian tradition,

the Holy Grail was the chalice

that Jesus drank from
at the Last Supper.

The Knights Templar were
known to have searched

for important
religious artifacts

while in the Holy Land
during the Crusades.

And there is evidence to suggest

that if they did
find the Holy Grail

they may have
brought it to Portugal.

One of the
big clues that we know

that the Templars left something
of incredible importance there

lies in the seal
that was printed

by the first king of Portugal

in a deed that he
gave to the Templars.

And if you look very
carefully at the seal

that the king put on there,

it has the word "Portugal"
written as an anagram.

It reads "por tu o gral,"

which means
"through you the Grail."

What the king of
Portugal is insinuating

is that the Templars
brought the Grail to Portugal.

So, when the Templars

are bringing their
treasure out of Jerusalem,

they could have brought
the Grail to Regaleira.

They had fortresses, and
they had secret tunnels.

They could get
their treasure there,

and it would be protected.

If you look around Regaleira,

you’ll see evidence
for the Grail.

We have, rather intriguingly,

a bench referred
to as Bench 515.

At the center of it is
a female character,

and she’s holding out a chalice,

and that’s believed to
represent the Holy Grail.

Was the Holy Grail hidden

somewhere in
the Initiation Well?

And if so, did
Monteiro find it there?

We’ll never know for sure,
because Monteiro died in 1920

and took the secrets of the
Initiation Well to the grave.

You come away from
Regaleira, there’s no doubt

it’s the Initiation Well
that plays on your mind.

It’s so odd that so much
effort went into creating this,

and yet, what does it all mean?

And that’s what is the
big unanswered question.

Did the Knights Templar
hide the Holy Grail

in the Initiation Well?

Or perhaps in the underground
tunnels that it’s connected to?

It’s a fascinating
notion, and the truth is

that abandoned places often
raise intriguing questions.

For instance, there’s an island

just off the coast
of North Carolina

where, over 400 years ago,

115 people
mysteriously vanished.

More than 400 years ago,

this was the site of a
colony called Roanoke,

the first English
settlement in North America.

Roanoke is known
as the Lost Colony

because it was mysteriously
abandoned in 1590

and the colonists
vanished without a trace.

The Lost Colony
remains this mystery

that’s at the very heart
of the origin of our nation.

People remain fascinated
by Roanoke because

we know so little
about the place.

We know what
happened in Jamestown.

We know what
happened at Plymouth.

But Roanoke is this mystery

because we don’t
know what happened.

When we think about the founding
of the United States of America,

we think of it in
this fairly linear way

that colonists showed
up, they settled,

they move west... America.

And really, it turns out

that there were a
number of false starts

in how this country got started.

And one of those was
the colony at Roanoke.

This was a group of people

who showed up and
were ready to settle,

but what happened to that colony

is one of the big unanswered
questions of American history.

What happened
to the Roanoke colonists?

Perhaps the answer can be
found by examining the events

in the late 16th century

that led to their
fateful disappearance.

In the 1580s, England was

a very small, poor,
struggling island

that really wanted to get in

on the game of
colonizing the Americas,

because that’s
where the money was.

The English
were looking at the Spanish ships

coming back laden with
gold and various commodities

from their empire, if you like,

in Mexico, South
America, Florida,

and of course, that was making
the Spanish very powerful.

Essentially, it was a
case of, if we don’t find

our own source of
wealth in this New World,

we could be sort of
overrun by our enemies.

In 1587, an English
mapmaker named John White

was commissioned to found a
new colony on Roanoke Island,

which had been claimed
by a British expedition

to the New World
two years earlier.

After an arduous
two-month voyage

across the Atlantic Ocean,
White and 117 colonists

landed on Roanoke Island.

The people
who chose to come along

on this ill-fated expedition

were middle-class
people from London.

So, they were eager
to find new lands,

because to have land in
England meant everything.

That’s what gave you status.

But they knew they needed
more supplies and more colonists

in order to succeed,
in order to thrive.

So John White decided
to return to England

in order to get those needed
supplies and colonists.

On August 25, 1587,

only three months after
first arriving on Roanoke,

John White set sail for England.

He planned to return with
aid in less than six months.

But a series of conflicts
with the Spanish navy

would delay White’s
return mission

for three long years.

In August of 1590, John
White returns to Roanoke Island.

They anchor offshore.

And when they arrive, it’s dark

and it’s too late for
them to go ashore,

but John White is happy

because he sees a
fire in the distance,

and he assumes that the
settlers are there waiting for him,

maybe even have seen his ship

and have lit a bonfire
in order to guide him in.

The next
morning, White came ashore,

expecting to find the colonists
there to welcome him back.

But to his surprise,
there was no sign of them.

The entire settlement
was completely abandoned.

John White gets back
to Roanoke, but there’s no sign of anyone,

and he finds all the houses
have been taken down.

And in their place is a very,
very well-built defensible fort.

So, little bit of a mystery.

You’ve got this new fort
that wasn’t there in 1587

when he last saw them,
and the place is deserted.

Where have they gone?

Eventually, John
White came across a cryptic clue

as to the whereabouts
of the colonists.

He found the word "Croatoan"

mysteriously carved
into a wooden post.

John White had told the
colonists when he left in 1587

that if they were to
abandon the settlement

that they should leave a secret
token, as he called it, behind

so that he would know
where to find them,

and this seemed
to be the answer.

Here was "Croatoan"
carved onto the post.

Croatoan was what
we call Hatteras today,

an island about 50
miles to the south.

It’s also the name of the
tribe of Native Americans

who lived on the island.

But when John
White prepared to set sail

to search for the colonists,

a storm blew in and
damaged his ship,

and he was forced
to return to England.

Unfortunately, John
White was never able

to return to the New World
to search for the lost colonists.

But in recent years,
archaeologists have carried out

extensive excavations
to try and solve

this 400-year-old mystery.

Archaeologists have
been digging on Hatteras...

What was called Croatoan...

And they have come up with
some remarkable evidence.

The first, most important
piece of evidence found

was a gold ring that was
made in Elizabethan times.

This was big news
because it seemed to indicate

the possibility that at
least one of the colonists

had been on Croatan Island.

And then another competing
team was digging on Hatteras Island,

and what they found
was really intriguing.

They actually
discovered the hilt

of an Elizabethan-era sword

that was found in a
Native American village.

Now, whether or
not this is something

that belonged to a lost
colonist remains to be seen.

It’s possible some
did survive long enough to have a family

and that there would have been
assimilation with the Croatoans.

And yet, considering
how much archaeology

that’s been done,
we have no skeletons.

Where are they?

That is a mystery.

If we had found
dead bodies scattered

or obvious signs of
a siege or an attack,

that would be the
answer that we need.

We get this word "Croatoan."

But did people
actually make it there?

Where did they go?

What happened to
this group of settlers?

It’s the ambiguity that
really keeps this legend alive.

It’s hard to imagine
that an entire colony

that was home to
over a hundred people

could just vanish into thin air.

Did the colonists at
Roanoke simply decide

to move somewhere else?

Or was there a darker reason
behind their disappearance,

like in the case of an
island near Mexico City

that was abandoned
because locals are convinced

that it’s haunted
by an evil entity?

Just south of Mexico City.

Dotted amongst the
numerous tree-filled canals

that run through
this ancient city

are dozens of
artificial floating islands

known as chinampas.

But one chinampa stands out

because the branches of
its willow and cypress trees

appear to be growing
something rather unusual.

The place is called
Isla de las Muñecas,

otherwise known as
the Island of the Dolls.

The island
is a forestlike enclave

draped with thousands

and thousands of ordinary dolls.

Childhood playthings
hanging from trees,

vines and branches.

It’s very eerie.

These look like
suspended living presences

that are believed
to ward off evil.

It’s a spooky living sculpture

that some people
say, um, is cursed.

And according to folklore,

you can hear whispering...

and you can hear
little girls’ voices.

Uh, you can see the-the
dolls’ eyes blinking on their own,

which is just terrifying.

The only
permanent residents of the island

are the strange dolls
that have given the place

a ghoulish reputation.

But who created this
macabre spectacle?

And why?

Well, according to local lore,

the story began in the 1950s
when the island was owned

by a man named
Julian Santana Barrera.

Julian Santana Barrera
came to live on the chinampa.

And according to the
stories, he came across, uh,

a little girl floating
in one of the canals.

Barrera is devastated that
he can’t save the little girl

and pulls her out of the water

and buries her on the island.

Barrera felt eventually

that he was seeing
the ghost of this girl

walking around his
little chinampa island.

To try to make her happy, he
hung some dolls in the trees.

And he hung more
and more dolls up

to appease the
spirit of this little girl

who died tragically.

We can think about what
Barrera did as a talisman

or a symbol, um, that
is used to, uh, protect.

All across the globe,
you see these totems

being used in
this particular way.

There are stones, and
there are ornaments

that people hang in
their houses, in their cars.

Sometimes people carry
them on their physical person.

And the act is done as a
kind of protective gesture.

Ultimately,
Barrera hung thousands of dolls

all over the island

not only to honor the
memory of the young girl

but also to guard
against a dark entity

that he believed had
caused her death.

An entity known as La Llorona.

La Llorona is a
tragic character.

She is the first Native mother

who gave birth to children
from a conquistador, a Spaniard.

The story says that her
community rejected her

because her children were
Spaniard, and so she was shamed.

She was so ashamed
of this, in fact,

that she went down to the river
and she drowned her children.

She immediately regretted this.

Now she’s this spirit that
haunts lakes and rivers.

La Llorona is a well-known
myth all around Mexico.

And so, a man like Barrera

who sees a child
floating in the water,

he almost certainly,
at least for a moment,

thought of La Llorona and
that this is her children floating.

Since Barrera’s death in 2001,

the Island of the Dolls
has remained abandoned.

But locals continue to tell
the story of the drowned girl,

and many are
convinced that there’s

an evil presence on this island.

And as evidence, they point
to the chilling circumstances

of Julian Barrera’s death.

After suffering from
a fatal heart attack,

his body was found in
an unsettling location.

Barrera dies.

And not only does
he die on the island

but his body is found
in the exact canal

where he found the little girl.

Is there correlation?
We don’t know.

But many people believe

that if you are out
at night by yourself,

playing down by the river,

that La Llorona will "get you."

Is there a dark entity
that lurks in the water

surrounding the
Island of the Dolls?

Well, if there is, it
hasn’t stopped visitors

from wanting to see this
bizarre site for themselves.

In fact, there are many
abandoned places

around the globe

that have become
tourist attractions,

including a city that was
once a thriving capital

until it was covered
in volcanic ash.

On the rim of the Caribbean Sea

300 miles southeast
of Puerto Rico

lies the tiny island
nation of Montserrat.

The most popular tourist
destination on Montserrat

is not its sandy beaches

but rather the remains of
its capital city, Plymouth.

Plymouth was
once a bustling town,

but it now lies buried
under volcanic ash and mud.

The city of Plymouth
on the island of Montserrat

was considered this
luscious island resort,

this beautiful city.

There was sort of
this whole atmosphere

of people getting together,
enjoying themselves,

having a good time.

Plymouth is the
capital city there,

and in 1995,

this was a city of 4,000 people.

So it’s not just
a tiny little town.

But Plymouth was completely
wiped out by the volcano there.

Between July
of 1995 and August of 1997,

a series of eruptions of the
nearby Soufrière Hills volcano

turned Plymouth into an
uninhabitable wasteland.

19 people were killed.

Everyone else was
forced to evacuate.

You have the mudslide

that went through
the center of the town,

and then all around that, you
have the husks of the homes

and the schools
and things like that

that are left there
and overgrown.

When you see pictures
of this, you’re going to see

rooftops of buildings
poking out of ash, basically.

There’s a very famous
image of this church

buried up to its
roof, essentially.

The whole city is
sort of frozen in time.

Plymouth sees
thousands of visitors each year

who arrive from all over
the world to explore the ruins

and take photographs
of the wreckage.

People visit this abandoned
city in spite of the fact

that the nearby volcano
is still dangerously active.

It’s a strange phenomenon

known as dark tourism.

Plymouth today is like
a modern-day Pompeii.

Its buildings, its stores,

its squares, its
plazas, its churches

are covered in and
buried in volcanic ash.

And people go to view
it because they feel like

they’re viewing ancient ruins

but they belong to
our own generation.

The reason
people are drawn to places

like Plymouth and
Pompeii for dark tourism

is because they give
you a chance to see

maybe what our cities
are gonna look like.

Is there gonna be a point where
coastal cities are underwater

or where the
neighborhoods that we live in,

nobody’s in anymore and
they’ve turned into a forest?

To go to a
place where such terror

and trauma took place

is a way to engage
with those things

without having to experience

the actual terror and
trauma ourselves.

We are really
intrigued by seeing

the finality of a
natural disaster

in just the stillness.

In a lot of
ways, places that are abandoned

kind of have that
memento mori aspect,

so there’s this element of
coping with your own mortality,

and seeing something
like that, I think, gives you

the opportunity to
come to terms with it.

So, what do you think?

Would you like to visit the site
of the Chernobyl disaster

or take a boat ride
to the Island of the Dolls?

The truth is that
abandoned places fascinate us.

There’s something
that draws us to them,

even when they might
be dangerous.

Which is why we’ll continue
to explore these places

in hopes of unlocking
all of their secrets

that, for now,
remain unexplained.

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