Empty buildings and infrastructures are full of the echoes of real people and vanished lives, leaving many questions unanswered and mysteries unsolved. We explore the worlds strangest engineering projects that created empty silent cities. We ask why a ruined cold war air base has become a no-go area and how a tiny Japanese mining island become the most over-crowded place on the planet. We find out if the street layout of the Soviet Union's model city become a matter of life or death for its population. And how did Nazi Germany create a huge mind control facility at a holiday resort?
We aim for the stars and find out why unwanted battleship guns allow the United States to gain vital information about the borders of space. We ask how the shattered remains of a secret Nazi base became the first on the path to a new world, with the development of the ground-breaking V2 rocket. We explore a forgotten structure deep in the Arizona desert to ask if it is the true home of America's space programme. And we reveal the bizarre link between a discarded oil drum and a Cold War struggle to survive in zero gravity.
Soaring across some of the widest rivers and deepest valleys on the planet, bridges have always been at the cutting edge of engineering. We travel high into the mountains of the Colorado desert to find out why a hidden engineering masterpiece could disappear at any time. We ask why a stretch of overgrown concrete in a Czech reservoir is known as 'Hitler's bridge'. We find out how the highest bridge in the world collapsed in less than one minute. Finally, we uncover the story behind Cape Town's invisible bridge, which never carried a single vehicle.
An abandoned concrete wall... five strange deserted structures. A lost escape route from nuclear Armageddon... A submerged link to D-day... Once they were at the cutting edge of design and construction, now they lie disused, contaminated and dangerous. But who built them? And why were they abandoned?
A strange-looking deserted town with an almost supernatural atmosphere on a remote Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean was in fact an ambitious Soviet mining outpost with a tragic history. Also, a collection of imposing buildings on the southern tip of Australia, the remains of curious-looking basins emerging from the waves in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge and the ruins of a monumental construction project in southern Germany that was a ruthless regime's deadly prototype.
Once they were at the heart of the Communist empire, now they lie abandoned leaving only memories of a time before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Now, each haunted shell is ready to reveal its own story. Still standing today, a fierce-looking prison and an innocuous looking office building in Berlin were actually the headquarters of a feared and ruthless organisation - the Stazi. Also, a covert Communist base hid Cold War submarines for Tito, the former leader of Yugoslavia on the island of Vis. A seemingly innocuous sports centre hides a sinister underground bunker. And the former HQ of the Soviet Army in East Germany was a forbidden Soviet city within a city - the vast site in the East of Berlin is still abandoned today but its architecture still impresses and even the statues of Lenin still stand in this visually remarkable, place from another time.
A sprawling Wild West ghost town sits peaceful and abandoned in Montana, USA, but is still haunted by tales of murder, corruption and buried treasure. Also, a cold, dark, underground mountain network that cost the lives of thousands... the crumbling ruins of an English industry that turned poison into profit... a peaceful village that was shattered by the terrors of war.
A vast snowcovered monster in the icy wilderness of southern Alaska, a ruined super structure that overshadows everything around it in and a landscape of confusing and surprising structures that once represented a bold statement of Spain's plans for the future. Plus, a long, winding formation that was once supposed to help defend Hitler's Third Reich. And in Budapest, Hungary, the stripped skeleton of an industrial relic lies rusting away.
Including an exploration of a marooned iron-clad structure in Portland, off the coast of England, that hides a dramatic story of war and resilience; Pratt Cotton Gin Mill, a vast facility in the heart of America's deep south that helped tear apart a nation; and a Mediterranean island fortress at Spinalonga, Greece, that became the scene of a dark conspiracy.
Including an exploration of forgotten relics from the defence of America's homeland, at Fort Jackson, USA, concealed by the banks of the Mississippi River; a concrete behemoth at Lorient Sub Base, on the coast of France, that proved invulnerable to enemy bombardment; and a ghostly ruin at Gwrych that is now home to a haunting presence.
The Tunnels of Gibraltar were a Second World War espionage base hidden in the Rock of Gibraltar. An ingenious US Airforce project that continues to keep us safe is preserved at the Atlas-1 Test Site. At Roghudi Vecchio, an ancient culture is threatened when an Italian town is deserted. At Naissaar, a highly classified Soviet munitions factory is hidden in Estonian forests.
Exploring a series of vaults, hidden from view in Edinburgh, Scotland that tell a murky story of opportunity, crime and destitution. The Old Herring Factory is a remote Icelandic facility that significantly impacted the country’s economy; in the calm waters of Croatia’s Adriatic Sea, Fort Punta is a vast fortification; and in the ruins of an Alaskan battleground at Fort Schwatka Unalaska are the remains of an Alaskan battleground where a foreign invader set foot on American soil for the first time since 1812.
The remains of Chiatura, formerly known as the Venice of the air, an ingenious sky-high solution to a ground-based problem, were discovered in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Ghost Town in the Sky was an Appalachian dream that conjured the spirit of the old west, left to rot on a North Carolina mountainside. The enormous Guernsey Hospital was constructed when a portion of Britain was under the Nazi yoke. Houtouwan, a simple Chinese island, was involved in a brutal revolution that brought about a tragic period of mass imprisonment and murder.
In a battle decided by a brand-new weapon of war, Agdam, a city in Azerbaijan, was levelled to the ground. In addition, there are two puzzlingly deserted towns in Sicily, a Kansas City Workhouse that seems to have been constructed for the aristocracy, a vast complex in Estonia that inspired a revolution, and more.
An industrial ruin in the Florida Everglades that once took part in the greatest race the human race has ever seen; a community in Indonesia torn apart by a terrifying and deadly unseen force; the graffiti-covered walls of an Ibizan legend hinting at a fun-loving past; and a Bulgarian school hiding an ambitious and covert plan for retaliation.
Exploring traces of a mass deception hidden at Ponte Dirillo in Italy, as well as a once lavish theatre in Ohio and an ancient city with a poisonous secret. A once-opulent theatre in Ohio that brought down the house, an ancient city with a poisonous secret that was only recently revealed, a war-torn shell given new purpose by a blockbuster series, and traces of a massive deception buried across an Italian island are just a few examples of the stories that are told in this episode.
Explores a dense forest near the Czech capital of Prague that hides Houska Castle, an eerie keep that has been subject to long-standing rumours that it possesses supernatural powers. The ruins of a massive stadium that promised a valiant sporting victory over western rivals lie in the disputed region of Abkhazia; a mysterious castle rumoured to have supernatural powers is hidden in a dense forest not far from Prague; a luxurious hotel was looted by a cruel warlord in Liberia, West Africa; and the scattered ruins of a settlement in north-central Arizona reveal an ancient one that was given life by a deadly force.
Exploring a grand structure in Hull that was reduced to rubble by Hitler's planes, Casa Albero in Italy, USS Hornet in California and the Sofia tunnels. This episode looks at the Casa Albero in Italy, the USS Hornet in California, and the Sofia tunnels. Also a grand building in Hull that was once the centre of the community was destroyed by Hitler’s planes while those inside were laughing at him on the big screen.
Exploring a decrepit Liberian landmark with American origins, a desolate town in Belgium and a pioneering scientific structure in Cleveland. Doel, a ghost town in Belgium, stands in the shadow of its destroyer. Chacaltaya Ski Resort in Bolivia is a high-altitude retreat that was once a world-class sporting resort but has been robbed of its lifeblood by a global threat. Warner & Swasey, a groundbreaking scientific building in Cleveland, has been rendered obsolete by light pollution.
Exploring the Dew Drop Inn in New Orleans that dared to take on the authorities and paid the price and Belgica Fort, built to defend an unlikely treasure. The Dew Drop Inn, a New Orleans music mecca that defied the law and paid the price; Belgica Fort, an epic ruin constructed to protect an unlikely treasure; and the aftereffects of West-81, a military exercise that shook the West to its core.