Kadykchan

Russia / Magadan / Kadykchan /
 ghost town, GULAG
Depopulated urban locality (a work settlement) in Susumansky District of Magadan Oblast, Russia. It is located in the Upper Kolyma Highlands, in the basin of the Ayan-Yuryakh River, 65 kilometers (40 mi) northwest of Susuman, the administrative center of the district. As of the 2010 Census, it had no recorded population. The settlement's name comes from the indigenous Even language word meaning "small gorge" or "ravine".
Kadykchan was built by gulag prisoners during World War II for the purposes of coal extraction. Later it accommodated miners at two local coal mines which supplied Arkagalinskaya electric power station. The depth of mines was about 400 meters (1,300 ft). After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, coal mining in the area became increasingly unprofitable. One mine closed in 1992, and an explosion at the other in 1996 which killed six people led to a decision to close it also and for the government to subsidize residents to move elsewhere. Major buildings were blown up. As of 2010, the settlement was officially completely depopulated.


www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nP1Txg_HeY
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadykchan
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   63°4'51"N   147°2'30"E

Comments

  • This is another example of the transition from communism to .. whatever rules us today. Cities like this one fascinate me because they are the past future of my home town. My hometown is Giurgiu, I will be making a post with it`s decay soon, and Giurgiu, as well as Kadykchan have something in common, they were both built by communism for industrial purposes, and they both lost that industry after the fall of communism. What is left is kinda scary, what scares me even more is that my hometown could one day look exactly as this one. http://thehiat.blogspot.com/2010/12/kadykchan-another-communist-leftover.html
This article was last modified 2 years ago