Ghosts can be not only dead people, but also places where life once lived. There are many such havens on planet Earth, previously inhabited, but later abandoned. Most often these are little-known settlements and villages, but in some cases they are large cities. The reason for the desolation of some geographical objects was the ruthless onslaught of a capricious and omnipotent nature. Other sanctuaries were devastated by bloody, brutal wars. But no matter how it happens, now these points on the map, attributed to different historical eras, are lifeless and dead. They frighten unlucky travelers with a frightening view of dilapidated buildings and empty window sockets.
Occasionally, random wanderers wander there. However, there are also avid travelers, adventure seekers and lovers of ruins who are drawn to such places like a magnet. The motives of the adventurers are understandable. Indeed, in the ruins, if you look closely, you can find quite attractive. It is difficult to explain in words: what is it? Perhaps an awkward, but peculiar aesthetics, but more precisely - a fascinating energy. Human thoughts, passionate feelings and desires still reign in the air. The scent of other people's destinies soars in the abandoned ruins, and history beckons with its unsolved secrets. In such corners there is a feeling that the shadow of the past times can be grasped by the gray beard for a few moments in order to accomplish the impossible, to catch the elusive, that is, that which, like into the abyss, flows into silent eternity.
Diamond Rush in a ghost town
Namibia is an African power with a dry and tropical climate, washed by the waters of the harsh Atlantic. And along the coast of the country stretches the endless Namib desert, where fierce winds move from place to place white-yellow dunes, sometimes reaching a height of several tens of meters. But in the bowels of the earth, a myriad of minerals are hidden here.
In the south of the state, there is an abandoned city called Kolmanskop. It is located not far from an inconspicuous commercial and fishing port on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Such a settlement would never appear on an extensive map of the world, but it so happened that a certain Zakaris Leval, a modest employee of a small railway company, once found small pebbles in the sands of this place. Who would have thought that this would become the cause of the real excitement, nicknamed by the common people as the "diamond rush", because the find turned out to be precious!
As soon as the rumor went about this extraordinary event, thousands of seekers of happiness rushed into the sands of the African desert in the hot hope of making themselves a huge fortune. In this regard, the city of Kolmanskop rose from the ground in a record short two years. This short period was enough for people to erect beautiful buildings in the German style in the lifeless hot desert.
German solidity in this suddenly flourishing land was felt literally in everything. The houses were built reliably and for centuries, having the most successful layouts in their convenience, a tastefully chosen interior and a neat wonderful interior decoration. Well-groomed facades attracted with their impeccable aesthetics. Even the window shutters were carefully decorated with special love and sophistication. One can imagine how many hopes, grandiose plans for the future, and the most dizzying expectations were associated with these buildings!
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The inhabitants of the town have advanced far, bringing many benefits of civilization to the land of semi-wild Africa. Even such a rare wonder at that time as an X-ray apparatus, there was a single copy in the entire southern part of the continent in Kolmanskop.
Everything necessary for life and entertainment appeared in the city: a hospital, a school, a furniture factory, a bakery, a slaughterhouse, even a casino, a bowling club, salons-bars. After all, the newly minted residents hoped that soon there would be a real "diamond paradise" here. However, none of them could have thought that the days of the existence of this settlement were almost numbered.
Buried the town under the sand dunes
Soon the First World War thundered. At the end of the war, the price of precious stones plummeted in the market. Hope for an improvement in the situation faded every year. And the diamonds mined in the Kolmanskop mines cost less and less.
Further, the problems only increased. Among the disasters that befell the town, there is an acute shortage of drinking water, as well as the struggle with constantly advancing sand dunes. The mining settlement thus turned from a desired paradise into a living hell. And the dreams of the long-awaited wealth melted away without a trace, taking on the appearance of poverty and hopeless everyday troubles.
With the advent of difficulties, the first desperate began to leave the town. And every year there were more and more of them. By 1950, there were practically no residents left in Kolmanskop. And soon the settlement was included in the sad list of ghost towns, whose natural grave were the sand dunes constantly attacking it. Nowadays, as a reminder of the past, several dreary-looking structures have remained unburied, among which the theater building, which is still well preserved, is especially noteworthy.
Considering even now the abandoned rooms of living quarters, mercilessly covered with sand, one can notice how hardworking people once lived here. They thoroughly and meticulously treated any of the construction details, where all the trends and trends of European fashion of those bygone times were observed. How much strength and human energy wasted in vain, and how many died in a small town of unfulfilled hopes!
The most dangerous disease in the world
But not only the merciless elements, everyday troubles and sad circumstances tried, destroying all the painstaking human labors. Even before the first serious problems began in the city, human greed began to eat it like a worm. To the south of the settlement, there were found deposits of larger diamonds. And in pursuit of untold wealth, greedy unlucky bosses rushed to explore new profitable horizons. Driven by a sudden excitement, many townspeople abandoned their homes without regret. Leaving their homes in a hurry, they did not even hesitate to leave their previously carefully stored property. They believed that soon, when they got rich, they would get something better. And the abandoned houses remained in sad solitude, continuing to keep the warmth of the hands of their former owners, as if in the hope that soon the fugitives would return.
Nowadays, the territory of the ghost town is ruled by Namibian aborigines. And by the way, they just make good money by arranging excursions for curious travelers, while not hesitating in addition to tell a lot of frightening legendary stories about the souls of diamond seekers not reposed.
Well, it is quite possible, because there are probably a lot of raging ghosts there, since the city has experienced more than enough passions! It is not for nothing that the myth is so tenacious in human society that the dead, who left this world prematurely, especially for unnatural reasons (sinners first of all), continue to wander for a long time in the places where their lives passed, and where they made many mistakes.
There is also another theory. Some believe that the ghost is not a person's spirit at all, but a kind of "imprint" of his strong emotions and violent experiences. That is why, probably, there are sentimental legends about not reposed souls about many old houses. And it even attracts some of the living fans to tickle their nerves. After all, sometimes you want to understand how those who have now become nothing but dust lived, and to catch the breath of a past life in the rest of their existence.
