Mysteries of the Abandoned

A porn baron establishes a hedonistic paradise in hopes of averting nuclear catastrophe -- and attracts a rich and infamous clientele in the process. But the good times were not to last.

Developers dream up a lavish neighborhood full of matching castles, thermal baths and panoramic views of the beautiful Turkish landscape. But faced with a bad economy and other financial woes, the project stalled and the castles now stand frozen in time.

Seeking a peaceful, isolated place to record music, a Beatles legend builds a state-of-the-art studio on a small Caribbean island. But after the island suffered numerous natural disasters, the storied studio had to be abandoned.

Full of overgrown weeds and rusted-out rides, this amusement park was forced to close in the middle of ambitious renovations. But interest in the park surged after K-pop stars began using it as a backdrop for album covers and music videos.

A hotel that once served Hollywood's elite is converted into an interrogation center for POWs. With the help of hidden listening devices, wartime intelligence gathered here helped bring an end to the war in the Pacific.

A dilapidated prison was once home to medical experiments and a prison riot, which ultimately ended in a hostage situation and murder. But now it’s best remembered for hosting an iconic pop culture moment.

Graffiti scratched into the walls of a military base on the British coast sheds light on a secret raid against the Nazis. But the story left behind by the soldiers does not match the rosy picture that was painted by the media.

In the Turkish capital of Ankara, an ambitious new theme park is plagued by budget problems, mechanical issues and political conflicts before ultimately being shuttered. Now, decaying rides and old dinosaurs stand as symbols of excess on the city skyline.

Conspiracies swirl around an abandoned military base in Long Island, where it's alleged that covert government experiments took place underground. Experts discuss the critical role that the base played in defending America's coastline by both air and sea.

In modern-day Turkey, on the coast of the Aegean Sea, archaeologists discovered hilltop ruins that are believed to be the site of one of the world's most enduring stories -- the legend of Troy and the Trojan Horse.

On a picturesque island off the coast of Brazil, this penal colony was once the site of a dramatic prisoner uprising. Among the ruins lies the story of the violent rebellion and the recapturing of the island by military forces.

This decaying fortress once stood between the Ancient Roman and Persian Empires. Though the stronghold's location attracted great wealth, it also attracted attention from unfriendly neighbors.

A teenage girl in Korea is martyred in prison and becomes a national hero. Today, the facility where she was held stands in remembrance of her bravery and the Korean struggle for independence.

Notorious gunslinger John Dillinger once pulled off a daring escape from this unassuming jail. Today, the story of his clash with Indiana's first female sheriff and his dramatic getaway continues to fascinate the public.

A building in Colorado is still marked with bullet holes from a Wild West shootout between union members and state militia. The ruins of the old mining town tell the heated story of a labor dispute that ended in sabotage and murder.

This stately theater was intended to sway the minds of the masses.