Some stories can be buried for centuries; history we would rather forget, but the marks of human progress are hard to wear away.
The Abandoned Islands project aims to throw some light on these forgotten histories through an interactive map which shows 12 land masses that have been depopulated - whether by environmental disaster, violence, or scientific breakthrough. Economies crumble, technology comes into being and while people move, they leave behind unmistakable traces of life. From animal reclamation to islands ravaged by illness, the Abandoned Islands map allows you to travel across the world in search of these forgotten stories, complete with lesser-known facts and satellite images. Explore the map by clicking the image at the top of this article. Below, we have selected six of the fascinating stories from this project. Each location has a brief description of its history alongside satellite images of how they look today.
Poveglia and its plague pits
Poveglia lies mere miles away from the idyll of Venetian waterways, a divided island haunted by a long legacy of death and suffering. A canal runs through its heart, splitting the land into two parts, each used throughout the Middle Ages as lazaretto, quarantine stations for carriers of the black plague. The sick were taken by gondola across the water to Poveglia's shores, not to be treated, but to be contained. Nearing the end of the plague years, their numbers swelled to 160,000.
In the 1800s the island took on another grisly purpose; with the epidemic of the plague gone, those who were declared mentally ill would be sent to the island. By the 1970's, Poveglia had been abandoned and remains one of the most mysterious and disturbing sites in Italy.
Today, plague pits litter the island; mass graves where bodies were discarded. Dig your hands into the topsoil, and you are likely to come away with remnants of human ash. While most avoid the island, some travellers who have visited the island in recent years have claimed Poveglia is home to sinister spirits and paranormal events.
Another site of illness is the island of Spinalonga in Greece. From 1903 to 1957, it served as one of the last leper colonies in Europe. Having been separated from their families and the outside world, its inhabitants would commit suicide by leaping from the fort’s high walls onto the rocks below. However, unlike Poveglia, this illness was soon eradicated with the discovery of a cure for leprosy in the mid-20th Century. While the island is deserted, it is due to the fact the residents were no longer forced to shut themselves away - the last resident left the island in 1962.
Bikini Atoll's nuclear legacy
On the other side of the world, Bikini Atoll should stand as a contrast to Poveglia's dark history. With a name so cheerful, how could it possibly be anything less? But this South Pacific Island was home to some of the first nuclear tests carried out by the US government from 1946 to 1958. These nuclear tests were so toxic that the island's original inhabitants were forced to permanently relocate to the island of Kili. When they tried to return in the 1970's, many residents quickly became sick, forcing them to flee the island for the foreseeable future. Now uninhabited, it remains a stark reminder of the devastation caused by nuclear weapons.
Ilha da Queimada Grande's den of snakes
Another abandoned island left desolate not by the destruction of nature, but by its resurgence, is Ilha da Queimada Grande in Brasil. More than 90 miles from Sao Paolo, Ilha da Queimada Grande is a literal den of snakes.
Thousands of years ago, when the island became separated from the mainland by rising sea levels, it left animals trapped. Now, it is home to between 2,000 to 4,000 golden lancehead pit vipers – all poisonous. While they typically feast on birds and lizards, they have reportedly developed cannibalistic tendencies. People have tried to live here amongst the vipers, but they didn't succeed. The last known inhabitants of the island operated its lone lighthouse until the 1920s when their bodies were discovered riddled with snakebites. Since then, nobody has dared venture back.
With no natural predators left to compete with, this island of snakes looks set to continue to grow as the years pass.
Okunoshima's rabbit infestation
While snakes flourish in Brasil, Okunoshima, Japan is home to an unlikely swarm of rabbits. During the Second World War, Okunoshima was transformed into a secret research facility for the development of toxic gas – since this was forbidden by international law, the Imperial Japanese Army attempted to hide its existence by omitting it from any maps.
After the war, when Allied forces arrived at Okunoshima, they discovered hundreds of unsupervised rabbits, all of which had been used for testing. These rabbits were released to run free on the island, and their population rapidly grew. Today, they are so revered that it is illegal for tourists to hunt them, or even for them to bring animals to the island that could risk their safety.
Clipperton Island: starvation and scurvy
Clipperton Island, under French dominion, is an island without a dominant animal but acts as a horrific reminder of the brutality of humans. In 1897, Mexico deployed a warship to annexe the island and establish a colony, and by 1914, at least 100 inhabitants lived on the island. But this habitation was soon thrown into discord when the Mexican Revolution erupted a few years later – with regular food shipments halted, leading to starvation and scurvy to run rampant. It also led to the tyrannical rule of Victoriano Alvarez, the island's reclusive lighthouse keeper.
Alvarez soon revealed his violence – reportedly crowning himself king of the island and enslaving, abusing, and executing the remaining colonists over a period of two years. The survivors whittled down to less than ten – eventually overpowering and killing Alvarez. After they were rescued, none attempted to return.
With such lurid and unnerving histories, after travelling across the world's abandoned islands you may be left with a choice. Continue further into their mysteries, or allow them to be forgotten?