Urbex

Urbex : n.f. (mot anglais) Mot-valise formé des mots urban et exploration. activité clandestine consistant à visiter des lieux abandonnés ou non.

L’urbex se décline en différents types d’exploration: simple exploration, photographie, cataphilie (exploration dans les carrières souterraines de Paris, Toiturophilie (visite des toits d’immeubles) et bien plus.

Urbex Playground vous propose l’urbex photo.

The drift of the concrete church

We must go back to 2014 to find the last traces of the religious ceremony in the church. Since then, virtually nothing has changed between its walls. Despite minimal maintenance, the cobwebs began to appear here and there between furniture and fake plants. The courtyard was sentenced many years ago for to risk that represents the exterior wall where several bricks have fallen over time.

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The abandoned Hipster hotel

Built in 1976, not much remains of this former 148 rooms hotel. In fact, apart from a concrete structure and graffitis, there is only industrial waste. The building has 18 floors and looks like an old white elephant amidst a changing neighborhood.

On the ground floor, an old Bistro sign lying among a small pile of waste is the last remnant of the restaurants “L’Hotel de Chine” and “Bistro La Tour.” Above that, stands ten floors striped back to their bare structure of soulless concrete, stagnant water, and rusty rods.

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The Catacombs of Paris

No, this is not urbex, it is a € 10 visit at the museum. But it still remains one of the most unusual places that can be visited in Paris. The tour begins at Place Denfert-Rochereau in the 14th  arrondissement. But in fact, with a two hours waiting line, the visit rather starts on the other side of Place Denfert-Rochereau and makes what seems a never ending way up to the main entrance. The building where you can access the Catacombs is as big as my hand and looks like a flower shop.

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The abandoned assembly line

Cynically, we could almost say that the factory is as large as the village in which it is located. You should know that we are far away in the countryside, it that kind of place where everybody know each other by his first name. At first glance, they should not be over 800 citizen. The arrival of three foreign photographers is therefore not gone unnoticed despite the very early hour at which we pointed.

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The old abandoned gymnastics club

Abandoned in June 2014, the old movie theater had only a few decorative elements including the ceiling and its front to recall the original purpose of the building. It must be said that once closed in 1982, the intern architecture has been completely renovated to accommodate a second floor with a community gym.

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The Dr Küss abandoned hospital

We are a few months away from the twentieth century. Tuberculosis remains a scourge that we can't control or even contain. The sanatorium which opened in 1899 has two missions. If the first is to treat patients, the second aims to focus on research and the means to prevent contagion.

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The old abandoned cinema

No, this movie theatre does not bear that name, but you will allow me this nod to Giuseppe Tornatore's film that chronicles the history of cinema from its beginnings to today. Since the place has not suffered the wrath of vandalism and because there is no graffiti, I will not mention its real name and its location in order to preserve it. However, this does not prevent me to tell you its story.

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Spexel, the Beauharnois abandoned plant

It's over 92 years of industrial history that ended in 2004 when the Spexel factory was closed down. The story of this plant start in 1912 when is built the paper mill, which took the name of Howard Smith Paper Mill. Over the following years, the plant became the best plant in Canada for the production of banknotes. Thus in 1932, the Bank of Canada commissioned the Beauharnois plant to print all the paper currency of the country, an exclusivity who will stand for more than 70 years.

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The Hennocque quarry, a dark and moist experience

Located in the Ile-de-France, the Hennocque quarry is a place that was marked by history with a capital H. While chalk quarries were developed in the region from the Gallo-Roman period, the Hennocque quarry has started its activity in the nineteenth century and will be operated by three generations of the Aubin-Hennocque family. At its heart, a high quality limestone was extracted.

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