It’s no secret that we humans are used to getting our way.
Over the course of millennia, humanity has reshaped nature. We've built islands, dug canals, and constructed massive cities all over the world.
To the untrained eye, it probably seems like we’ve been pretty successful at bending nature to our will — from using the land to grow crops, to harnessing the power of the wind and sun to fuel tiny, self-sustaining homes.
Of course, appearances can be misleading…
Mother Nature is one tough mama, and she’s well-known in persisting even the most unfavorable conditions. As they say, nature finds a way.
The natural world also has a way of reclaiming bits of the man-made universe, and returning them to the earth, whether it’s a tiny, stubborn shoot breaking through the sidewalk or a group of wild animals making themselves at home.
Scroll through the gallery below to see some of nature’s most dramatic and beautiful victories over the man-made world.
1. El Hotel Del Salto
Perched precariously on a cliff in San Antonio del Tequendama, Colombia, the hotel was built as an escape from the capital city of Bogota in the 1920s, but was abandoned after the Great Depression hit.
Over the course of decades, nature reclaimed the hotel, which has now been turned into a museum dedicated to biodiversity.
2. Kaufdorf Vehicle Graveyard
What started as an auto chop shop back into 1933 quickly became a well-known landmark after a man named Walter Messerli began to allow his extensive collection of car chassis and automotive parts to return to the land in the town of Kaufdorf, Switzerland.
In 2008, the government intervened, and sold off many of the remaining parts.
3. Ardtully House
Ardtully House is a ruined castle on the outskirts of Kilgarvan, Ireland.
It was built by a local knight in the 1840s, but large portions of the structure burned down during the Irish War of Independence, leaving ample space for a small forest of trees to grow up into its abandoned courtyard.
4. Ta Prohm
Ta Prohm is an ancient temple deep in the Cambodian jungle that was built roughly 900 years ago as a place of worship for Mahayana Buddhists.
In that long lifetime, Ta Prohm has started to melt back into the surrounding jungle as silk-cotton, and strangler fig trees have slowly swallowed the architecture.
5. Holland Island
Holland Island, located in the Maryland section of the Chesapeake Bay, was originally settled as a small fishing village in the 17th century.
By the early 20th century, however, the marshy soil was quickly eroding into the bay, and most islanders picked up and moved to more solid ground.
Now, the remaining dry land barely supports one dilapidated, and measures less than .2 square miles.
6. The S.S. Ayrfield
The S.S. Ayrfield is one of several ships located in the heart of Homebush Bay, a waterway near Sydney.
Boats that served Australia during WWII were deliberately scuttled in this area, and left to turn into a "shipwreck reef" to support marine life.
In some cases, plants that thrive on dry land also took a liking to the ships, growing into abundant plant life.
7. The Tunnel of Love
Deep in the forest of Ukraine, a private railway cuts through the trees. The tracks are still in use today and are minimally cleared, but nature is otherwise allowed to take its course.
Over many years, the bordering trees eventually grew into a leafy, green passageway popular with young romantics.
And click through to see which part of Italy was once conquered by North African forces.
8. Pepoli Castle
The castle, part of a remote historic village called Erice located in the mountains of Sicily, is one of two ancient cliffside strongholds. Pepoli dates back at least a thousand years, to the Saracen and North African rule of Sicily.
Over the course of centuries, the palace was slowly claimed by the surrounding forest.
9. Kalavantin Durg
Kalavantin Durg in a mountain fortress located in the Western Ghats of India. Built alongside a series of other fortresses during wartime, it was most likely used primarily as a watch tower to survey the valley below.
After the war ended, it was abandoned due to its height and lack of water supply, and became so ruined and covered in vegetation that it's almost one with the mountain.
10. Kolmanskop
Kolmanskop was once a wealthy diamond-mining town in the deserts of Namibia, built in the style of the Germans who settled it.
When the gemstones ran out, the town was abandoned, and slowly consumed by the shifting tides of the desert, which now bury the town in deep drifts of sand.
11. Chemin De Fer De Petite Ceinture
Chemin de fer de Petite Ceinture (which translates to Little Belt Railway) used to connect different parts of the Parisian metropolis.
Many sections have fallen into disuse in the past few decades, and are now home to small natural gardens that bloom with wildflowers in the spring.
12. Pripyat Amusement Park
There's a sad story behind this abandoned amusement park. It was located in the Ukrainian city of Pripyat, which served the Chernobyl nuclear reactor.
After the disaster, the city was evacuated and abandoned, leaving nature to begin healing the wounds of the nuclear disaster.
13. North Brother Island
Located north of the Bronx in New York City, North Brother Island was once home to an isolate smallpox hospital.
When the hospital relocated, the old structure was taken over by greenery and wildlife. Today, it's designated as a bird sanctuary.
14. Stari Bar
The village of Stari Bar is nestled in a valley in the small country of Montenegro.
There's a population of about 2,000 living at the edges of the town, but the medieval center was abandoned in the 1970s after an aqueduct broke. The old building and fortress fell into disrepair, and are now home to a thriving ecosystem of plant life.
Did you fall in love with the dramatic beauty of nature reclaiming civilization?
Then please don't forget to SHARE these ethereal places on Facebook!
