There are many places in the world that arouse curiosity and mystery . Throughout history, there are many catastrophes and disasters that have occurred and that today are still present in these not so common destinations. Examples of this are the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the place where the Titanic sank or the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The visit to enclaves where some of the darkest events in the history of humanity took place has adopted the name of “dark tourism” or thanatotourism . This type of destination has grown overwhelmingly in recent years, which is why the Passport Photo portal has carried out a study of more than 900 American travelers to find out what are the motivations and preferred destinations for this type of tourist.
This study has revealed that 82% of those surveyed have carried out thanatotourism, and that the main motivation is the educational aspect that it entails. To this is also added the desire to pay tribute to the victims and to want to experience first-hand the emotions they felt. In turn, it has also revealed the 15 favorite destinations for dark tourism.
1) Pearl Harbor National Monument, Hawaii
Pearl Harbor National Monument
This monument founded in 1962 honors and pays tribute to all the victims, most of them young, of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. It is a place that teleports the visitor to that day through real audio and visual recreations .
2) National 9/11 Memorial, New York
National 9/11 Memorial, New York
On September 11, 2001, the entire world was paralyzed after seeing two planes crash into the Twin Towers in New York . It is the biggest attack in the history of mankind and one of the biggest catastrophes in recent history.
3) Paris Catacombs, France
Catacombs of Paris, France
The Catacombs of Paris are one of the main tourist attractions of the city. They have their origin in the 18th century, when, due to the serious health problems caused by the city’s cemeteries, it was decided to move their contents to an underground place.
4) Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan
The impact of the atomic bombs on these two cities changed international relations and demonstrated the capacity for destruction that human beings have. However, to this day, Hiroshima and Nagasaki do not stop receiving visitors curious to discover them.
5) Wreck of the Titanic, North Atlantic
The sinking of the Titanic on the night of April 14-15 is the largest shipwreck in the history of a passenger ship. It took place in the North Atlantic, 600 kilometers from Newfoundland , and its remains were found in 1985.
6) Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, California
Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, California
Alcatraz prison is the most famous prison of all time, although it was originally used as a fort during the American Civil War. It was not until 1934 that it reopened as a federal penitentiary, a maximum security prison where the most dangerous criminals were locked up.
7) Auschwitz concentration camps, Poland
Auschwitz concentration camp, Poland
The Auschwitz concentration camp is one of the saddest and most impressive tourist spots in history. It is a complex of 40 concentration and extermination camps created in 1940 , during the height of Nazi Germany, and liberated in 1945 by the Soviet army. Every day hundreds of people arrived at this complex in the so-called ” death trains ” counting a total of 1.3 million innocent people, of which 1.1 million died .
8) Bran Castle, Romania
Bran Castle, Romania
The spectacular Bran Castle , located in Transylvania, sneaks onto the dark tourism list thanks to being the origin of the original Count Dracula vampire legend . The fortress was built around 1212 and is also thought to have been the home of Vlad Drǎculea, Vlad III the Impaler, in the 15th century, further adding to its fame.
9) Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, Ukraine
On April 26, 1986 , the Chernobyl nuclear power plant suffered the most serious nuclear accident in history. Due to this, 600,000 people were affected by radiation and nearby towns, such as Pripyat , were evacuated, becoming ghost towns . To visit the plant there are organized excursions from Kiev for a price of around €100 .
10) Fukushima, Japan
Another nuclear disaster occurred in Fukushima in 2011. Unlike Chernobyl, this was caused by the largest earthquake in the history of Japan . This was of a magnitude of 9.1 and caused a tsunami with waves of more than 9 meters, which caused failures in the containment and security system.
11) Wuhan, China
Still with the aftermath of the coronavirus , the city where the outbreak of this virus that has hit the entire world originated, has become one of the most macabre destinations . Only a few would dare to visit this city, since it is not a particularly touristy place.
12) Memorial Choeung Ek, Cambodia
Memorial Choeung Ek
The Choeung Ek Memorial is a memorial built to honor the victims who were executed there during the Khmer Rouge regime . Choeung Ek was one of the main Killing Fields , or extermination camps, where anyone who opposed the regime was executed.
13)Commemoration Centre in Kigali, Rwanda
This monument pays tribute to the 250,000 people who were buried on the spot in mass graves. Everything happened from April 7 to July 15, 1994, in which the Hutu ethnic group carried out a genocide against the Tutsi ethnic group .
14) Aokigahara Forest, Japan
Aokigahara Forest, Japan
It is known as the suicide forest , as it is a place where many people go to take their own lives. It is located at the base of Mount Fuji and despite its dark origins, it retains a certain beauty to the eye .
15) Azovstal plant in Mariupol, Ukraine
With the recent outbreak of the war between Ukraine and Russia, there are many who plan to go to one of the most relevant points of this dispute. It is the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, although it is not currently a destination that can be visited, it is undoubtedly a strange decision to want to visit it with the conflict in full swing .
