Inside ancient city dubbed ‘Manhattan of the desert’ with skyscrapers made from MUD now facing risk of collapse

An old desert city with distinctive 16th-century architecture is tucked away in the center of Yemen.

This city is known as the “Manhattan of the Dessert” because of its expansive towers, which are composed of mud bricks, a unique material.

The majority of Shibam’s structures are constructed using mud bricks, a method allegedly developed centuries ago.

Residents were shielded from Bedouin raids by this construction design.

Before being utilized to construct these structures, a mixture of earth, hay, and water was formed into bricks and allowed to bake in the sun for many days.

Approximately 500 of these are five- to eleven-story tower blocks.

The uppermost levels were usually communal floors for socializing, while the lowest floors, which had no windows, were used to store grain and livestock.

These magnificent mud towers have walls that are an incredible six feet thick at the base, with considerably thinner walls seen on some of the upper stories.

Brick buildings have been around since the eighth or ninth century, but because they are frequently restored, it is hard to pinpoint when they were first constructed.

This is because the external facade needs to be coated with mud on a regular basis because it is frequently eroded by wind and rain.

Typically, buildings are two to eleven stories high, with one or two rooms on each floor.

Locals continue to live and interact in these despite the fact that they are centuries old.

However, in recent years, Shibam has faced threats from terrorism and the war in Yemen, as well as natural calamities.

The structures suffered significant damage from a flood in 2008.

A restoration campaign was then initiated. at addition, UNESCO has designated the city as a world historic site at danger due to the Yemeni conflict.

In the meantime, an abandoned village in a remote area of Turkey was compelled to evacuate its occupants due to ghost sightings.

An active and cohesive Greek-Turkish community, Kayak was abandoned by its residents a century ago.

With the exception of tour groups visiting the historic site that hasn’t held up over time, it is now a true ghost town.

The majority of the city’s homes are now roofless, and vegetation is growing up the collapsed walls.

Before they fled the town, hundreds of people lived in the city, which now contains the ruins of homes, churches, and other structures.

People can now explore the haunting streets and get a glimpse of the lives of those who once called them home by moving from building to building.

In the meantime, eerie images taken inside a deserted ghost town depict a once-thriving region caught in time.

After gold was found in the area, Bodie, a small camp tucked away in the hills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, was founded in 1859. However, the ancient settlement now conceals a sinister curse.

After gold mining drew immigrants, the California town gained notoriety in 1876. By 1879, its population had grown to between 5,000 and 7,000.

The town had several shops, hotels, and churches, as well as a bowling alley, dance halls, gambling halls, and about 70 saloons in its prime.

This era was marked by frequent, frequently fatal bar fights, opium usage, gambling, and rowdiness.

However, the town started to deteriorate in the 1880s after miners were drawn away by the promise of booms in Arizona, Montana, and Utah.

Although a tiny mining hamlet persisted, the majority of its mines were closed by the early 1900s, and the population had shrunk to a few hundred.

The region, which received its state park designation in 1962, receives about 200,000 tourists annually.

According to legend, anyone who takes any of the town’s ancient artifacts will be haunted by the Bodie Curse.

In an attempt to break the curse, former park visitors have even sent letters and packages to park guards asking them to return the stolen items.