Leave a garden unattended for a week and the weeds will start their own civilization. Give nature a few decades or more, however, and it can swallow entire villages, transform shipwrecks into underwater forests, and turn abandoned buildings into wildlife sanctuaries.
These places were forsaken for all kinds of reasons, yet the plants crept through floors and windows, animals found shelter in empty structures, and what used to be civilization slowly became part of the landscape.
Here are ten incredible places where nature has taken over.
Spreepark, Germany
An abandoned amusement park already evokes the atmosphere of a horror movie, and Berlin's Spreepark certainly embodies that. Opened in 1969, the attraction featured roller coasters, rides, and huge plastic dinosaurs.
After it closed in 2001, trees and plants quickly took over, like it were free real estate in New York. Tracks disappeared behind branches, grass grew around the dinosaurs, and the old Ferris wheel became an eerie local landmark.
It's perfect as is, but plans are in place to revive the site while preserving the wild environment.
Al Madam, United Arab Emirates
In Al Madam, around 43 miles from Dubai, the desert is currently trying to overtake what humans have built, and to be honest, it's doing a pretty good job.
Built during the 1970s as a small housing project, the village contains two rows of homes and a mosque. It was reportedly abandoned roughly two decades later, possibly because residents moved to larger cities. Today, sand pours through doors and windows, slowly filling rooms and burying the buildings from the inside.
Vallone dei Mulini, Italy
This particular gem is hidden in a deep gorge near the centre of Sorrento. Flour and sawmills once operated there, but the last one closed in the early 20th century.
After the construction cut the gorge off from the sea, the increased humidity created the ideal environment for ferns and other plants.
Before long, the abandoned mills were covered in thick vegetation. Some greenery was controversially cleared during renovation work in 2019, but nature has already begun creeping back.
SS Ayrfield, Australia
Sydney's SS Ayrfield is more than just an old ship at this point. Launched in 1911 under the name SS Corrimal, the vessel later transported supplies during World War II. It was retired in the 1970s and left to rust in Homebush Bay. Mangroves eventually took root inside its crumbling hull, and now their branches rise above the ship's rusty sides, creating the strange sight of a miniature woodland growing directly out of the water.
Mangapurua Valley, New Zealand
After World War I, returning soldiers and their families were offered land in New Zealand's remote Mangapurua Valley. Unfortunately, difficult terrain, poor soil, and isolation made farming there almost impossible. By the mid-1940s, the settlement had been deserted.
But Mother Nature cares not for puny buildings.
Forest has since covered its farms, houses, and roads. Its most famous remaining structure is the appropriately named Bridge to Nowhere, which now leads into wilderness.
Houtouwan, China
Once home to more than 3,000 people, Houtouwan was a fishing village on China's Shengshan Island. Its remote location made access to food, education, and employment quite troublesome, so residents began leaving during the 1990s. By 2002, the village was empty.
Nature wasted no time redecorating. Vines now blanket houses, climb over rooftops, and curl around abandoned windows. The remarkably green ghost town has since become a tourist attraction, showing just how dramatically a landscape can change within a few decades.
Beng Mealea, Cambodia
Built around 900 years ago, Beng Mealea is a vast Cambodian temple complex filled with carvings, courtyards, columns, and ponds. Unlike the much more famous Angkor Wat, it remained relatively isolated for many years.
That breather gave the jungle plenty of room to take things over.
Roots coil around ancient stones, while moss and vegetation cover barely visible passageways.
St. Kilda, Scotland
The St. Kilda archipelago lies more than 35 miles west of Scotland's Outer Hebrides. People lived there for generations, but food shortages and a declining population made life increasingly difficult. In 1930, the last remaining residents requested evacuation.
The islands have since become an extraordinary wildlife sanctuary. Nearly one million seabirds live there, including Atlantic puffins and one of the world's largest gannet colonies. St. Kilda is now protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Ta Prohm, Cambodia
Ta Prohm became a "celebrity" after it was featured in the original Lara Croft: Tomb Raider movie. Built in the late 12th century as a Buddhist monastery and university, it was abandoned centuries later when the Khmer Empire moved its capital away from Angkor.
Gigantic fig, banyan, and kapok roots now wrap around walls and spill over ancient doorways.
The surrounding forest is also being restored as a wildlife habitat, with gibbons, langurs, otters, hornbills, and green peafowl reintroduced to the wider Angkor area.
The Korean Demilitarized Zone
One of the most restricted places on the planet is the Korean DMZ, stretching roughly 160 miles between North and South Korea. Almost no humans enter it, which helped it turn into a nature reserve.
More than 6,000 plant and animal species have been recorded in the region. Otters, endangered musk deer, rare fish, and numerous birds have been found living their best life, roaming dilapidated towns and military structures with no people around them. It's a powerful reminder that even war zones shaped by savage conflict can become unexpected refuges for wild nature.