13 Haunting Abandoned Cities Slowly Being Swallowed by Nature

5. Oradour-sur-Glane, France: A Village Frozen in Time

Oradour-sur-Glane, a small village in France, stands as a poignant memorial to the horrors of World War II. On June 10, 1944, Nazi troops massacred 642 inhabitants, leaving the village in ruins. After the war, French President Charles de Gaulle ordered that Oradour-sur-Glane remain as it was, a testament to the atrocities committed. Today, the village is a ghostly landscape of burned-out buildings and rusting cars, preserved in a state of arrested decay. Visitors walk through the silent streets, bearing witness to the tragedy that unfolded here. Oradour-sur-Glane is a powerful reminder of the human capacity for both cruelty and resilience, a place where history is etched into every stone and shadow.