The town of Pripyat, Ukraine is a bizarre and tragic testament to one of history’s lesser moments. Pripyat was located within the exclusion zone of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in 1986.

Desperate to escape the toxic fall-out and avoid the incredibly harmful effects of the radiation, the entire population of Pripyat simply fled.

Overnight, the town went from bustling village to ghost town. As residents were understandably short on time, it’s as if they simply dropped what they were doing, abandoned whatever they had and ran. Entire homes were left with nearly all their contents and all buildings remain.

Today, there are tours available that will take visitors into the eerie town where everything remains, except the residents.

Like an abandoned mining town in the Old West or at the ruins of Pompeii, much of the town has been left exactly as it was when its residents fled and left their lives in their wake.

The result is a haunting memorial to the far-reaching power and devastating abilities of nuclear arms. This site is certainly worth a visit if only to serve as a warning for what nuclear power can do.