Abandoned Schools and Churches on YouTube

Abandoned buildings fascinate me, and I know I'm not the only one. Perhaps visitors to these places are led to the structures because of nostalgia, perhaps in hopes they will see something creepy. Few abandoned sites evoke the emotions of despair, loneliness, sadness, or fear than old schools and churches left to decay.

You can find several YouTube videos which explore the exteriors and interiors of abandoned schools and churches. I selected five of what I feel are the best videos and slideshows. The YouTube videos I chose combine interesting images with music which reflects the sense of neglect found in these ruins.

Abandoned and Forgotten Schools
The music YouTuber greatlakesurbanex chose for this video of the abandoned and forgotten school administration building in Cleveland, Ohio, is from the album The Other Side of the Looking Glass by Alias. The song is titled "Slow Motion People" and fits the nostalgic mood of this video perfectly. The Woodhill-Quincy building is owned by the Cleveland Board of Education and has been fenced off. In July 2007, demolition was called off pending approval from the Cleveland Planning Commission. The architectural firm of Hubbell and Benes designed the building in the early 1900s. The video begins with a short hike through the undergrowth surrounding the abandoned building. Inside, the contributor walks up the seven floors on stairs without handrails and peers into debris-cluttered rooms and a dark elevator shaft.

One of the cameramen for the upcoming movie DeadTime goes by the name The Telegothika on YouTube. He has put together a video of one of the settings in the movie. The abandoned school building is located in Birmingham, England. The Telegothika created this piece for the movie director to illustrate the spooky atmosphere of the interior. The 1998 song "S.Y.M.M." by Manic Street Preachers enhances the mood of this YouTube video. The lighting and camera angles are excellent and worth a look.

Abandoned and Forgotten Churches
Abandoned church buildings have also been the subject of several YouTube videos. Hellogals contributed a video slideshow of abandoned and forgotten church buildings and accompanied it with "For Whom the Bell Tolls" from the end of the 2001 movie Donnie Darko. Two of the abandoned wooden churches in this YouTube video may be found in the Canadian ghost town of Dorothy, Alberta. One was a Catholic church from 1944 to 1967 and still has its cross atop the steeple. The other, a United Church from 1932 to 1961, does not. The second abandoned church in the video identified in a comment is the cathedral known as Church of the Transfiguration found in Buffalo, New York's East Side. It was a center of Polish Roman Catholic worship from 1896 to 1993. See it here.

I was unable to find any information about the abandoned church building in YouTube contributor pychoshow's video. Supposedly found in Sweden, this brick edifice is surrounded by fields and two rows of trees. I could not find a place called Malgrot when I searched Google maps. The slideshow moves from photos taken from a distance to closeup shots of the exterior of the abandoned church building and its cemetery. The interior shots explore the sanctuary, the pipe organ, and the bell tower room. The music selected for the video is from Ragnarok Online BGM.

A video of Archimandrite Michael Church in the village of Krasnoe was submitted by YouTube contributor ChernobylWildZone. He states he is a scientist in radioecology and radiobiology who regularly visits the Exclusion Zone. Many of his videos document the return of wildlife to Chernobyl. This church, built in the style most Westerners associate with Russian culture, has a striking green "onion dome" exterior and gorgeous interior murals. The vibrant ceiling murals of the saints and angels will never again inspire people to worship because of the village's proximity to Chernobyl. For background, the contributor chose music by Otto Dix, a darkwave band from Khabarovsk in eastern Russia.

Resources:
http://www.clevelandareahistory.com/2010/05/cleveland-schools-slated-for-demolition.html Cleveland schools demolition list and photos
http://www.anticon.com/index.php?section=artist&target=Alias&js=yes Alias biography and playlist
http://www.deadtimefilms.com/ Deadtime official website
http://www.ghosttowns.com/canada/alberta/dorothy.htm Dorothy, Alberta, Canada, photos
http://www.jaymorrison.com/galleries/transfiguration/index.html Church of the Transfiguration, Buffalo, New York, photos
http://www.chernobylee.com/blog/2009/06/ About Krasnoe
http://www.myspace.com/ottodixx Otto Dix, the band