Grand banqueting halls, opulent lobbies and vast ballrooms; you could easily be forgiven for thinking this was a collection of photographs was documenting some of Europe’s grandest hotels. However, a closer look will reveal the majestic rooms to be engulfed in swathes of dust and moss; hotels that once hosted royals and high society abandoned to the elements. This is the latest result of urban exploration photography, going beyond “no entry” signs to capture images of dilapidated buildings across Europe. IT worker Thomas Windisch, from Graz in Austria, indulged his passion for photography by traveling across the continent, visiting over 100 abandoned hotels along the way. Here: inside a hotel in Austria. (Photo by Thomas Windisch/Caters News)

Plants grow on houses in the abandoned fishing village of Houtouwan on the island of Shengshan July 26, 2015. Just a handful of people still live in a village on Shengshan Island east of Shanghai that was once home to more than 2,000 fishermen. Every day hundreds of tourists visit Houtouwan, making their way on narrow footpaths past tumbledown houses overtaken by vegetation. The remote village, on one of more than 400 islands in the Shengsi archipelago, was abandoned in the early 1990s as first wealthy residents then others moved away, aiming to leave problems with education and food delivery behind them. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

This picture taken on May 31, 2018 shows a villager walking between abandoned houses covered with overgrown vegetation in Houtouwan on Shengshan island, China' s eastern Zhejiang province. Houtouwan was a thriving fishing community of sturdy brick homes that climb up the steeply hilled island of Shenghshan, but is now abandoned, with entire houses completely overgrown as if vacuum- sealed in a lush layer of green. (Photo by Johannes Eisele/AFP Photo)

Urban photographer Roman Robroek spent five years scouring the continent for the grandest examples of forgotten architectural beauty. Here: Watch your step on this Polish spiral staircase. (Photo by Roman Robroek/South West News Service)

A forest near Chatillion, a small village in Belgium, used to be home to a vintage car graveyard. This “car graveyard” has since been cleaned up, but photographer Theo van Vliet had the chance to explore the forest and photograph the cars beforehand. (Photo by Theo van Vliet)

A Mercedes-Benz car is pictured in a production line at the plant of German carmaker Mercedes-Benz in Bremen, Germany January 24, 2017. (Photo by Fabian Bimmer/Reuters)

Daimler AG Mercedes-Benz emblems stand ready for attachment to vehicles at the factory on January 30, 2012 in Sindelfingen, Germany. (Photo by Thomas Niedermueller/Getty Images)

Only the most intrepid urban explorers cross the tattered ruins of the old Iron Curtain to endure the excessive bureaucracy, military paranoia and freezing winds of the East to hunt for the ghosts of an empire. Rebecca Litchfield is one who couldn’t resist the haunting allure of the ruins of the Soviet Union.