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)

A farmer rides a truck in a village near Nong Khai, Thailand, September 16, 2015. (Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters)

The wreckage of a van is overgrown by plants in Simacem village in North Sumatra, Indonesia, November 16, 2015. The village was abandoned following the eruption of Mount Sinabung as it was considered too close to the still rumbling volcano. (Photo by Binsar Bakkara/AP Photo)

A wild leopard mauled six people in a village in rural India, including police and forest rangers. The attack happened yesterday in Prakash Nagar near Siliguri in West Bengal, a village of about 3,000 people. The leopard was finally tranquilized and died at a veterinarian's office from the barrage of blows from the police and forest rangers.

An illustration showing scarecrows pulling a firewood cart beside a road is on display at Kakashi no Sato, or the Scarecrow's Hometown on September 10, 2014 in Himeji, Japan. In this district of Yasutomi in Himeji city, over 100 of scarecrows stand in farmlands and abandoned houses to illustrate the good old Japanese countryside and attract visitors. (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)

Kosovar Bosnian women help the bride Sellma Demirovic (C) to be dressed with traditional clothes on her wedding day for a traditional ceremony in the village of Donje Ljubinje, Kosovo, 14 August 2021. (Photo by Valdrin Xhemaj/EPA/EFE)

Six Flags New Orleans, also abbreviated to SFNO, is an abandoned theme park in New Orleans, Louisiana, that has been closed since just before Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005 and is currently owned by the city of New Orleans. Six Flags had previously owned the park since March 2002, but after assessing the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina and the related exorbitant expenses of repairing the damage, sought to terminate their 75-year lease with the city, beginning in July 2006 and finally succeeding in September 2009. The park is located in Eastern New Orleans, in the Ninth Ward of the city, off Interstate 10. Despite various announced plans to redevelop the site, as of 2014, it is still an abandoned amusement park in extremely poor condition. It is a well-known urban exploration destination.

Jazmin, 6, sister of Jose Luis, receives Isoniazid Preventive Therapy in Carabayllo in Lima, Peru July 14, 2016. At least 30,000 Peruvians are infected with tuberculosis, an ancient disease that killed 1.8 million globally last year, more than AIDS-related and malaria deaths combined. Partners in Health, a Boston-based non-profit that works with Peru's health ministry, offers a simple solution. It trains community volunteers to tend to tuberculosis sufferers in their homes – ensuring patients take medicine daily and helping them navigate the public health bureaucracy. (Photo by Mariana Bazo/Reuters)