When we hear about Chernobyl the first images that come to mind are those of the disaster and of an uninhabited, gray and dangerous area. But it hasn’t always been like this: before 26 April 1986 the town of Pripyatlocated about 3 km from the power plant’s No. 4 reactor, was home for approx 50 thousand peoplemost of which are used within the power plant itself. But what was this town like today? abandoned because of nuclear disaster of Chernobyl?
The history of the ghost town of Pripyat before the Chernobyl disaster
Pripyat it is a rather recent city: the works for its construction only started in 1970when the Soviet authorities identified an area a short distance from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (also under construction) to accommodate all staff. In fact, this area of Ukraine was far from the big cities and, above all, it was a few kilometers from the railway, allowing it to be easily connected with the rest of the country.
The first large building in the city was built in 1972 and it is interesting to highlight how the original plan did not foresee the construction of independent houses or farms, but only of large condominiums residential. Maybe today, with hindsight, none of us would ever move here… but we have to put ourselves in the shoes of a Soviet worker of the period.
In fact, agreeing to work at the power plant would have given each family access to a apartment freeto a permanent job and to all services of a brand new city.
As anticipated, most of the buildings constructed here were of residential nature: we are talking about enormous Soviet-style buildings, inside which there were one-, two- and three-room apartments, with sporadic units larger than five rooms. Below is a map of the city:
Each color represents a neighborhood. That rosefor example, was the city center, inside which we can also find a stadium and a large park. In sky blue clear then we find the area dedicated to recreational and public centers while in green mintto the east, the hospital complex. All the other colors instead concern residential neighborhoods, each equipped with tall concrete buildings.
As we can see, it is present in the center of the city one big road which led directly to the nuclear power plant along which there were some of the most important government buildings, such as the party committee or the executive committee.
The end of the city: as it is today
The city of Pripyat officially died on April 27, 198616 years after its opening and 36 hours after the nuclear accidentwhen the Soviet government ordered the complete evacuation of the town. At the time the authorities promised the inhabitants that they could return after just 3 days: for this reason many personal effects such as books, photos, jewelery and toys were left behind. Many of these will then be seized by the liquidators because they are too radioactive while others, unfortunately, stolen from looters. For this reason, when, months later, the inhabitants were allowed to quickly pass by the house to collect their belongings, many of these had disappeared.
From that moment on, no one lived permanently in Pripyat anymore. Today the city is uninhabitedexcept for tourists who spend a few hours on organized tours among the ruins of what was once considered an urban avant-garde.
