All language subtitles for Abandoned.Engineering.S10E05.Drone.Wars.1080p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-squalor_track3_[eng]

Tom ward (narrates):
A site in Azerbaijan

shattered by rivalry.

A whole city is forced
to leave their homes.

A once socialist ruin in Estonia

founded by the
ultimate capitalist.

He was known as
Europe's rockefeller.

A sicilian utopia
infiltrated by the mafia.

Death, destruction,
organised crime and corruption,

what these people went
through is harrowing.

And a gothic horror in
the American mid-west.

This seemingly old
world European castle

became the very seed
and cesspool of deviance.

Decaying relics,

ruins of lost worlds.

Sites haunted by the past,

their secrets waiting
to be revealed.

Their secrets waiting
to be revealed.

(Theme music)

In the shadow of the
caucusus mountains

in Azerbaijan is a ghost
town with a desolate past.

Nestling among green trees
are hundreds of buildings

but they've been annihilated
with only their shells remaining.

It's an eerie sight.

It looks like something
out of a disaster movie.

The roads and
streets are deserted.

There's no-one to
be seen anywhere,

but there's this one
building that survived.

The mosque gives a clue
to the heritage of this place.

As does another unexpected find.

In the middle of all this rubble

is a beautiful painted mural

is a beautiful painted mural

maybe it foreshadows
some kind of revival

of this shattered city.

What disaster struck
this once bustling city

and displaced over half a million
civilians from this remote region?

(Dramatic music)

The disputed territory of
karabakh is difficult to access,

here war correspondent
emin ibrahimov

knows only too well the
dangers that come with his job.

In October 2020 I was
covering the karabakh war

between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Fortunately I had a dash cam
that was able to capture everything.

One day I got a
chance to go to a village

that was just recently liberated

and it was going to be an exclusive,
I was supposed to be the first...

And it was going to be an exclusive,
I was supposed to be the first...

The first journalist
to go there.

So, I took my car and on the way

I saw a rocket
just in front of me.

Past just above the
car and I felt an impact,

a shockwave from the
impact just behind me.

Emin was caught up in a war

that has plagued this part
of the world for many years.

So, that's when I
realised that I was attacked

and the first thing that
came to my mind was...

Was the question that

how long will it take the guy
to reload and shoot again?

So, I really stepped on it,

trying to go as fast as I can
without losing control of the car.

The next thing I know maybe

30 seconds later I was
already in... in the village,

I found some cover,
got out of the car

and it's probably only
then that I realised

that I just barely
escaped death.

That I just barely
escaped death.

(Dramatic music)

Emin will never
forget the exact spot

where his life so nearly
came to a sudden end.

So, this is where it happened.

The rocket was fired
from the top of that hill...

And these magnetic stickers

with the logo of the channel
were on both sides of the car.

They got blown away
by the... the shock wave.

Shocking just how close they
came to being hit by a rocket.

It goes to show just how
dangerous of an environment

it is for ordinary
people in the area.

The border region of karabakh

has been the centre of
a dispute in a tug of war

between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

(Loud blasts)

In the last three decades alone

the conflict has taken
tens of thousands of lives,

yet, it's relatively unknown.

People didn't hear
much about this conflict

the way they do about
conflicts in other regions,

it happened in an area that most
westerners don't know much about

and between two groups of people

who are often
overlooked by history.

Whole cities were annihilated

in two bloody wars in
the early 1990s and 2020.

And it has left a deadly legacy.

Today you can only
travel on the main roads

because of the
danger of the mines.

If you want to step
off the main road

you actually have to
have a team of de-miners

check the area before you do.

This region was once riddled
with nearly 100,000 mines.

We're on the central square,

of the most popular
place among city residents.

Of the most popular
place among city residents.

Behind me, used to be
city hall and this building

or what is left of it used
to be a drama theatre

which was built in the 50s.

It was the cultural
centre of the region.

You wouldn't believe that

this was once a
thriving bustling city

with people living
normal lives here.

Amid the rubble
is a stark reminder

of those who lived here.

The beautiful mural
depicts three attributes

of Azerbaijani culture.

Woman is holding a tray with
the symbols of novruz holiday.

A singer is holding
a saz, an instrument,

and a woman with a child is
wearing a shawl called kalagayi.

All three are
protected by unesco

and are parts of the intangible
heritage of the humanity.

This.. Is the
Azerbaijani city of agdam

this.. Is the Azerbaijani
city of agdam

once the cultural
hub of the region.

Agdam was a very modern
progressive city for this area.

Any westerner could have
strolled through the streets

and visited the cafes
and felt right at home

and yet all of that
was swept away

in a relatively
short period of time.

The mural adorns a
once celebrated museum.

The building behind me
used to be a bread museum.

It had over 1,500 exhibits

and one of the
most interesting ones

was a... a piece of bread
that was bought back

from the space
by the astronauts.

The building was shelled in 1992

and now there's only
three walls remaining.

Until 1991, agdam

and the region known
then as nagorno-karabakh

had been under Soviet
control for over 70 years.

Had been under Soviet
control for over 70 years.

During the Soviet
era, nagorno-karabakh

was a part of the Soviet
republic of Azerbaijan,

but 77% of the area's
population were Armenians

and they naturally wanted the
area to come under the control

of the Soviet
republic of Armenia.

As it did in other
republics that it controlled,

the ussr was able to enforce

a kind of peace in this
sometimes fractious region.

But as the collapse of the
Soviet union looked imminent,

tensions began to rise.

This is a common thing we see

when a super power controlling

regional nationalistic ethnic
groups in some kind of Harmony,

when that super power recedes

all those tensions and conflicts
and divisions can flare up again.

With guns at the ready,

with guns at the ready,

agdam was at the flash point
between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

In 1993 Armenia was convinced

that Azerbaijan was
about to launch an offensive

and they quickly reacted.

Thousands of Armenian troops

tore through agdam and
shelled the city to smithereens.

The skeleton Azerbaijani army

had no chance
against a force this big.

It was an incredibly bloody
and heart-breaking affair...

For the for the residents.

40,000 of the city's population

and half a million
Azerbaijani's in the region

were forced to
leave their homes.

And it wasn't just the
fighting taking civilian lives.

Not everyone got out safely,

some residents
fled to nearby forests

and in the harsh winter
quite a few froze to death.

By 1994 Armenia had
captured the region

by 1994 Armenia had
captured the region

including the city of agdam.

Yet one building
somehow survived it all.

The only building
that was still standing

was an old mosque
built in the 1870s.

Armenians actually used
it as an observation tower,

a barn and to correct
the artillery fire.

The Armenians had
controlled agdam since 1993.

Although the city sat deserted
for more than 25 years,

neighbouring Azerbaijani
kept it in its sights.

The Azerbaijan army
wanted to retake terrain

that had been lost
in the 1990s conflict.

And then in 2020 the
conflict ignited again.

While the rest of the world

was dealing with the
coronavirus pandemic,

nagorno-karabakh was
dealing with another battle,

nagorno-karabakh was
dealing with another battle,

a war that raged in
the region for 44 days.

This conflict has
since been recognised

as a significant moment
in military history.

This is thought of as
the first war in history

in which drones played a
critical role in its outcome.

Azerbaijan's drone led assault
scored a decisive victory,

and by November 2020
agdam was back in their hands,

but for the city's residents
the struggle is not over.

The guns may have fallen silent

but it's still a traumatic time
for civilians on both sides,

for the Azerbaijani's who
can't return to their homes

and for the Armenians who
once again had to be uprooted.

Agdam remains derelict

agdam remains derelict

but something surprising
has survived the carnage

giving hope for its future.

There's hardly
anything left of agdam,

but one thing
incredibly is still alive.

The city's football team.

They play in the
Azerbaijan football leagues,

but now based of course
in the nation's capital Baku.

The fact that they're still
existing as a team associated

with the city shows
you that there's a hope

that this city will
come back to life.

There's a chance they'll be
able to play in agdam again

as the government announced
plans to turn the ghost town

in to a super modern Metropolis.

The master plan of a new agdam
has been approved in may 2021

and the renewed city

will have a population
of 100,000 people.

On the outskirts of
downtown Kansas City,

Missouri is a curious structure
that looks like it doesn't belong.

Missouri is a curious structure
that looks like it doesn't belong.

This is a modern Metropolis,

lots of people, great jazz,

even better barbecue

and yet on the edge of this
very modern mid-western city

is this castle that looks like it's
been plucked out of the 1600s.

It seems completely
out of place,

it seems not only to be
in the wrong time period

but to be in the
wrong continent.

This ruined castle isn't out the
moors of Scotland somewhere.

It's in Kansas City Missouri.

Inside, modern features hint

at the true age of
the stone fortresses.

Looks like it could be
hundreds of years old.

Then you notice the steel
beams holding parts of it up,

so, clearly it's
somewhat more recent

so, clearly it's
somewhat more recent

than the castles of Scotland.

Yet, the neglected
remains give few clues

about the original
purpose of the building.

The windows are boarded
up, there's graffiti on the walls.

There's trees growing
out of the ruins,

the roof is missing.

Clearly this building
has been unoccupied

for a very long time.

This is a place
that is stripped bare

of human habitation
and yet the graffiti,

the signs and symbols show

that at one time
people did live here.

Who were they?

Property developed vewiser Dixon

is breathing life back
in to this building.

I remember as a
child growing up here,

I was a little afraid
of that building

because that was where
they kept some of the bad guys.

Because that was where
they kept some of the bad guys.

Vewiser is the current owner.

When he was young though, the
building was already abandoned.

But I had friends that
went over there you know,

and they'd come back and tell

cool stories like
place was haunted,

you know, different
things like that.

But I wouldn't go.

Mum said, you know, you
don't want to go over there.

The origins of the bizarre
castle can be traced to an era

when alcohol was considered
the scourge of america

and to a particular quirk
of Kansas City's geography.

When you go back
to the late 1800s,

around 1881 you've
got two Kansas City's

and you still do to this day,
you've got Kansas City Missouri,

Kansas City Kansas

and they're split by
the Missouri river.

Kansas outlawed alcohol in 1881,

Kansas outlawed alcohol in 1881,

almost 40 years before the
federal law went in to effect.

That made Kansas a dry state.

It also made Kansas City

which is right next door in
Missouri a very popular place

for all kinds of people who
wanted to have a good time.

There were bars and brothels
and entertainment joints

and people came from all over.

And so, they would
just hang around,

you know, and get in
trouble with the police.

This is what eventually
led to the demise

of Kansas City's reputation.

With all these changes it
becomes a centre for crime,

petty crime, and vagrancies.

And the authorities at the time

just didn't have the
resources that they needed

to take care of the problems.

As crime soared the
police had nowhere to house

the drunks and drifters
now littering the city streets.

The solution was this,
the Kansas City workhouse.

The solution was this,
the Kansas City workhouse.

Its doors first opened in 1897.

This was the front entrance
going in to the administrative side

to be admitted into
the into the prison.

This whole area right here

was basically where
they kept about 100 men,

all this area right here.

Technically this is not a
prison, it's a work house.

And the concept of a work
house goes back centuries,

the idea is that someone
who's a petty criminal

or simply very poor and homeless

could be sent to this place

where they work their
way back to society,

they perform labour.

And in fact the
Kansas City work house

worked inmates a lot.

Worked inmates a lot.

Pretty much if you
were down on your luck

you were pretty
safe to come here

and try to get back on your feet
because they had programming

to do that for
those that needed it.

Sometimes this work was functional
and had an economic benefit

for the prison managers,

but sometimes work
would be manufactured

that had no purpose
except to employ labour in.

The prison itself was quarried

by prisoners themselves,
they cut the rock.

I don't know if you've heard
working on the chain gang,

well they quarried all
the yellow limestone

that this particular building

and other buildings
around Kansas City

were built in, so,
they had hard labour.

Yet none of this explains
why a facility to house

petty criminals looked
like a medieval castle.

When you think about it, the
Kansas City work house castle

when you think about it, the
Kansas City work house castle

is kind of an oxymoron.

A work house is a place for...
For criminals or the destitute

and a castle is a place
for the aristocracy,

but here in Kansas City
they put them together.

When you hit the late 1800s,

in Kansas City you
have this tendency

to kind of romanticise
the idea of architecture

and one to go back to old
European style architecture.

So that when they're sitting
down to design this prison,

the idea is well what's more
European than a castle?

The workhouse originally
built on the ideals of reform

and rehabilitation offered
inmates a route back to society.

But any misbehaviour
was severely dealt with.

If you acted up in the
programme some kind of way

they would put you
in solitary confinement.

If you come here you'll
see actual prison bars

if you come here you'll
see actual prison bars

that still standing today.

So, I'm thinking
that could have been

where you had to stay
if you got really bad.

I wouldn't want to be put in
no... No cell like that you know,

if you close that door you
were in there by yourself.

But before long the
supposed reformatory

was surrounded by controversy.

The work houses had been
created to prevent deviance

but they became the very
seed and cesspool of deviance.

Under the stewardship
of those trusted

to help vulnerable prisoners,

it quickly transformed
in to a den of iniquity.

The superintendent
of the work house

was a man by the
name of Patrick o'Hearn,

he was particular corrupt and
so didn't run a very tight ship.

From what I hear a
lot of illicit activities

were born here.

If you were a prisoner and
if you was a big gangster

if you were a prisoner and
if you was a big gangster

or if you was somebody,

you could get all the
kind of drug paraphernalia,

maybe a woman or two.

This was not a great
environment to rehabilitate

these petty criminals or
alcoholics or homeless people,

it was dirty, the food was bad.

It was easy to get your
hands on drugs or alcohol.

So, as a social
experiment in rehabilitation,

you can't say it was a success.

Things got so bad that
the mayor of Kansas City

opened up an investigation in
1909, and after that investigation

they very quickly fired
the superintendent.

Two years later,

the male inmates were moved

to a newly built work house
farm less than 10 miles away.

The female prisoners remained,

but the Kansas castle's days

as a reformatory
were coming to an end.

Despite the changes that
were put in to place after 1909,

despite the changes that
were put in to place after 1909,

things just weren't going well.

And so, by 1924

they completely
shut down the castle

and inmates were
sent to other places.

As often happens
with old prisons

or other abandoned
public buildings.

They found a few other
uses for it over the years,

they used it for
storage for a while,

it was used as a marines
training facility for a while

but it was finally completely
abandoned in the 1970s.

For decades the
castle stood empty,

I filled with graffiti
and broken windows

and all sorts of trouble.

I just... just a horrible space.

That is until vewiser

stepped in with big plans
to transform the castle

and build new homes on the land

and build new homes on the land

creating fresh opportunities
for local people.

This particular building we want

to make it in to
a boutique hotel

where you can come
here and have a different

kind of a wow experience.

I'm the steward of the land,

the promise land
is what we call it,

a place where we can live,
work, and play for entrepreneurs.

In sicily's belice valley

are the remains of a bold
architectural statement.

It looks like the whole
town was just dropped

on to the landscape
completed one day.

The angles are brutal, it
feels strikingly modernist.

It isn't completely empty
but it's very close to it.

On the hillside just a
few miles to the north,

on the hillside just a
few miles to the north,

lies another sprawling ruin.

Narrow winding streets,
a crumbling church,

this is or at least it was
a traditional sicilian town.

It's as if a bomb
went off, bang!

It's completely devoid of life

except for the occasional stray
dog hunting around the streets.

These strikingly different
towns share the same name.

They must be connected,

but it's hard to see how.

It began with an
unavoidable tragedy,

but it ended with something
much more insidious.

Girolamo cangelosi

has lived in poggioreale
since it was built.

He has been the town's
mayor for four years.

The unifying vision
behind the central square

was part of an ambitious
plan for the entire town.

Instead of being densely packed

and with narrow streets,

it would have wide boulevards

and large open communal spaces.

The circular streets
were the nuclei of the town

and each was supposed to have

a significant
building in the centre.

Public services were going
to be more easily accessible

public services were going
to be more easily accessible

and more available to
everyone who lived there.

All of these different
design concepts

and ideas they hoped
would come together

to bring the residents
in to the modern world.

You might think that
this is all a good idea,

but as you can see it
didn't work out so well.

The story of how this
once visionary settlement

became a faded memory

begins with the sprawling
ruin two miles north.

This is the original
town of poggioreale.

Calogero petralia was
born here in the 1950s

and spent his childhood
amongst its once busy streets.

But now the heart of the town

is strictly off
limits to the public.

Is strictly off
limits to the public.

The walls look like they could
come down at any moment,

the floors look like they
could collapse at any moment.

To this day it's a
complete death trap.

On January 14, 1968,

the destruction began.

But the fiercest tremor was
to come later that evening.

By then, many of the town's
residents had already fled

to the countryside.

Houses collapsed

and the town was
destroyed in mere instance.

In addition to the damage,

three people lost their lives

but that was just the start
of poggioreale's suffering.

Death, destruction, organised
crime, and corruption,

what these people went
through is harrowing.

The danger doesn't cease
when the earthquake stops,

the aftermath can
be just as devastating.

Overnight, the entire population
of the town became homeless.

The government
relief effort was slow,

disorganised, and underfunded.

Eventually temporary housing
was set up for the residents,

but it was only tents and
prefabricated barracks.

Finally they came up with a plan

to permanently
re-house the victims

in an entirely new city
built just down the hill.

But you wouldn't believe
just how long it would take.

Not a single house
was built until 1976,

which is eight years
after the earthquake.

And there's only one
thing that can explain that.

Corruption.

It appeared that the money

earmarked for the
reconstruction of the town

had been siphoned off

into the pockets of
politicians and the mafia.

The first residents moved
in to the new town in 1982,

14 years after the earthquake.

Girolamo, was one
of the first to arrive.

Girolamo, was one
of the first to arrive.

Beyond simply rehousing people,

the architects were
promoting a social vision.

The futuristic
design of the town

was intended to
bring the inhabitants

in to the modern world.

But the dream failed
to become reality.

That simply didn't line up

with what the people
of poggioreale needed.

The people wanted
investment in the economy,

they wanted jobs
rather than money

being poured into this new town

that was really more of a
work of art than anything else.

Work on poggioreale was
completed in the 1990s.

Work on poggioreale was
completed in the 1990s.

The Italian government
spent several billion dollars

on reconstruction
across the region.

It had the capacity to
house 10,000 people

but it never saw
a fraction of that.

Many of the residents never
made it to the new town,

just because they had to
wait long periods of time

before being able
to move back home,

and so they just decided
to locate elsewhere.

And the town's fortunes
haven't improved much since.

Today we see these
homes selling for a pittance

because really who wants to
move into a town that's dying?

Today, girolamo hopes to
improve the fortunes of the town.

The old town though
has not been forgotten.

And is a key factor in this
area's new found popularity.

Despite the lofty
vision of the new town,

today it's actually the old town

that is proving
far more attractive

with thousands of
tourists coming every year

to get a glimpse of
the broken streets

and dilapidated houses.

In the baltic
country of Estonia,

a red brick mega structure
sits eerily out of place.

The complex is huge,

you have buildings
spread across this island

and then spilling out on to
the banks of the mainland.

Through the large windows

rays of sunlight pour
in on a sunny day,

huge empty rooms with rows
upon rows of decaying pillars.

But these now peaceful
halls belie a troubled history.

The working and living
conditions were brutal,

corpses were being
carried all over the streets.

What went on here
in these buildings

would be more associated
with another land.

This enormous structure
was once referred

to as a bit of england
on Russian ground,

but what's the connection
here to england?

And how did the
seeds of the world's

biggest ever revolution
come to be sown here?

This place is on the
island of kreenholm

and it sprawls across the
border between two nations.

One part of the
complex is in Estonia

and the other part is in Russia.

Here architectural
restoration expert

madis tuuder
studies its origins.

It was built in the 1850s,

this date gives a clue about

why this English-style
building ended up here.

Back then, northern britain
was covered in similar structures,

built to house the cotton mills

that grew out of the
industrial revolution.

But industrialisation
had not yet reached

the Russian empire although
that would soon change.

In 1856

a wealthy German merchant
named baron Ludwig noop

bought kreenholm island.

He was known as
Europe's rockefeller.

He founded 200 cotton mills

he founded 200 cotton mills

in Russia, england,
and the United States,

but kreenholm was going
to be his crowning glory.

The kreenholm factory complex

was built for one purpose...

To produce cotton.

Kreenholm was the
most modern textile factory

in the Russian empire
and the largest in Europe.

At its peak,

the factory would house
nearly half a million spindles.

This accounted for 10% of
all the cotton cloth production

in the entire Russian empire.

Noop had lived and
worked in industrial britain,

drawing on what he'd seen there,

he filled his latest factory
with state of the art technology.

The new technology wasn't
limited to the cotton mills.

Premises were
heated by hot water

and steam, and
there was illumination

through gas light as well
as a ventilation system.

By 1889 there was even a
telephone system installed.

The complex grew to accommodate

the thousands who
came to work here.

Kreenholm became
a town in its own right.

Kreenholm was more
than just a factory.

It was so large,

it operated more
like a city state.

But life here was far from easy.

Kreenholm had
become fertile ground

for a bitter revolution.

The Russian empire's
one of the last places

in Europe to industrialise,

they do it very quickly and
they do it on a massive scale.

So, small surprise there are
issues with work conditions,

workers health.

Kreenholm also used child labour

from an orphanage
in st Petersburg.

In its heyday you
would not have wanted

to be one of the workers
here, it was absolutely brutal.

Despite their
horrifying treatment,

the peasants of the
feudal Russian empire

had not yet
challenged the system.

At kreenholm that
was about to change.

That fuelled the unrest.

A devastating and
terrifying cholera epidemic

broke out in Estonia in 1872.

Many of kreenholm's
workers fell ill

and about 400 of them died.

Corpses were being carried

through kreenholm in full
view of the factory's population

and it must have
been grim wondering

if you would be the
epidemic's next victim.

Workers were terrified

of catching the
infection themselves,

but their pleas to
leave kreenholm

which was really
a perfect petri dish

for the spread of the disease,
those pleas fell on deaf ears.

The employees were left
in a desperate situation.

As a measure to
prevent catching cholera,

workers would open the windows,

but it became so cold

that it was very
difficult to work.

In August 1872 they
decide enough is enough

and they go on strike.

When the factory's internal
police force got involved,

it turned in to a riot.

It kick started a
violent confrontation

between the employers
and the workers.

Troops were called in
and were met with stones

being thrown at
them by the workers.

The epidemic triggered the
most serious labour unrest

that Russian Estonia
had ever seen.

They eventually
managed to quell the unrest

and the factory kept on rolling.

At the turn of the 20th century,

an eight-hour working
day was introduced

and life for the workers
became a little bit easier.

The factory thrived.

With the fires of
descent had been lit

in the Russian empire...

Ultimately, riots around
the empire like kreenholms

led to the 1917
Russian revolution

that not only spelt the
end of the Russian empire

but also changed the world.

Estonia broke away from Russia,

but the island's
cotton factories

carried on producing.

By the first world war

the factory was
employing 10,000 people,

producing 17.5 tonnes of yarn

and almost 47,000
miles of fabric a year.

In 1940,

Estonia became part of the
Russian empire once more

only this time
under Soviet rule.

At its height in the 1970s

the plant covered 32,000 acres

and employed 12,000 people.

When Estonia regained
its independence,

when Estonia regained
its independence,

kreenholm was privatised,

but the company
continued to lose money.

The number of its workers
dwindled over the years,

until in 2010 it went bankrupt.

The kreenholm factory complex

maintains its place at
the vanguard of revolution.

Retrospect the
speed and conditions

of industrialisations there

were creating a
sort of perfect mix

for political
radicalism to spread.

And you can see
the origins of that

or at least a foreshadowing of it
in what happened at kreenholm.

Captioned by
ai-media ai-media. TV