Empty rides, decaying buildings and deserted streets: Eerie photographs show Rio de Janeiro's abandoned 'Enchanted Land' theme park




With young children on carousels, screaming teenagers riding roller-coasters and families enjoying a day out in the sunshine theme parks typically thrive in the summertime.



But incredible photos of an amusement park in Rio de Janeiro tell a different story entirely.



Closed down in 2010, Terra Encantada is now a wasteland of empty rides, abandoned stalls and deserted streets.



Deserted: Terra Encantada, 'Enchanted Land,' an eerie abandoned amusement park in Rio de Janeiro closed in 2010 after a 61-year-woman died after falling from a ride

Parisian influences: The abandoned amusement arcade even has a replica of Paris' Pompidou Center

Disappointment: The theme park never lived up to expectations and failed to make the money it projected

After a twice delayed opening, the amusement park failed to live up to expectations and failed to make the money it had projected.

Just two years after opening Terra Encantada, which means Enchanted Land, was closed down when a 61-year-old woman was killed after being thrown from a ride.



The resulting investigation revealed multiple engineering and maintenance failures.



Since then the park has sat decaying with skeleton-like rides, peeling paint and broken furniture now serving as an eerie reminder of the park’s tragic ending.

Ghost-town: The theme park has been left to decay for the past two years, ever since a woman died from head trauma after being thrown from a ride



Decaying: The forgotten facades make for oddly beautiful photographs, captured by MichelleYoung for her Untapped Cities series

Eerie: The deserted amusement arcade has an eerie feel to it, judging by these photos

But, as these photographs, taken by Michelle Young as part of her Untapped Cities project, show the post-apocalyptic theme park is unusually attractive.



One photo shows an sad-looking replica of the Pompidou Center in Paris while another shows the park’s former glory: its main roller-coaster.



However, the park is unlikely to remain as it currently stands because it is situated in one of the city’s most valuable real estate areas and is a stone’s throw away from the site of the 2016 Olympic games.



Located in the middle of Barra da Tijuca, the park sits untouched as the surrounding landscape is under construction for the upcoming 2014 World Cup and Olympics.



Young reported a local source testifying that hotels, hospitals and residential buildings will be soon springing up.

Hey-day: This series of photos give a glimpse into what the theme park would have been like in its hey day Abandoned: It seems that the theme park will soon be destroyed as part of the redevelopment project for Rio de Janeiro's upcoming World Cup and 2016 Olympics



Prime position: The closed-down theme park is in Barra da Tijuca - one of Rio de Janeiro's most lucrative real estate areas and a hop, skip and a jump away from the future Olympic Village

Scandal-hit: Closed down in 2008, Terra Encantada (Enchanted Land) is now a wasteland of empty rides, abandoned stalls and deserted streets







