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Google Sightseeing takes you on tour of the world as seen from satellite, using the free Google Earth program, or Google Maps in your web browser. Each weekday your guides James and Alex present new weird and wonderful sights as suggested by readers.

The editors: James & Alex

Yekaterinburg TV Tower

Monday, 21st July 2008 by Rob

High above the skyline of the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, this incomplete tower stands testament to what can be achieved with an amazing vision and poor financial planning.

At 220 metres, it is only half of its planned height of 400 metres, which would have made it one of the tallest towers in the world. It was also planned to include a revolving restaurant - something to rival the 540 metre high Ostankino Tower in Moscow.

Although construction began in 1983, by the end of the decade it had ground to a halt, much to the dismay of investors, but to the infinite joy of thrill seeking base jumpers1, made easier by the lattice-work of metal to climb inside. By 2000, the number of people tragically dying from the tower forced the authorities to weld the doors shut.

Today it remains, rather eerily over the city, as these photos show.

Thanks to Rudi.

  1. Warning: don’t scroll all the way to the bottom of the page, as there’s some nasty pictures down there. ↩

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(8 votes, average: 3.25 out of 5)
Locations: Russia / Categories: ,

5 Responses to 'Yekaterinburg TV Tower'

  1. 1. Zee says: July 21st, 2008 at 8:25 pm

    Might want to warn people the “thrill seeking base jumpers” link has a picture of a nice mushy person who fell from the tower at the bottom of the page!

  2. 2. Andrew says: July 21st, 2008 at 8:35 pm

    He landed to his death alright.

  3. 3. Keith says: July 22nd, 2008 at 11:43 am

    There is a tower near Akron, OH that while much shorter has a similar story. It was originally to be a restaurant as well but investors ran short of money and now its just a really tall reminder to count your money before spending it on a huge pile of concrete.

    Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Tomorrow

  4. 4. Vol says: July 22nd, 2008 at 9:27 pm

    Ahhhh!! Why do I never listen to the warnings?!?

  5. 5. Skokov Ilja says: August 26th, 2008 at 1:39 pm

    Metal to climb inside!

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