The imaginary ecological construct of ruin tourism: experiencing the presence of nature rather than history 
Abandoned ruins are the subject of a special kind of tourism that differs from tourism focused on heritage ruins. Their attractiveness does not stem from interest in past events to which they bear witness or a desire for aesthetic contemplation but rather from their state of ruin. They are visited because they bear the marks of degradation. This state echoes the representation of ruins in modern western culture in two separate ways. In certain cases, ruins appear as ancient monuments but, contrary to structures destroyed during wars or accidents, the degradation of all abandoned ruins is represented in terms of the marks of the action of natural cycles. This connection to nature can have two forms depending on whether the ruins appear in harmony with or in opposition to their natural surroundings. Abandoned ruins lure tourists seeking such nature experiences to visit such sites.