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Don't you like the world as it is? Well, invent your own country or the ideal place with the rules that you want. That is what some dreamers, eccentric or rebellious, thought, willing to create a little utopian paradise on earth. Some of these utopias, more or less crazy, are still today microstates or territories that can be visited. Of others only ruins remain. They all aspired to create a better world.
Christiania: the free city created by squatters
It is one of the best known utopias and also one of the most touristy. This free city is an isolated enclave of the capitalist world in the heart of Copenhagen. Since it was founded by squatters in 1971, this former military terrain has welcomed nonconformists from all over the planet attracted by the concept of collective economy and community life. Behind its main avenue, Pusher Street, where marijuana and hashish vendors are located, there is a treasure of artisan houses, cozy gardens, terraces, bars and even one of the best concert halls in the Danish capital, the Gray Room.
It all started in the 1970s, when Copenhagen was suffering from a severe shortage of affordable housing but in the center of the city there was an abandoned 34-hectare military base. In 1971 a group of squatters broke the fragile fence around the base and proclaimed the free city of Christiania, a radical egalitarian, autonomous and self-sufficient society. Cars were banned, drugs were legalized, and settlers were encouraged to do yoga, meditation, and theater. It was allowed to build any style of home and live any lifestyle, however eccentric. Two years after its founding, the Danish government granted Christiania official “social experiment” status, which has allowed the city to survive to this day. It currently has more than 900 residents, some of them third generation, new residents are only accepted by consensus of the entire community and the use of recycled materials is encouraged to build the houses. The entire property is collective and everyone takes care of everyone, and houses a group of blacksmiths, an LGTBI center, concert halls, ecological restaurants and theater companies.
Auroville: spiritual, independent and universal
Travelers touring the Southeastern Indian state of Tamil Nadu may find themselves in Puducherry with a huge gleaming golden sphere called the Matrimandir. It stands on four columns that symbolize compassion, strength, grace and knowledge, and is surrounded by manicured gardens and various buildings. It is Auroville, the City of Dawn, founded by a woman known as "The Mother" who dreamed of creating a place to unite humanity.
The Mother was actually Mirra Alfassa, born in France in 1878, the daughter of an Egyptian Jew and a Turkish Jew. She was working as an artist in Paris when she fell in love with Buddhist culture and religion, for which she left everything and went to travel around the Indian subcontinent. There she met Sri Aurobindo, a spiritual guru, yogi and Indian nationalist. Convinced that as a child she had dreamed of Aurobindo, Alfassa became the guru's most devoted student, who renamed her "The Mother". In 1950 Aurobindo died suddenly and she assumed responsibility for the ashram (place of meditation) and its message of universality. In 1964, at the age of 86, he decided to dedicate the rest of his life to building a city called Auroville as the final expression of his guru's ideals: that men and women of all countries can live in peace and harmony, above all creed, politics and nationality. It brought together 5,000 young people of different nationalities, and each one of them threw a handful of soil from their country of origin into an urn that was placed in the exact center of the community. In 1971 Aurovilians began work on the Matrimandir, the gleaming golden dome in the center of their community, but it took 35 years to complete.
In 1980, after several complaints from residents, the Indian government took over the administration of the City of Dawn, which finally became part of a foundation shielded by a confusing bureaucratic tangle. Her status was consolidated when, in 1982, the country's Supreme Court declared that she was "fulfilling the highest ideals and aspirations of India." Unesco world heritage since 1972, although it was intended for 10,000 people, currently only about 2,000 residents live in it, half Indians and the rest Western. In theory, Auroville runs on solar power alone and with no money, and all residents have a single, centrally controlled account. Visitors receive an “Aurocard” that can be used to pay for things like meals and accommodation.
Oyotunji: an African country in South Carolina
In the middle of the swamps of the California coastal plain, a sign catches the attention of the driver driving along these dirt roads: "You are leaving the United States and entering the Yoruba kingdom." This unusual community is like a piece of Africa in the middle of the North American country. Its creator was Walter Eugene King, who was born in Detroit in 1928, into a devout Christian family. He decided to find out why they had lost all contact with their African gods and began to travel to learn about their cultural and spiritual roots. In Haiti he learned about voodoo and continued researching other religions and cultures of West Africa. He was especially drawn to the Yoruba, a large ethnic group in southwestern Nigeria, and it was at a Yoruba ceremony in Cuba that he was renamed Efuntola Oseijeman Adelabu Adefunmi.
At that time, the fight for civil rights in the United States was on the rise, and Adefunmi was related to characters like Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael, but since that “dream” was not going to work for him, in 1970 he decided to establish his own kingdom : Oyotunji, on an old plantation in South Carolina. The residents (ranging from 25 to 150) learned the Yoruba language, wore Yoruba clothing, believed in Yoruba gods, and organized in a society ruled by a king or Oba. Obviously, the Oba was Adefunmi. The recreation of the Yoruba way of life runs so deep that its residents have been hired to play Africans in film and television.
Oba Adefunmi died in 2005. He is succeeded by his son, Oba Adefunmi II, who has modernized and restored a dilapidated community that has been active for 50 years. It has stopped emphasizing separatism and has opted for a more commercial version of traditional values. Now visitors (after paying a $ 20 entrance fee) can attend the town's annual celebrations and shop at the African bazaar, where spells are sold to solve personal problems, do divination sessions to invoke the orisha (god) of knowledge and religious ceremonies to receive a traditional African name (without legal validity).
Damanhur: a 'new age' temple excavated under the Italian Alps
For 14 years, devotees of a new age religion hid in a corner at the foot of the Italian Alps without being discovered by the authorities. They hand-built a complex labyrinthine network of interconnected underground temples dedicated to seeking enlightenment for humanity. His teacher was Oberto Airaudi, known as Falco (hawk), a former insurance agent driven by visions of ancient holy places that he had as a child.
In 1978 Falco bought a house and began digging in a place that he claimed was the intersection of three of Earth's great power lines. He already had several followers, attracted by his charisma and his idea of a path to spiritual enlightenment. Falco christened the community Damanhur, after an Egyptian city with a temple dedicated to Horus. Italian authorities found out about the project in 1992 and tried to stop the illegal excavation, but no matter how hard they searched, they could not find the entrance to the tunnels. Faced with the threat of the police to dynamite the hill, Falco led them to a well hidden behind a door and showed them the tunnels. The network of the Temple of Humanity covered more than 8,500 square meters distributed in seven spaces. They decided to retroactively issue building permits and allowed Damanhur to continue digging.
Today the community is no longer hiding: it has about 600 members and has expanded the complex across the surface, with statues and gardens. In its subterranean temples, dances full of symbolic movements are carried out, and on the surface organic food is grown and the days conducive to conceiving children are calculated. It has a university, schools, supermarkets, vineyards, farms, and bakeries. Located about 40 kilometers north of Turin, the Temple of Humanity is now open to tourists, although it is recommended to book the visit well in advance.
Palmanova: the Venetian utopia in the shape of a star
When you fly over the northeast of Italy, near the Slovenian border, you can see a curious city shaped like a nine-pointed star. It is Palmanova, and it was built 425 years ago to inspire harmony to all who lived there.
In the 16th century, Europe was a collection of states at war. For generations, the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire had fought for control of the eastern Mediterranean. Venice was losing but on October 7, 1571, the Holy League, a coalition made up of Spain, Genoa, the Papal States and Venice, fought the largest naval battle in the Mediterranean in 900 years, the Battle of Lepanto, and defeated the Turks. 22 years later, in 1593, the Republic of Venice founded a fortified city dedicated to that naval victory, and the Doge decided that it should be designed as a utopia. The book Utopia by Thomas More, published in 1516, had unleashed a whole stream of theories on how to structure a perfect and egalitarian society.
Palmanova was more than a fortification against the Turks: it was an opportunity to put these new ideas of social engineering into practice. The plans were based on the harmonious designs of stars and circles drawn by a Florentine nicknamed Filarete, or "Friend of Virtue." The nine points of the star aided the defense but, in addition, the Venetians were sure that their geometric precision and harmonious society would inspire a deep happiness in their inhabitants. It took 200 years to build, as the Venetians had a hard time finding merchants, artisans and farmers willing to move to an experimental city still under construction. So in 1622 Venice decided to populate Palmanova with criminals whom it had pardoned and offered free land there. It never fell to the Ottomans, who did not even approach its walls, but in 1805 it was conquered by Napoleon's armies before which the city surrendered without a single shot. Today it is an Italian city like any other, although with a very curious plant.
Sealand: DJ'S, battles and kidnappings at the mouth of the Thames
The story of Sealand, a micronation 10 kilometers off the coast of Suffolk, in the United Kingdom, is so bizarre and surreal that it could seem false. It started in World War II, when the British Navy installed a maritime fort at the mouth of the River Thames to prevent an attack by the Nazis: two concrete towers, with a helipad, cabins for the crew, warehouses and dining rooms. The Nazis never attacked, and the fort was abandoned in 1956.
In 1966, pirate radio stations proliferated in England: the BBC refused to program pop or rock and roll and some rebellious DJs established their stations on ships that crossed international waters, to broadcast music that the country's teenagers could listen to. But an empty naval fort made it possible to create something more permanent. Paddy Roy Bates (who ran Radio Essex) and Ronan O'Rahilly (who ran Radio Caroline) sailed into the deep void and occupied it… and fought over the territory, even with guns and gasoline bombs. The Royal Navy arrested Bates and his son, but a British court dismissed the case, being in international waters. Bates considered that this meant the recognition of a new country which he christened the Principality of Sealand. He named his wife first lady and himself prince.
A German businessman named Alexander Achenbach contacted Prince Paddy Roy, proposing to transform Sealand into a luxury hotel and casino. The prince gave Achenbach citizenship and appointed him prime minister for life. But in 1978, when the prince was meeting with potential investors on the continent, the prime minister betrayed his sovereign. He sent mercenaries to the platform with helicopters and jet skis, they stormed it and captured Paddy Roy's son, Prince Michael (26 years old). They kept him locked up for four days until they finally released him. Then Prince Paddy Roy and Prince Michael rented their own helicopter, returned to the principality armed, stormed the platform and took several traitors hostage, including Gernot Pütz. This lawyer had a Sealand passport but also a German nationality, which led to a brief international incident between Great Britain and Germany. Britain refused to intercede to release him, citing the 1967 verdict of declaring Sealand out of jurisdiction. The crisis ended when Germany sent a diplomat from its London embassy to Sealand to negotiate Pütz's release. Already at peace, the Principality of Sealand dedicated itself to the sale of commemorative stamps and titles of nobility.
For a brief period in the 2000s, it was an offshore data haven , until the dotcom crash exhausted the business. In 2007, the Principality was put up for sale for $ 977 million. There were no interested buyers. Prince Paddy Roy Bates of Sealand died in 2012 at the age of 91. His heir, Prince Regent Michael, after years on the rig, moved to Essex to run a fishing business. He governs the Principality from a distance.
North Dumpling: the kingdom of the segway
There are eccentric characters, of whom it is not surprising that they want to create their own independent society. This is the case of Dean Kamen, Lord Dumpling, an inventor of devices such as the wheelchair that stands on two wheels, the human cannon to launch emergency personnel onto rooftops, a robotic prosthetic arm and, best known, the segway.
Less well known is his other facet: that of creator of his own kingdoms. Lord Dumpling rules an island he built to show his sincere belief in energy independence: it is North Dumpling, less than one hectare in size, 1.6 kilometers off the coast of Connecticut (USA). He bought it in 1986, and it included a lighthouse built in 1847. A few years later Kamen formally separated from the United States, built a turbine and convinced his friend, President George HW Bush, to sign a non-aggression pact with his new country. . Then he began to think about the sovereignty of his island. He declared that the official means of transport was the segway, founded an army consisting of a single amphibious vehicle, printed stamps, minted currency, artificially aged his Constitution and built a replica of the megalithic Stonehenge monument, illuminated at night by green LED lights. North Dumpling has only one inhabitant: Kamen. From time to time he organizes elections and fills the island with campaign posters (for and against). And always, of course, he wins.
Fordlandia: Henry Ford's industrial utopia in the Brazilian jungle
Henry Ford (1863-1947) is in all history books: he was the introducer of the assembly line, the creator of the great American automobile industry, he introduced the salary of five dollars a day and the work week of five days ... But there is a place in the world where he is remembered for something else: he wanted to create a utopian project in the middle of the Brazilian jungle, a new model of city to live prosperously. It is Fordlandia, on the banks of the Tapajós River, a tributary of the Amazon. The closest city is Santarém, about 300 kilometers away, so it is not easy to get to this place that in the 1920s and 1930s aspired to become an example of prosperity under a paternalistic scheme and is now abandoned.
Henry Ford needed rubber for tires and partnered with the Brazilian government to create a colony where he could produce his own rubber to export to his factories in Detroit. They granted him 10,000 square kilometers of land and, in return, Brazil would receive 9% of the profits. Ford, who would never visit the city because he feared tropical diseases, saw it as an opportunity to create a model society and teach the values of the United States in the South American country. Fordlandia would have the ideal American city look, with typical Midwestern houses, hospital, school, library, swimming pool, playground and golf course. Alcohol and tobacco were prohibited, and gardening and dancing were encouraged. But in 1930, after two years of operation, Fordlandia was a failure, mainly because the workers in the area did not know how to grow rubber and were fed up with the project and the American customs that they tried to impose on them. It seems that the final straw was the food they sold and ate, completely unknown to them: hamburgers, oatmeal, brown rice ... One day the workers decided to break their clocks and threw the managers and cooks into the jungle.
In the 1940s the place was abandoned and Ford's grandson sold the land again to the Brazilian Government. Everything rusted and the jungle invaded the buildings. Today few hundred people live in the remains of the houses built, and only the occasional tourist dares to get here.
Freedom Cove: a floating island full of art in Canada
Art can be a good impetus to create independent and self-sufficient worlds. This is the case of the floating island of Freedom Cove, near Tofino, off the coast of Canadian British Columbia, a magnificent landscape, between fjords, inlets and small islands covered with forest. It was there that Wayne Adams and Catherine King, a retired sculptor and dancer, decided to build their own floating island with their own hands so that they could escape the life they led in the city.
In the late eighties of the last century, Catherine King moved from Toronto to these islands about 300 kilometers west of Vancouver. There she met a local artist, Wayne Adams, they fell in love and decided to dedicate themselves body and soul to art. In 1994, while at a friend's cabin in a secluded cove, a storm knocked over several trees that remained floating on the water. At that moment they thought about it: build a floating structure to turn it into their studio. Years later, they decided to leave the city and move into their floating studio. And so they expanded with bridges, gazebos, bedrooms, docks, an art gallery, four greenhouses, a lighthouse, and a ballroom for King. And they all lifted it up using just a hammer and nails.
Today Freedom Cove has 12 sections and is anchored to shore. The couple are almost self-sufficient, they eat what they grow and fish, they drink rainwater and the few supplies they need to buy are obtained by selling their art to tourists who come to see their curious houseboat whose appearance changes every year.
Rock Garden: a utopia made of rubbish in India
Following the partition of the British Indian Empire into India and Pakistan in 1947, the project for the new capital of Punjab, Chandigarh, was born, as the traditional capital, Lahore, had remained on the Pakistani side of the border. To design the city, nothing more and nothing less than Le Corbusier was called, who created a magnificent project with elegant and austere buildings and large and well-kept parks. But building an entire city generates a lot of garbage and junk. In the late 1950s, Nek Chand, a highway inspector, began collecting tiles, pipes, rocks and bottles and in a forgotten gorge on the outskirts he began to build a place out of waste, which he called the Sukrani Divine Realm. Little by little he created hundreds of strange figures covered with pieces of ceramic in a large construction with walls, patios and walkways. For 18 years he worked in secret, until in 1975 the authorities discovered the extensive garden, known as the Rock Garden. They decided to destroy it since it was on public land and had been built without permits, but the locals decided to support it and the authorities gave up.
Thus, the sculpture park became a public park, Nek Chand was given the title of engineer, a floor and 50 workers to help him finish his project. What's more, the local government set up recycling stations in the city to collect the raw material that Chand needed. Today it occupies 16 hectares, has a waterfall, ceramic elephants and monkeys, and walls made of discarded electronic components. After a lifetime working in the garden, Nek Chand died in 2015. His obituary appeared in The New York Times and The Guardian, and Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, declared that Nek Chand will always be remembered for "his genius. artistic and his fabulous creation ". Currently, this space is the main tourist destination in Chandigarh. Every day it receives 5,000 visitors.
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