Just a thirty minute drive north from the Notre Dame Cathedral in central Paris, lies a rare example of a ghost town in Ile-de-France, where nothing has changed since the mid-twentieth century.

Goussainville-Vieux Pays was a quiet little farming village. In 1972 the residents of Goussainville were suddenly under the direct flightpath of the newly-built Charles de Gaulle Airport. The town was now so close to the country’s largest airport in neighboring Roissy that the noise from low-flying planes became unbearable to live with.

Responsible for the abandonment of almost 150 properties in the village, the airport authorities were forced by decree to buy the abandoned houses and look after them. It had probably not been taken into account that Goussainville’s Renaissance church, Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul was ranked as a historic monument along with all of the buildings within its perimeter. Of the 144 houses, the airport acquired 80.

With no option to demolish them, they were walled up and despite the agreement, left to decay.

Only a handful of faithful residents remain, including a farmer and a carpenter. In 2009, Aéroports de Paris sold half of the historic village back to the community for a symbolic price of 1 euro.

Via Messy Nessy Chic with photos by Manu Beaudon and Martin Argyroglo.