If even 100 years ago people preferred to bypass such places, now these churches are mandatory items in the must-visit lists.
1. CHURCH OF SAINT GEORGE IN THE VILLAGE OF LUKOV (CZECH REPUBLIC)
The Church of St. George in the village of Lukova was built in 1352, until the sixties of the last century it was an ordinary village church, of which there are many in the Czech Republic, but in 1968 the ceiling of the church collapsed right during the funeral, and the locals considered that it was a pleasure to restore the church too expensive. So they remained abandoned until they attracted the attention of the sculptor Jakub Hadrava, who populated the church with figures of ghosts.
According to the sculptor, the ghosts in the church are figures of Sudeten Germans who lived in the border regions of the country before World War II, but were expelled from Czechoslovakia in 1945.
“With my installation, I hope to show the world that everything has its own history, and that what scares modern people in the past was just a part of normal life, and you cannot escape your fate,” says Yakub Khadrava about his installation.
The figures of the ghosts are made of plaster with added phosphorus, so they glow in the dark.
Promotional video:
Since today the church of St. George in the village of Lukova has begun to attract crowds of tourists, the administration began to allocate funds for its reconstruction, because not every Czech village can boast of such a landmark.
2. CHAOYANGMENNEY CHURCH # 81 IN BEIJING (CHINA)
The church, located in a mansion building on Chaoyangmenney Street in Beijing, looks one-on-one, like a scary house from the Japanese horror movie "The Curse", and, typically, there are no problems with the ghosts in the church, built in 1910.
Initially, the building housed a language school, where missionaries from the West taught Chinese, and in the late thirties the building was completely transferred to the Catholic Church.
Locals bypass this church, because it is believed that the ghost of a British priest who served here and who disappeared under mysterious circumstances, as well as the spirit of his wife, who committed suicide after her husband disappeared, lives in it. They say that at night (or even in the daylight) in the corridors of the church you can hear women's screams, in a word, horror takes, and goosebumps run, despite the summer heat.
By the way, the horror film "The House That Will Never Die" directed by Wei Meng Yip, filmed in 2014, is also dedicated to this place, and the director was not afraid to shoot on location in the building of a terrible church on Chaoyangmenney Street.
3. STORAGE DEPOSIT IN SADLEEC (CZECH REPUBLIC)
A spooky Gothic church in the no-nonsense Czech town of Kutná Hora. The fact is that woodcarver František Rint, hired by the owners of the chapel in 1870, used real human bones as a handy material for the interior decoration of the chapel.
There were, indeed, a lot of bones in the chapel, since the cemetery of the Cistercian monastery used to be located in Sedlec. In the 13th - 15th centuries, it was the most popular and honorable burial place among the inhabitants of Central Europe, because it was believed that Abbot Henry, who served in the monastery, scattered the earth he brought from Golgotha around the cemetery.
In 1400, a cathedral was erected on the site of the cemetery, the bones were removed from the graves and sent to the tomb.
In 1784, the monastery was closed, and the land was bought by the Schwarzenberg family, who had a natural question: what to do with the numerous bones.
They solved the problem, as we can see, in a very peculiar way: here the nave is "decorated" with human bones, and candelabra made of bones, and garlands of skulls. The case when it is better to completely abandon evaluative comments.
4. SNAGOV MONASTERY. ROMANIA
The Snagov Monastery, located 40 kilometers from Bucharest, is considered one of the main places of pilgrimage for all lovers of horror films and classics about vampires, because according to legend, it is here that the grave of Vlad III the Tepes is located, he is also Count Dracula, although, in fact, Tepes was not a count, but a Romanian prince.
However, the grave of Dracula, in this case, is also very conditional, because according to another version, which many historians consider equivalent, not without reason, Tepes was buried in the Comana monastery, which is located 30 kilometers from Budapest.
One way or another, but what actually happened to the body of the most famous Romanian prince is not known for certain, most, as we know, adhere to the version not of historians, but of Bram Stoker.
5. CHURCH OF SAINT NICHOLAS IN PLUCKLEY IN KENT COUNTRY (UK)
Plakley Village in Kent is legendary because it is believed to boast the largest concentration of ghosts on the living souls of the population. 12 ghosts “live” in the village, including the spirit of a monk, and the spirit of a school teacher who committed suicide because of unhappy love, and the spirit of a gypsy woman, and the spirit of a local farmer, and so on.
True, all this only sounds frightening, in fact, the village itself is cute and well-combed, a typical British countryside. Of the general cuteness, only the local church of St. Nicholas stands out, which, indeed, looks like the scenery for a horror movie in the Gothic style. Well, the old gravestones around the church also contribute to the gloomy atmosphere.
It is believed that the spirits of the White and Red Lady, who come here from the old cemetery, live in the church.
6. Presbyterian Church in Alabama (USA)
At first glance, Adams Grove Presbyterian Church in Dallas County, Alabama does not look intimidating. It was built in 1853, since June 5, 1985 it has been entered into the National Register of Historically Valuable Cultural Objects of the United States, but services have not been held in it for many years.
The thing is that the locals are sure that this church is a favorite place for ghosts, apparently, who come here from the nearby church cemetery. Locals say that almost every one of them saw the ghost of a Confederate soldier near the church, and they also say that at night, spirits with burning red eyes can be observed near the church.
In 2009, employees of the US Southern Bureau of Paranormal Research even conducted quite serious scientific experiments in the church, and besides that, the Presbyterian Church in Alabama is a favorite place of American ghost hunters.
Unfortunately, the church is privately owned, so to visit this place, nerve-seekers must apply for permission from the owners.
7. CHURCH IN BORLEY CHURCH IN ESSEX (UK)
The church in the English village of Borley in Essex County was built so long ago that no one can even say for sure when: researchers have determined that its nave can be dated to the 11th century, but the walls of the church were erected already in the 14-16th centuries.
One way or another, but this place is often called the most mystical in England, however, the locals still have not decided who lives in it: a poltergeist or the spirit of Sir Edward Waldegrave - a member of the privy council of Queen Mary the First, better known as Bloody Mary, - his grave is right there in the church.
Organ music, voices and footsteps of ghosts are reported to be heard in the empty church at night, and British ghostbusters also report that flickering lights can be seen near the church at night.
Meanwhile, the residents of Borly are not only satisfied with the presence of ghosts (or poltergeists) in the church, but they are happy, because the church is the only attraction of their village. Yes, the trees around the church are trimmed figuratively - in the manner of Stephen King's The Shining.