Scientists associate the popularity of horror films with the fact that a modern person lacks living emotions. We, the inhabitants of the stone jungle, no longer hunt mammoths or hide from saber-toothed tigers. And therefore, in order to tickle our nerves, we often reach for something mysterious and unknown. I propose to make up for the adrenaline deficit by reading fascinating urban legends.
1. Raifsky Mother of God Monastery, Kazan
The legend of the Raifa monastery, one of the largest in the Kazan diocese, is an example of an ordinary miracle. So ordinary that it can be observed right here, on the territory of the monastery - local frogs have an exceptionally silent disposition. According to legend, the monks for a long time suffered from loud croaks that prevented them from singing, and once asked the Lord to deliver them from this scourge. They say that over time, all the frogs that flooded the shore of the lake, where the monastery stands, seemed to have taken water into their mouths.
Russian and foreign scientists, who learned about the unusual phenomenon, have repeatedly tried to find an explanation for this. According to a number of sources, French toads were even used for an unusual experiment, which suddenly fell silent near the monastery. Local frogs, on the contrary, just a kilometer from the Raifa shrine, began to croak uncontrollably, yearning for loud singing.
2. Spaso-Evfimiev Monastery, Suzdal
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According to legend, the Spaso-Euthymius Monastery became the last refuge of the monk Abel - the Russian Nostradamus, who with amazing accuracy predicted the dates of the death of Catherine II and Paul I, the capture of Moscow by the French, as well as the First and Second World Wars. They say that, listening to a mysterious voice that called for sharing visions with the mighty of this world, Abel wrote several books, on the pages of which he described the future in detail. However, clairvoyance served Abel a disservice - the soothsayer spent 20 years of his life in ordeals, survived imprisonment in the Peter and Paul and Shlisselburg fortresses, exile to Kostroma, lived in the Solovetsky monastery, which he was not ordered to leave, but ended his days in the Savior-Euthymius monastery, where he went on the orders of Nicholas I. This legend has every chance of becoming a reality, because, they say,that Abel was not mistaken in any of his predictions.
3. Krasnoyarsk Regional Museum of Local Lore, Krasnoyarsk
Who would have thought: even the Krasnoyarsk Regional Museum has skeletons in the closet! They say that the ghost of the Arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen is quietly wandering along its corridors, as the Norwegian scientist Max Moor witnesses. Moor's correspondence acquaintance with the famous polar explorer began with the book "A Journey to the Country of the Future", in which Nansen spoke very favorably about the possibilities of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Moore was interested in the reasons why the famous polar explorer spent the whole winter in one of the Siberian villages. There were even rumors that the descendants of Fridtjof might live in these places. The thirst for details captured Moore so much that he spent days and nights in the museum archives, working with old documents. And then, when he seemed to be close to a solution, someone insistently shook him by the shoulder.
Turning around, Moore saw an elderly gentleman with a thick beard and long hair. “Do not meddle in other people's business. This is none of your business. I warn you in an amicable way,”said the mysterious bearded man in pure Norwegian. Moore was about to be indignant, but the face of the night visitor seemed familiar to him. And just as he was about to get up, the stranger disappeared into thin air. Rumor has it that after what happened, Moor escaped from the museum, leaving his things in great disarray, and two days later he left the city altogether and never returned.
4. Chamber Theater, Chelyabinsk
The Chelyabinsk temple of art, in the past the mansion of the merchant Breslin, turns out to be also full of surprises. Thus, during a major overhaul of the building, workers, breaking open the concrete floor, discovered real theatrical dungeons - brick passages 2.6 m wide, leading to the embankment of the Miass River. Later, the dungeon was thoroughly studied, but neither disembodied young ladies, nor terrible ghosts were found here. Nevertheless, there are many legends around the mansion. One of the versions of the origin of the laz points to the development of a gold-bearing vein, the other to smugglers who used the underground passage to supply gold to a secret workshop that minted counterfeit coins. One way or another, but today the dungeons of the Chamber Theater have become an unofficial attraction of the city,so some art historians offer to restore the unusual monument and lead underground excursions here.
5. Estate of Zheleznov, Yekaterinburg
The ghost of a beautiful kleptomaniac wanders near Zheleznov's estate in Yekaterinburg. They say that her presence can be felt by the smell of perfume, goose bumps and … empty pockets. According to legend, during her lifetime, the beauty was the wife of a merchant and patron of art Zheleznov. Unlike her life-loving spouse, Maria Efimovna was reputed to be especially closed, moreover, prone to kleptomania. Letting his wife go to the city, a caring husband would send a faithful servant to follow the young lady's innocent pranks and pay for everything that was stolen by her. According to rumors, the ghost of Zheleznova still wanders around the old mansion, unable to cope with the addiction.
6. Kunstkamera, St. Petersburg
The northern capital is one of the most mystical and mysterious cities in Russia. Here the poltergeist walks the streets, looks into the windows of houses, and is a frequent visitor to museums. The Kunstkamera can boast of a very colorful "exhibit". This is the ghost of a French giant, whose skeleton suddenly found itself without a skull in the 1917 turmoil. They say that it was after this that the giant ghost began walking along the corridors of the museum. True, he behaved himself decently and only during periods of special melancholy was shown to visitors. The giant's ghost would have bothered unlucky visitors for a long time, if not for the consciousness of the museum workers, who, in a fit of sympathy, presented the restless giant with a new skull. Only after that the giant calmed down and stopped frightening impressionable guests.
7. Underground city centered under the Opera House, Novosibirsk
The legend of underground Novosibirsk is amazingly tenacious. And although there is no confirmation of this, Siberians stubbornly continue to believe in a fantastic story about a city located underground. It is believed that the center of the underground monastery is the Opera House, under which there is not only a bunker for the leader, but also two underground lakes and a railway. Believe it or not - it's up to you. It is only known that in the area of Lenin Square, on Kommunisticheskaya Street, there really is a bomb shelter, the premises of which are partially used by a local cafe.
8. Kuznetsky Most Street, Moscow
Kuznetsky Most - a street of boutiques and restaurants - today, like 200 years ago, is considered one of the most fashionable in Moscow. And also, they say, you can meet a ghost on it. According to rumors, this is where the spirit of the beautiful Juju lives, who tragically died on a fashionable pavement at the beginning of the 20th century.
It is known that the charming Frenchwoman was the passion of the calico manufacturer and philanthropist Savva Morozov and worked as a model in one of the fashion houses on Kuznetsky Most. One morning, driving in a carriage, Zhuzhu heard the screams of a newspaper boy announcing the death of her admirer. "Savva Morozov committed suicide!" - the newspaperman blithely bawled. Distraught with grief, Zhuzhu jumped out of the carriage onto the roadway and fell under the wheels of an oncoming carriage. The unfortunate woman died on the same day, and in the evening a late passer-by found the lifeless body of a newsboy with a silk French stocking around his neck. The stocking, of course, belonged to Juzh, who was already dead by the time the crime was committed. Since then, newspapermen have bypassed Kuznetsky Most so as not to fall into the strong embrace of the vengeful Juju.
9. Gagarina Street, house number 9, Tomsk
This story happened in the Tomsk province at that amazing time, when the hussar uniform put the languid young ladies in a daze, and the owners of these were equally fearlessly eager both into battle and down the aisle.
Once upon a time there was a sweet girl named Masha. The time has come, the young lady blossomed and fell in love with a gallant officer with shoulder straps, a sword and with a mustache, of course. Only now the girl's parents were against an unequal union and refused their blessing. Then the lovers decided to escape, resorting to the help of the maid, who was supposed to accompany the fugitive to her lover. However, the maid, being a young and enterprising person, decided to take the groom away from the gullible mistress. The attempt was successful - the groom was not very picky. The bride waited in vain for her betrothed. Legend has it that the ghost of the unfortunate girl still appears in the window of the house, no-no.