Old world. It seems that there is no town, castle or narrow cobbled street, which would not be associated with stories of ghosts, terrible bloody secrets or mystical events.
In terms of the amount of unknown, inexplicable and unreal, this part of the world is still ahead of the rest of the planet. Meet 12 of the main mystical places in Europe.
Prague, Czech Republic
The mystical capital of Europe, especially the Old Town, offers the widest range of encounters with the supernatural. Let's start with the famous Golem of the Jewish Quarter, the first in a series of Frankensteins.
In March 1580, Supreme Rabbi Lev ben Bezalel created a clay figure about one and a half meters tall, and then breathed life into it with the help of kabbalistic spells.
Then everything did not go according to plan, and the Golem escaped from the power of the creator. Pacified, it was kept in the attic in the form of a scarecrow, but disappeared during the war. Rumor has it that he sometimes makes a promenade in Prague at night.
And in the House of Faust lived and worked one of the most famous alchemists of the Middle Ages, Edward Kelly. A visit to this building guarantees success in financial affairs.
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The most famous Prague ghost - the spirit of Jan Hus, who was burned along with his writings on June 6, 1415 - appears on moonlit nights next to the Bethlehem Chapel, where Hus preached during his lifetime.
The second ghost and symbol of Prague is the spirit of Jachim Berkha, who strangled his own bride and then hanged himself. Now, once a month, he stands gloomily on Platnerzhskaya Street, hoping to talk to an innocent girl. It is believed that if this happens, the ghost will finally calm down.
Altamira cave, Santillana del Mar, Spain
There are countless diamonds in stone caves … But in this one of the most famous caverns in Europe, instead of diamonds, you will see a “3D cinema” of the Stone Age. Rock carvings - numerous multi-colored images of bison, horses, deer, wild boars and a few people.
The second ghost and symbol of Prague is the spirit of Jachim Berkha, who strangled his own bride and then hanged himself. Now, once a month, he stands gloomily on Platnerzhskaya Street, hoping to talk to an innocent girl. It is believed that if this happens, the ghost will finally calm down.
Altamira cave, Santillana del Mar, Spain
There are countless diamonds in stone caves … But in this one of the most famous caverns in Europe, instead of diamonds, you will see a “3D cinema” of the Stone Age. Rock carvings - numerous multi-colored images of bison, horses, deer, wild boars and a few people.
There are legends that in the Middle Ages, an elegant lizard with a swan neck loved to feast on unlucky fishermen, but recently something has not been seen. At the same time, photographs, albeit cloudy and indistinct, appear regularly.
And although it will hardly be possible to capture Nessie, the feeling of the presence of something outsider on the waters of the lake is powerful. It is impossible to get rid of the thought that you are being watched by a pair of attentive and wise eyes - the eyes of a serpent who has long known all the secrets of this world.
In this picture, of course, a photo collage, but tourists regularly photograph strange objects in the lake.
Bojnice Castle, Slovakia
An interesting male ghost lives in a Gothic complex, which was founded in the 12th century on the site of an ancient volcano, striking with its gloomy beauty and austerity.
A certain lieutenant and merchant Jan Palfiy, the then owner of the castle, was rejected by a beautiful French aristocrat. The suffering retirement never married, and then he threw himself into the moat altogether, having previously bequeathed his entire fortune to orphanages …
As a suicide, Jan was buried not in the cemetery, but in the castle. Perhaps that is why his restless soul wanders along the winding corridors in our high-tech days. Sometimes a ghost is seen in the company of a certain woman in white.
But this is not a proud French mademoiselle, but a native Slovakian Anna Berna, who fell in love with a German officer during the senseless Thirty Years' War and gave him some strategic secrets. She was hanged, as was the custom at that time, but during the investigation she was kept in the Boinitsa Castle. Here, and "took root" after death.
The castle complex is in excellent condition (partly with the same Janov's money), and for people with strong nerves there is no better place for excursions. The fact that some of the visitors ended up in the hospital with a heart attack does not count.
Dead End Mary King, Edinburgh, Scotland
This place in the Old City area evokes terror and awe at the same time. In the 17th century, during the next European plague, the authorities of Scotland made a radical decision: they brought here from all over the city and surrounding villages those who fell ill with a terrible and virtually incurable disease in those years.
Probably, the doctors with halberds considered themselves almost humanists: they did not burn the sick alive, as in Saxony, and did not sprinkle them with quicklime, as in Hungary. They were simply locked up and waited until they went to heaven themselves.
The plague in Scotland was not as widespread as in continental Europe, but there were many victims here. According to one of the archival records, in 1645, at the height of the epidemic, Patrick and Jane McConneigh left their daughter to die in this place, after which the ghost of Annie settled forever on the damp and gloomy streets of the city.
And to this day, little Annie touches the hands or clothes of those passing along the ominous alley. Her restless soul flies through the rooms of ancient buildings and sings Scottish children's songs in a thin plaintive voice.
Enterprising Edinburghs staged large-scale expositions of the life of plague patients of that time in a dead end. They are striking in their realism, and it seems that you hear groans of suffering and cries for help …
Ospidale Citta Nuova, Trieste, Italy
It so happened that in this port city in the last century anomalously many talented and endowed with incredible abilities began to be born. But in everyday life, as a rule, they were absolutely helpless and fell, from the point of view of an ordinary person, into the category of crazy.
That is why the largest hospital in Italy for the insane and people with developmental delays was built here.
As the years passed, the number of patients only increased. Then a certain professor Rampini, himself, apparently, distinguished by not entirely healthy logic, proposed a sensational method of treatment - to open a giant entertainment center, where only his patients would work. And the idea was realized!
Today, in shops, boutiques, cafes, clubs, geniuses continue to work, which the professor thus wanted to adapt to everyday life.
DJs, bartenders, waiters … You seem to find yourself in the society of true Martians who read your mind, speak their incomprehensible dialect, perform alien music and prepare witchcraft cocktails. And no one is surprised that they, perhaps, pass through walls, move objects and see in the dark.
This practice appears to be producing good results since the last psychiatric clinic in Trieste was closed in the early 1980s. The number of suicides and hospitalizations has decreased. There are about 13.5 mental patients per thousand inhabitants in the city, and 4 mental health centers provide assistance.
Carnac, Brittany, France
The word "karnak" was invented by the Bretons, a Celtic tribe that at one time leaped from the Anglo-Saxons on the coast of France. Literally means "road of stones". The structure in question already existed then, only it did not have a name.
It is a seemingly endless labyrinth of menhirs, dolmens and cromlechs, that is, ritual structures made of stones that create bizarre patterns, obey their own laws and drive the uninitiated crazy. It is estimated that there are about four thousand of them, divided into three groups, although it is believed that at one time they were all one.
The stones seem to offer everyone a kind of quest: you will reach, starting from the southern end, to the tomb called "Kerkado" with a mound piled above it - consider yourself lucky. You will have glory, money, and happiness in your personal life, but no - time will tell. Some, old-timers say, wander the winding paths under the inhospitable Breton sun forever.
The structures, according to scientists, are about 5,000 years old, but what the images of the Christian cross and the crescent do here, which simply did not exist then, is unknown to science. Nevertheless, Karnak is extremely popular with pilgrims: for a quarter of a century there have been proposals to recognize it as a closed territory. So you need to hurry up to go through this stone labyrinth.
Delphi, Greece
A city by the Gulf of Corinth on the slopes of Mount Parnassus sounds like a quote from Homer, doesn't it? Once upon a time people came here from all over Greece. And not just like that, but to consult with the megaoracul of the ancient world.
It all started with the fact that Apollo killed the wise, but evil serpent Python and replaced him with his own priestess Pythia. She easily entered a trance, incoherently, although she mumbled beautifully, and specially trained priests interpreted the "messages of the gods."
It seemed that it would always be like this: without the opinion of the oracle, wars did not start, peace was not made, travels were not undertaken and marriages were not registered. But in 398 AD. e. the Christian emperor Arkady came, but not alone, but with an army, and canceled the sanctuary. Fortunately, Delphi themselves were not destroyed, but only abandoned.
Today, the restored city looks impressive and gives a clear idea of its grandeur in ancient times. There was also an explanation for the strange behavior of the Pythia: geologists discovered hallucinogenic vapors emanating from a nearby source.
Although, if everything were that simple, you could go to a nearby disco club for advice. And the visitors of this place still have visionary abilities. Probably, the god Apollo personally whispers to them what to expect from the future.
Hvitzerkur, Huna, Iceland
Hvitzerkur translated from Icelandic means "white shirt" - this is the name of this stone-crystal "monster" on the coast of a desert bay because of the hundreds of sea snow gulls sitting on it in the morning hours.
But in the sunset rays of the sun, it seems to set in motion, come to life and even more amazes with its eerie beauty. You will look from one side - an unknown beast, a werewolf, bent over to quench his thirst with sea water. And if you look from the other - a giant needle's eye with ragged edges.
This place has always attracted local residents. The Icelanders believed that through it time and space flowed directly to Valhalla - the residence of the gods and the paradise of the ancient Vikings. Therefore, Khvitzerkur makes wishes come true, especially if you make them during the northern lights, which happens here five times more often (calculated!) Than in other polar regions.
Dracula's Castle, Bran, Romania
On a high hill in the mountainous part of southern Transylvania, there is a medieval "high-rise building" - Bran Castle, better known as Dracula's castle. In the XIV century, it was conceived as a fortification complex to protect against the ubiquitous Turkish invaders.
But as a result of backstage games and palace coups, it became the personal residence of the ruler Vlad Tepes, who, thanks to mystical novels in Europe, was called Count Dracula.
What he did is well known to everyone: he impaled, ripped off the skin, boiled in boiling water, successfully fought with the Turks (no, that's not it!), Drank the blood of victims. With the light hand of Bram Stoker, he became not only a villain, but also a vampire.
One way or another, Vlad was an outstanding personality. Nothing is known about the appearance of his ghost in the walls of Bran, but the castle itself, especially in the dark, makes a frightening impression.
And thoughts about what atrocities were happening here, coming after visiting the torture chambers, can deprive the most balanced person of sleep. And if you fall asleep here - meeting with the count is definitely inevitable.
Gruyeres, Switzerland
Oddly enough, but it is this picturesque country that is called the birthplace of witches. Of course, everything is relative, but there have always been more servants of Satan per population unit here than in the whole of Europe.
Mount Gruyeres and the town of the same name with the Black Tower and the Black Madonna Monastery remain the same as they were almost half a thousand years ago. As then, on a full moon, you can perform a ritual ablution in an alpine lake (also Gruyeres) by the light of torches and hear the lines of ancient spells from the lips of nuns.
It is believed that ablution opens the subconscious mind and endows with incredible superpowers, prolongs life and reveals the secrets of who the true friend and enemy is. After this ritual, some begin to levitate and speak in languages that they did not know before. The Black Madonna is especially supportive of the fair sex: she gives them unlimited power over men.
Gruyères also houses the museum of the famous "Alien Father" Hans Giger, an artist and designer with a very campy and frightening view of art.
Rock of Cashel, Tipperary, Ireland
The Irish say about this massive piece of granite: “The devil took a bite off the Earth and spat it out. This is how Cashel was formed. " Literally from Gaelic the name is translated as "stone pie". There is nothing more frightening and causing mystical horror on the Emerald Isle.
A rock standing in the middle of green meadows, shaped like an ugly donut several kilometers in diameter, and a black castle on it, which is about a thousand years old and which, despite the abundance of Celtic crosses, does not save from the invisible presence of the enemy of the human race …
Well, what about without ghosts? They say that the Green Lady lives here - a magical beauty lady in a long elegant dress. It is believed to be Elizabeth Connor, daughter of one of the owners. Allegedly, the Green Lady is so sad that when he meets her, a person is also seized by the deepest sadness, which can develop into melancholy with a fatal outcome …