Are you attracted by the blood-chilling stories of Dracula's and Countess Bathory's castles, mysterious Stonehenge and Loch Ness? You can also tickle your nerves here.
Steeper than Casper
The most famous Belarusian ghosts are Black Panna Nesvizh and White Panna Golshan. The story of the former has been living in ancient Nesvizh for over 400 years. According to her, the great Lithuanian prince, and then the Polish king Zhigimont II Augustus, fell in love with the beautiful Barbara Radziwill. Love was reciprocal and could turn into a happy story for posterity. The lovers even secretly got married. However, the mother of Zhigimont, Queen Bona Sforza, was against this marriage and, according to legend, it was she who poisoned Barbara. The king did not find a place for himself after her death, and in order to somehow relieve his sadness, he invited the alchemists to summon the spirit of his beloved. They agreed, but ordered not to touch the ghost in any way. When the ghost of Barbara appeared, Zhigimont forgot about the promise and with the words "My darling!" rushed to hug her. There was an explosion, a corpse smell went off, and the ghost disappeared.
MAXIM EVENING / sb.by
Now Barbara wanders around the castle in a black robe as a sign of mourning for her ruined love, not finding her way to the grave. They say that she appears mainly before misfortunes to warn of them. For example, she was seen in 2002 when most of the castle burned down.
White Panna from Golshany has her own tragic background. During the construction of a Franciscan monastery next to the castle, the builders faced an incomprehensible problem: one of the walls was constantly collapsing. Deciding that this place is cursed, they decided to carry out a magical sacrifice rite - to brick up a living woman in a wall. A bitter fate befell the wife of one of the builders, who was the first to bring dinner to her husband. Since then, Belaya Panna wanders around Golshany, often being local residents and visitors, especially those who decide to spend the night in the monastery. Eyewitnesses say that they saw the reflection of White Panna in the mirror, her translucent hands growing out of the wall, and so on. They say that he especially dislikes the ghost of men - at the sight of her, they turn gray and lose orientation in space.
Another ghost woman lives in the Loshitsa estate in Minsk. It can be seen next to the Manchurian apricot tree, which is unusual for our area, on the days of its flowering, which coincide with the full moon. It is believed that this is the ghost of Jadwiga, the wife of the owner of the Loshitsa estate, Eustathius Lyubansky. Once, after a quarrel with her husband, she left in upset feelings for the river, and the next day her body was found in the water. It is still unknown how she drowned - of her own free will or someone helped her to do it. After the tragedy, Eustathius ordered to brick the window of Jadwiga's room with bricks and left the estate. And before leaving, he planted a Manchu apricot in the park, near which the ghost of Jadwiga now appears. By the way, to see him, rather, not to trouble, but to luck - they say, Yadviga is able to help in love affairs.
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Living crosses
Many have heard about the Turov crosses in the Gomel region, which grow out of the ground. The first of them began to be discussed in the 1980s, when a stone appeared between two graves. They tried to move him so as not to interfere with the passage, but they could not do this and left him alone. And since then it has continued to grow - today the height of the stone is about 40 centimeters. True, he does not meet everyone equally - some are poured with warmth, others are shocked. But many miracles have already happened around him: babies were born in childless families, the sick were healed, girls who had long dreamed of meeting love found it. And in 2008, a "brother" appeared at the Turov cross - on the site of the Borisoglebsk church in Turov. First a small stone appeared, and then “wings” began to grow.
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Less famous, but no less impressive, crosses grow in the Ushachi region.
Among the first to write about them in 2011 was "Narodnaya Gazeta". Arriving with the guides at the cemetery, which is 25 kilometers from the regional center in the village of Zamoshye, our correspondent saw stones of various shapes and sizes "crawling out" from under the moss in a dense forest. It turned out that until the early 2000s, no one suspected that there were graves in this place. They were noticed by a woman from Minsk who bought a land plot in Zamoshye for a summer residence. Getting acquainted with the surroundings, she stumbled upon a forest area, somewhere here and there stones "pecked" - as it turned out later, ancient monuments of the XII-XV centuries. Now some of them are as tall as a man! Scientists are trying to explain the anomaly by temperature changes in the soil, but local residents have only one explanation: these crosses are a sign of God.
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Lakes shrouded in mystery
Most people come to Mir Castle to enjoy the architecture and the spirit of history. And some - for mystical legends associated primarily with the pond near the castle. They say that in order to create this reservoir at the end of the 19th century, the owner of the castle, Nikolai Svyatopolk-Mirsky, ordered the blooming garden to be cut down. The locals understood that it was not good to cut a flowering garden, but this did not stop the owner. Many people died during the clearing of the garden and digging the pond. The mother of one of them, who, according to legend, was a real witch, came to Svyatopolk-Mirsky and cursed both him and the pond, saying that now people would die in it - one for each tree cut down. The first victim was 12-year-old Sonechka, the daughter of Nikolai Svyatopolk-Mirsky. And a few years later he himself drowned in this pond.
Lake Lepel in the Vitebsk region is generally a Belarusian version of Loch Ness. It is here, according to the assurances of local residents, as well as the classic of Belarusian literature and an expert on our history, Vladimir Korotkevich, that Tsmok lives - a fantastic creature that looks like a seal with a deer head, fins and a long neck. There are legends that Tsmok even now sometimes comes out of the depths of the lake, turns into a handsome guy and looks after girls. And if they misbehave, punishes. However, in essence, Tsmok is not so bad.
In Belarusian mythology, he is considered not only the regulator of waters, but also the patron saint of the family. Couples who live in harmony and love can always count on his support. This is probably why so many guests annually gathers the mythology festival "At the state of Lepelskag Tsmok". And if you can't see the real lake Tsmok, you will definitely be able to stroke his sculptures in the city.
Another lake in the Vitebsk region, which is located in a forest near Gorodok, is rich in mythical creatures. They say that the devil himself drowned the church in it, and now from its bottom they go straight to hell. And local mermaids help with this - they lure travelers and drown them in the lake. The main thing is not to succumb to the hypnosis of their bottomless blue eyes when meeting mermaids. To do this, you should stand in a circle drawn on the ground, in which a cross should be drawn, or as soon as possible say: "Oh my!" Then the mermaid will go home with you and become a hardworking hostess. Well, a good ending to a frightening story …
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