In the southeast of the Czech Republic, there is the beautiful town of Jihlava. It is literally packed with sights - there are also beautiful churches, the famous Town Hall, and the Gate of the Mother of God. But the greatest interest among tourists is a mysterious place filled with a huge number of rumors and legends. These are the catacombs, dug many centuries ago, which run through the entire city. Many of the visitors claim that strange phenomena are taking place in the underground.
The mysterious history of the catacombs
In the 1270s, silver ores were discovered in this part of the Czech Republic, silver miners immediately reached out here and, by order of King Otakar II, a city was built next to the mines. Very soon it became one of the largest and richest cities in the Czech Republic with a developed handicraft and trade business. After a couple of hundred years, the silver deposits were depleted and the "silver rush" in the city came to naught. It is known that by the 18th-19th centuries Jihlava was settled by the Germans, but after a while they were replaced by the Czechs again.
It is not known exactly when the first catacombs appeared under the city. According to the latest version of scientists, they were dug at the turn of the XIII-XIV centuries.
One of the many entrances to the catacombs. Masaryk Square.
Most likely, the wealthy and prosperous city needed large warehouses to store food. According to historians, in the catacombs, local residents hid barrels of beer and wine, fruits and vegetables were also kept here, and some of the premises even were workshops in which artisans worked.
These barrels were used to store beer and wine.
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The underground corridors, dug at a depth of 12 meters, stretch for 25 kilometers and run through the entire city.
During World War II, the locals used these catacombs as a bomb shelter, although the Germans who occupied the city tried to close most of them for their own safety, because they also mastered these underground passages.
Since the second half of the last century, the attraction "Jihlava underground" has become available to tourists. Visitors can explore several kilometers of underground corridors, which were previously reinforced with concrete for reliability and prevention of destruction.
Czech catacombs.
Every half hour from the main entrance to the catacombs, located in the courtyard of the Church of St. Ignatius, excursion groups depart. For greater mystery, the workers of the "underground museum" at some point turn off the lights for visitors. Fortunately, only for a while. Add mystery and moving lights.
The most incredible rumors have been circulating about the Jihlava catacombs for several decades. These legends are passed by word of mouth.
Ghost legend
Since during the construction and subsequent expansion of the catacombs several centuries ago, people periodically died under the rubble, there are still rumors among the local population about ghosts wandering through the underground labyrinth.
According to urban legends, ghosts roam here.
Some say that these are the souls of the dead, others that they are terrible vampires. And although there is not a single person who actually saw these ghosts, especially impressionable natures still believe in them.
The Legend of the Young Organist
Some visitors to the catacombs claim that they clearly heard organ sounds in the tunnels. The testimony of archaeologists who worked in the catacombs in the 1990s also added fuel to the fire. Then the whole expedition declared that they heard organ music in one of the underground corridors. Since the experts who studied their testimonies excluded the mass insanity immediately, and there was nowhere to take the organ at a 10-meter depth, no one understood what exactly the archaeologists heard.
Why organ sounds are heard in the dungeon is unknown, and this frightens many.
But the townspeople immediately found an explanation for these sounds. Indeed, according to one of the urban legends, five centuries ago a young man lived in the city, who played the organ surprisingly beautifully and masterly. He made such unearthly sounds on this instrument that the inquisitors considered his talent a "gift" of evil spirits. The musician was immured alive in one of the underground corridors, and now the spirit of the deceased allegedly continues to emit the sounds of the organ, wandering through the labyrinths.
The legend of a strange glow
The most mysterious attraction of the Jihlava dungeons is the glowing corridor. For the first time, this phenomenon in the catacombs was discovered by amateur cavers in 1990. This short section of the path emits a greenish light even when the electricity is turned off.
Not all of the mysterious phenomena are yet explainable.
For a long time, mystical forces were considered the cause of such a glow, but later the analysis of the flooring and walls showed that it contains phosphorescent substances. Another corridor - which, according to rumors, glows even brighter than the first, was found under the building of the city library, but tourists are not yet allowed in this place. It was in this room, according to some sources, that during the war the Nazis set up barracks for soldiers.
Glowing corridor. It shines even when the electricity is off.
Glows in the catacombs and one of the stairs, but the reason for its glow has not yet been established. By the way, the shade of its glow is not greenish, but red-orange.
The reason for the strange glow of the stairs is not yet clear.
One of the legends says that Nazi researchers conducted some scientific experiments in this place during the Second World War. Chemical analysis of the coating of one of the glowing corridors, which was carried out by Czech experts, showed the presence of a mixture of barite and wurtzite in its coating (a phosphor that accumulates energy and gives a glow). And since part of the premises during the war was occupied by German anti-aircraft troops, the Nazis could well use it as an illumination or really experiment with the application of some kind of luminous information signs.
Above the "terrible" catacombs there is a cozy and pretty city.
Anna Belova