In the village of Pidhirtsi in the east of the Lviv region, there is a majestic monument of medieval architecture - the Podgorodets castle. In Soviet times, its premises were occupied by a tuberculosis dispensary. Today, after a small restoration, the Renaissance building has become available to visitors.
Anomalous phenomena were noticed here just a few years ago, when, in preparation for the restoration, designers and architects held a photo session of almost every element of the property. Some photos made many people shudder - transparent human silhouettes were recorded in several parts of the palace.
According to legend, the owner of the castle, Vaclav Rzhevussky, lived here with his beautiful wife Maria. Her youth and beauty awakened jealousy and cruelty in her husband. In one of his fits of anger, he ordered his wife to be bricked up in the wall. Since then, the countess's soul has been unable to find peace. According to rumors, the jealous husband, unable to withstand the hardships of such a strong sin, died himself. The veracity of these events was confirmed in documentary archives.
Many of the castle staff saw the woman in white and therefore began to call the ghost "White Lady". Visitors to the castle repeatedly heard the sound of heels on the marble floor, as if heard from afar, watched the sudden extinguishing of candles, and some happened to see a rare mysterious glow in the casemates of the palace.
Already after the first manifestations of mysticism, Podgorodets Castle became a favorite place for many experts studying the paranormal. The famous "Battle of Psychics" program was no exception, the participants of which unanimously confirmed the presence of entities from the other world in the castle. Later, American researchers visited the walls of the mystical structure and filmed a documentary about it.
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A little more history and facts
Ukraine, Lviv region, the village of Pidhirtsi, the mysterious and alluring Pidhirtsi castle is located here. It was founded in 1530, later in 1633 the crown hetman Stanislav Konceptolsky bought the castle and commissioned the architect Guillaume Levasseur de Beauplan to build fortifications around the castle. By 1640, construction was completed and the castle turned into a real "fortress" in the Renaissance style, as we can see it today. The castle is surrounded by a deep moat and a rampart, along which two horsemen can ride at once. Next to the castle there is a once magnificent, but now dilapidated, garden. The interior of the castle amazed contemporaries with its wealth; its halls were decorated with copies of paintings by Rubens, Raphael, Caravaggio and other famous artists. There was a large marble table in the dining room,where King Jan III was baptized and more than 70 portraits of various figures. Near the castle, in the middle of the 18th century, a Roman Catholic church in the Baroque style was built.
Throughout its history, the castle has been attacked and burned more than once. During the Second World War, it was also badly damaged, and in 1945 it was plundered by the military. This, of course, could not but leave its mark, the outside of the castle is badly damaged. Its restoration is now underway.
But let's get down to our main topic. So what is mystical about this castle? You will find out now.
For a long time, there were rumors among the local population about a certain "Marienka", the wife of one of the owners of the castle, whom he immured in the wall. Modern history begins with the fact that in 2008 there was a group of restorers who launched a balloon for a better survey of the area. While they were doing this, several of them decided to take a picture at one of the walls, which they did. After careful examination of the photograph, it became obvious that on it, at the edge, in the doorway, a white figure, full-length, was clearly captured. Since the restorers had already heard about various mystical phenomena here, they decided to delve into the issue, looked up the archives and found information about this woman. It was indicated that she was taken to the dungeon, but she never returned upstairs. Often, photographs taken from a certain angle show a clear image of the girl. Researchers brought different people, explored the area, one grandmother came in and whispered something to them to photograph, and so they did. Then, on the photographs, on the wall, they found words in Old Polish, they could only be translated in Kiev, and it turned out that the ghost was asking to find her bones and bury her.
With the help of various people, the researchers were able to find an approximate burial site, bought a special camera to drill a hole, prove that there is something in the wall. But the drills were very expensive, you had to pay literally for every centimeter, and there was no funding, and the researchers stopped at that.
From a scientific point of view, the American group of ghost hunters "Ghost Hunters International" took a look here. They stayed in the castle for three days and, with the help of various impulsive devices, photo and video cameras, they established some activity and confirmed that there is an anomalous phenomenon in this place. They even issued a certificate.
Cases when she was seen with her own eyes are quite rare, but they do exist: an old grandmother who worked in a tuberculosis dispensary also sometimes manages to take a very clear photo. Also in the archives were found many records of this phenomenon. At this, the research stopped, the managers are trying to tell everyone this story, and believe it or not - everyone's personal business.