Among the huge number of architectural landmarks around the world, cemeteries occupy a special place - from small village ones to real "cities of the dead", which are more than a century old. There is even a restaurant in India where you can dine among the graves. In our roundup of the most incredible and creepy cemeteries in the world, many of which can be shocking.
1. Crypt of the Capuchins - Rome
The Roman church of Santa Maria della Conchezione is famous for its eerie secret that literally lies beneath it. Under the main premises of the church is the Capuchin crypt - the last resting place for 3,700 Capuchin monks. Their skeletons and skulls cover all the walls of the crypt, making it look more like a madman's hideout than a place of worship. And some of the skulls are even used as lighting devices.
2. Stull Cemetery - Kansas
Any Kansas resident is familiar with the eerie Stull Cemetery, which many believe is the gateway to hell. They say that Satan once slept with a human woman, who then gave birth to a son, who was buried in this cemetery with his mother. Local residents report that they saw an incomprehensible light at the cemetery at night, and that satanic rituals are allegedly carried out there. The local church lies in ruins, and if you knock on one of its stones (at least that's what the beliefs say), then Satan himself will answer.
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3. La Noria - Chile
The ghost town of La Noria is located in northern Chile. It used to be a mining village, which became the last resting place for many people who died in the mines and because of poor living conditions, including many children. Many of the graves are now excavated and open coffins are visible in them. Some say it was done by the grave robbers, while others claim it was related to spirits. The nearest habitable place is a gas station 30 kilometers away. People who drive past La Noria often report hearing disembodied voices, seeing ghosts wandering the streets, and hearing some kind of screaming.
4. Glasnevin - Dublin
Glasnevin in Dublin was established as a Catholic cemetery. But in those days, the abduction of corpses was so widespread that observation towers were built along the fence surrounding the cemetery, and guards with hounds patrolled the perimeter. There is a famous pub next to the cemetery where bartenders passed glasses of whiskey to gravediggers through a secret hole in the wall.
5. Pere Lachaise Cemetery - Paris
The Pere Lachaise Cemetery (which was named after the Reverend Lachaise, the priest who confessed King Louis XIV) in Paris is the resting place of such famous personalities as Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison. It is alleged that ghosts can often be seen on it, who are allegedly victims of the Holocaust. They wander between the gravestones and look for the place where they were buried.
6. Chapel of Dos Osus - Portugal
The Portuguese city of Evora also has a chapel filled with human remains. It is larger than the Capuchin Crypt in terms of the number of bodies (about 5000 people rest here). Bones from countless church graveyards in the area were taken to the Dos Osush Chapel. It was built in the 16th century by a Franciscan monk who wanted other Catholics to contemplate the frailty of life. In the chapel there are even two dried up and mummified corpses hanging from the ceiling on ropes.
7. River Ganges - Varanasi
The holiest river in Hinduism, the Ganges begins in the Himalayas and flows for 2,525 km to the Bay of Bengal. If a Hindu, after death, was burned on the banks of the Ganges in the city of Varanasi, and his ashes were thrown into the sacred waters (unburned parts are also dumped into the river), then he will receive instant salvation. Given the huge number of bodies in the river, some are thrown ashore, where they are devoured by dogs and flies.
8. Old Jewish cemetery - Prague
One of Europe's eerie and most historic cemeteries, the Old Jewish Cemetery is located in the Josefov district, the old Jewish quarter of the Czech capital. Since religious laws prohibit Jews from destroying graves, when the place in the cemetery ran out, they began to bring in land and bury people in a new layer right on top of the old graves. There are now twelve layers of such gravestones in the cemetery (of which 12,000 are visible, although it is estimated that more than 100,000 people are buried here).
9. Catacombs - Paris
This place has been a magnet for tourists for almost 150 years. The Paris Catacombs are known as “the largest tomb in the world” as they contain the remains of about six million people. The catacombs stretch under the streets of Paris. Bones and skulls are stacked in hundreds of meters of corridors, most of which are closed to the public due to the possibility of a collapse. Many paranormal phenomena have been observed here.
10. Resurrection Cemetery - Chicago
There are rumored to be two "Bloody Mary" (three if you count the famous drink). The more famous Mary is the Queen of Scots, and there is also her American “colleague” with the same name. At the Resurrection Cemetery in Chicago is buried the body of Mary, a girl who was killed while leaving the same cemetery. Rumor has it that drivers who pass by often pick up a girl dressed in a white dress voting on the roadside. She asks to be dropped off at the cemetery gates, enters and disappears.
