I don't know about you, but I just love different horror films and scary mystical stories chilling the soul and stirring the blood. Is it possible to find something similar in the travel world? Certainly! Indeed, on our planet there are a huge number of truly mystical and mysterious places. One of these is the Portuguese Capela dos Ossos, created by a fanatical Franciscan monk who sought to prove to the believing Portuguese that earthly life is only a temporary phenomenon. In order to confirm his words, the church minister created a rather strange monastery in the Portuguese city of Evora, the walls and vaults of which were made of human bones and skulls. At the entrance to the chapel, the inscription "We are the bones that rest here, we are waiting for you" was carved. At the moment, the "temple of bones" is one of the main attractions of Évora. There are also similar facilities in Italy and the Czech Republic.
Island of the Dolls (Mexico)
Want more scary mystical stories? Well, then listen to the story about the mysterious Mexican island of dolls, whose history was predetermined by one legend. As the locals say, in 1950, a little girl drowned near the coast of this island. A hermit named Julian, who was standing on the shore, saw her die, but because of the fear of water, he simply ran away from the shore. Since then, the ghost of a drowned woman appeared to him at night and demanded retribution. The price for the terrible inaction was the thousand old dolls that Julian had taken out of the trash over the years and hung on the trees along the shore. Thus, the hermit asked the spirit for a long life, but not forgiveness. As a result, on April 17, 2001, the sea off the Mexican coast swallowed Julian himself. And the mysterious Mexican island of dolls has become one of the most mysterious and frightening points on the map of the country.
Overtown Bridge (Scotland)
photo from www.terra-z.ru
However, many really scary mystical stories can also be found on the European continent. After all, only Scotland is riddled with some incredible number of different mysteries and mysteries. What is the old Overtown Bridge located near the estate of the same name (40 kilometers from the city of Glasgow). This bridge was built at the end of the 19th century and for almost 50 years it was the most ordinary bridge, hidden under the eternal Scottish fog. However, in the fifties of the 20th century, a mongrel running past unexpectedly jumped off it. At first, no one gave it much importance. But very soon another dog followed suit. Then another. And then more. About once a month, one or another dog walking in these parts suddenly froze at the monolithic stone railing, and after a couple of moments, suddenly, for some inexplicable reason, jumped down. In most cases, a fall from a 15-meter height of the bridge turned out to be fatal for dogs. However, there have been occasional cases of dogs surviving a fall. And here the strangest thing begins. The thing is that having rushed down once, wounded and suffering from wounds, the dogs again climbed the murderous bridge. Climbed only to jump from it again.
photo from colour-city.com
After a series of dog deaths, the bridge was nicknamed the "Killer of four-legged", and the locals suddenly remembered another story related to the fate of this bridge. As it turned out, the first victims of the mysterious bridge were not dogs at all, but an unwanted child - a little boy thrown from here by his own father. Realizing the full horrendous burden of his crime, the baby's father a few days later followed his fate, also taking a step down from the ill-fated bridge. Since then, two ghosts - a son and a father - allegedly constantly hover over this place, driving people and dogs crazy.
Poveglia Island (Italy)
Covered in thick fogs and saturated with the salty air of the northern sea, Scotland seems to be simply created in order to be a habitat for various spirits and ghosts. What can you say about bright and sultry Italy? More specifically, about the Venetian Riviera? Indeed, in this place, in fact, you can also find many terrible mystical stories.
One of these is connected with the Italian island of Poveglia, which, even in the days of the Roman Empire, was a place of exile for thousands of people suffering from plague and other incurable ailments. The exiled people were hardly treated, and after their death their bodies were buried right here on the island. In 1922, a hospital was built right on the graves, which eventually turned into a psychiatric hospital. Scraping the stone walls of the hospital with their nails, the patients screamed in the darkness, and in the morning they told terrible stories about being gnawed at by ghosts at night. However, later many of them themselves joined the army of forgotten and restless souls. After all, in the 30s and 40s, the patients of the clinic on the island of Poveglia became victims of sophisticated experiments that were performed by the doctors of fascist Italy.
In 1968, the psychiatric hospital was closed. And on the island began to grow crops. However, this project was soon abandoned. The reason for this was the remains of 160,000 corpses, which were constantly taken out of the ground by agricultural plows. In 2014, the regional government announced that the former clinic building would be turned into a hotel...
Winchester Mansion (California, USA)
winchestermysteryhouse.com
Another one scary mystical story associated with the famous American businessman and inventor Oliver Winchester. In 1855, a talented millionaire and no less gifted clothing manufacturer suddenly decided to change his line of business and bought out a bankrupt firearms company for next to nothing. From that moment on, her life was inextricably linked with hundreds of murders. He was called the "merchant of death." However, Oliver himself was much more worried about not a bad reputation. And dozens of ghosts that literally followed on his heels. As the daughter-in-law of the gunsmith later noted, the talented businessman constantly heard suspicious creaks, rustles and ominous voices in his house. Of course, all these little things could be mistaken for the fruit of a wild imagination, if not for one “but”: very soon after strange visions, Oliver Winchester died unexpectedly. Just a year later, his son followed him to the grave. And then a young granddaughter. However, even after this, the "gunsmith's curse" continued to live, spreading to the last representative of the Winchester family - the daughter-in-law of the deceased.
Trying to somehow protect herself from the voices pursuing her, the woman turned to a medium who put forward a strange and paradoxical version: the Winchester family was cursed by thousands of undead souls who at different times and in different parts of the United States died from shots of famous weapons. There was only one way to hide from them, according to the medium: by building a huge mansion with dozens of rooms in which the souls of the pursuers could simply get lost. In the end, the inconsolable widow did just that. And very soon a huge mansion grew up in the Californian city of San Jose, which was constantly being completed and rebuilt. By the time of the death of the mistress, which happened in 1922, the mysterious labyrinth house had more than 150 rooms, as well as doors leading to nowhere; stairs resting on the ceiling and many other strange structures. Today there is a museum in this place, which you can visit for 20-35 dollars.
That's all. Although in fact, scary mystical stories, one way or another connected with the world of travel, can be found much more. If you like this article, in our
