Many travelers are attracted to places associated with eerie stories and the other world. A voodoo market, a valley of death, a temple with hellish offices – we will tell you where the most terrible places on Earth are.
Church in Sedlec, Czech Republic
The church in Sedlec was built in 1400. Local residents considered the land on which the temple was built to be holy and sought to be buried in the cathedral crypt. After epidemics, wars and floods, the crypt became overcrowded and in 1870 a woodcarver, František Rint, was hired. The master bleached 40,000 bones and skulls and decorated the cathedral with them from the floor to the dome: huge chandeliers, the coat of arms of the owner of the church, the decoration of the vaults – all this is made of bones and makes an eerie impression.
Dongyue Temple in Beijing, China
The Taoist Dongyue Temple was built in the 14th century and consists of 376 rooms, most of which are dedicated to the theme of hell. Each hall represents one of the offices of hell, where sinners are sorted, tried and tortured under the supervision of judges and demons. The human-sized figures are made of clay and brightly painted, the deities are decorated with flowers, and the torture of sinners is shown in anatomical detail.
Winchester House in California, USA
This house was built by the widow of William Winchester, the son of the inventor of the famous rifle. The widow was a superstitious woman, and a certain medium told her that the spirits of those killed with Winchester rifles were haunting her. To get rid of the curse, you need to build a huge house where the spirits will not find Sarah. The construction of a six-story house with 160 rooms, 2,000 doors, hundreds of dead ends and secret passages took 38 years. The widow died at the age of 85, and after her death, according to eyewitnesses, paranormal phenomena occurred in the house: ghosts appeared, screams were heard and doors slammed.
Voodoo market in Lome, Togo
The voodoo market is located on the outskirts of Lomé, the capital of the Republic of Togo, whose residents have been actively practicing voodoo since the 17th century. The market in Lomé sells everything for voodoo rituals: monkey and crocodiles heads, voodoo dolls, fresh animal organs and snake blood. For a special fee, suppliers can obtain human organs and bones, circumventing the law. Nearby live sorcerers who are ready to curse the enemy, cause damage, or prepare a potion from terrible ingredients bought at the market.
Death Valley, Kamchatka, Russia
On the territory of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, at the foot of the Kikhpinych volcano, there is the Death Valley – a two-kilometer area where animals and birds constantly die, and in the 20th century several people died there. Studies have shown that death occurs due to concentrated underground gases coming to the surface; gases cause paralysis and respiratory arrest.
Mummy Museum in Guanajuato, Mexico
In the 19th century, Mexico introduced an annual burial tax. If relatives could not pay, then the body was dug up. When the first batch of debtors were exhumed, everyone was amazed at the perfect preservation of the bodies, which is explained by the special chemical composition of the soil, which promotes mummification. The museum’s collection consists of 111 mummies, including those of drowned men, children and pregnant women, dug up during the tax period.
