10 creepy landmarks that give goosebumps

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Usually, when planning a vacation, ideas come to mind to lie on the beach or go with a backpack to the mountains. Some people prefer to visit other countries to see local attractions. At the same time, they usually try to visit museums or art galleries, see famous buildings or natural objects, etc. The program of such trips is quite standard, and most fans of trips abroad do not even suspect that there are many eerie tourist attractions around the world, after visiting which may have nightmares. So, where to go to those who like to tickle their nerves.

1. Ossuary in Sedlec

The Church of All Saints or the Ossuary in the Czech town of Sedlec at first glance is an unremarkable medieval Gothic church. But if you go inside, it immediately becomes clear that this is not an ordinary chapel at all. While most of the churches' interiors are decorated with gilding and frescoes, the “ossuary” is decorated with human remains. In 1870, the crypt under the church was literally overflowing with skeletons (people were buried here for several centuries). To deal with the problem, a local woodcarver was hired to clean up the pile of bones. As a result, since then, more than 40,000 skeletons adorn the church - they have decorated the entire interior of the church. Most notable is the huge bone chandelier, for which at least one human bone of all varieties was used. The results seem rather bleak, but the unusual church attracts thousands of tourists every year.

2. Catacombs of the Capuchins

On the outskirts of Palermo, Sicily, the remains (skeletons, mummies and embalmed corpses) of more than 8,000 people are on display in the Capuchin catacombs. Visiting this disgusting place is clearly not for the faint of heart. These catacombs date back to the 16th century, when the Capuchin monks needed to expand their cemetery. They dug up a crypt under the church and transferred bodies in various states of mummification from the cemetery. Although the catacombs were originally the final resting place for monks, wealthy citizens began to pay to have their bodies embalmed after death and displayed in the catacombs. These bodies, dressed in their finest attire, are placed standing and hanging along the walls. Some well-preserved corpses still have their hair and teeth intact, and their faces have eerie grimaces forever. One of the most frightening exhibits is the little girl, Rosalia Lombardo, who died in 1920 and was one of the last to be placed embalmed in the catacombs. Her body is almost perfectly preserved.

3. Temple of the rats

The Hindu temple of Harni Mana in the Indian town of Deshnok is literally infested with rats, but tourists from all over the world flock here to see such an unusual place. More than 20,000 rats live in the temple and are considered sacred creatures here. The rats are fed to the rats every day, and fences have even been installed to protect the animals from predators. Temple visitors are required to remove their shoes before entering. Now let's imagine for a second - you need to walk barefoot on rat droppings, and at the same time rats run on their bare legs (however, this is considered a sign of luck).

4. Lake Natron

The shores of this African lake are littered with the corpses of petrified animals. The fact is that the high level of sodium bicarbonate in the Tanzanian Lake Natron leads to the fact that any animals and birds that enter the water die, and their remains harden and become covered with minerals. Eerie mummified animals can be found all around the lake. The high alkalinity of the water in the lake can cause caustic burns in animals, and its temperature can reach 60 degrees Celsius. Interestingly, Natron is home to thousands of pink flamingos and other bird species that breed in the shallows.

5. Island of dolls

Julian Santana Barrero, who lived as a hermit on a small island located on one of the canals in Xochimilco (Mexico City), became literally obsessed with the thought that a young girl had drowned in a canal near the island. After that, throughout his life, he collected old dolls, which he hung on trees throughout the island to soothe the soul of the deceased girl. Today, Isla de Munecas has become an eerie tourist attraction. Visitors come to see thousands of rotting dolls impaled on tree branches, some headless and others staring blankly at the sky. It looks like a real horror movie. Some believe that the dolls are possessed by the souls of dead children and, if you listen carefully, you can hear them whisper quietly indistinctly.

6. The caves of death of Phnomsampo

Deep in the jungle, on the slopes of Mount Phnomsampo, 11 kilometers from the city of Battambang, are the "caves of death" - an eerie reminder of the Khmer Rouge genocide. The victims were brought here and thrown into caves through small holes in the rock. Some were beaten to death before that, others were thrown alive, and they died of hunger and injury. Today tourists visit these caves, at the bottom of which there are piles of bones and skulls. This is definitely a frightening and unpleasant place for anyone.

7. Paris catacombs

At the end of the 18th century, the cemeteries of Paris overflowed, and the authorities urgently needed to find a new place to bury the deceased. The townspeople began to complain about the stench and disease from the decaying bodies in the overcrowded cemeteries. As a result, bodies from all cemeteries were dug up and taken to an abandoned quarry under the city. Since 1810, they decided to organize the mountains of bones, neatly stacking them along the walls. More than six million deceased Parisians were buried from the end of the 18th century to the middle of the 19th century in these catacombs under the city. Today, only a small part of the approximately 320 kilometers of tunnels is open to tourists.

8. Sirirai Medical Museum

One of the Bangkok museums contains an exhibition of all things related to disease, death and deformity. The Death Museum, or Sirirai Medical Museum, with its monstrous exhibits, is located in the oldest hospital in Thailand. It was originally created as an educational resource for healthcare professionals and students. Today the museum has become an eerie tourist attraction. The exposition displays the deformed bodies of babies, alcoholized in formaldehyde, the bodies of victims of accidents and dismembered body parts. The museum even houses the mummified body of a notorious serial killer, allegedly on display to deter others from repeating his crimes. Other exhibits demonstrate the effects of tumors on various parts of the body, as well as genetic deformations.

9. Akodessawa fetish market

In this quaint market in Lome, Togo, you can find all the necessary ingredients for any spell. Voodoo practitioners come here from all over West Africa to buy heads and other "parts" of monkeys, reptiles and animals. One has only to imagine - a huge market, on the shelves of which parts of animals in various stages of decomposition are decomposed … and an eerie stench. Products on the market range from huge animal bones that are buried under the door of a house to ward off evil spirits to severed animal paws that are used to make talismans.

10. Museum of Death

The Death Museum houses a gruesome collection of murder weapons, crime scene photographs, and death memorabilia. For example, among the exhibits there is the head of the “Parisian Bluebeard” (a serial killer of women of the early 20th century) cut off on a guillotine, a collection of bags for corpses and coffins, execution tools and autopsy instruments. Surprisingly, a lot of visitors come every year.

Continuing the topic, we will tell why in different parts of the planet there are cities where everything is painted in the same color and not only.