If you are thinking about where to go on vacation to gain an unforgettable experience, we are ready to give you a little hint. Of course, getting to these places is not so easy, but it will pay for itself because the frightening landscapes will be remembered forever. We talk about the most terrible and mystical places in the world.
These places are shrouded in legends and rumors, and far from being groundless. Locals usually avoid them, and sometimes no one dares to live there. In the top 25 most terrible places on the planet for tourism, even entire islands were included.
#01. Old Jewish cemetery in Prague, Czech Republic
Processions at this cemetery took place for almost four centuries (from 1439 to 1787). More than 100,000 dead are buried on a relatively small plot of land, and the number of tombstones reaches 12,000. Cemetery workers sprinkled earth over older burials, and new tombstones were erected on the same site. There are places on the territory of the cemetery where there are 12 grave tiers under the earth’s crust. After the passage of time, the sunken earth revealed to the living the old grave slabs, which began to move later slabs. The view turned out to be not only unusual but also terrifying.
#02. Island of Abandoned Dolls, Mexico
There is a very strange abandoned island in Mexico, most of which is inhabited by scary dolls. It is said that in 1950, a hermit Julian Santana Barrera began to collect and hang dolls from trash cans, and tried to calm the soul of a drowned girl nearby. Julian himself drowned on the island on April 17, 2001. Now there are about 1,000 exhibits on the island.
#03. Hashima Island, Japan
Hasima is a former settlement of coal miners, founded in 1887. It was considered one of the most densely populated places on earth – in 1959, its population was 5,259 along the coastline of about a kilometer. When it became unprofitable to mine coal here, the mine was closed and the island city joined the list of ghost cities. It happened in 1974.
#04. Chapel of Bones, Portugal
The Chapel (Capela dos Ossos) in the city of Faro was built in the 16th century by a Franciscan monk who wanted to demonstrate the fragility of life with his creation. The chapel itself is small – only 18.6 meters long and 11 meters wide, but the bones and skulls of five thousand monks are stored here. On the roof of the chapel is written the phrase “Melior est die mortis die nativitatis” (“Better the day of death than the day of birth”). And at the entrance, you will be greeted by the life-affirming inscription “We are bones, we are waiting for your bones.”
#05. Forest of suicides, Japan
Forest of suicides is the unofficial name of the forest of Aokigahara Jukai, located in Japan on the island of Honshu and famous for its frequent suicides. Initially, the forest was associated with Japanese mythology and was traditionally represented as the abode of demons and ghosts. Now it is considered the second most popular place in the world for settling accounts with life (after the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco). At the entrance to the forest, there is a poster: “Your life is a priceless gift from your parents.” Think about them and about your family. You don’t have to suffer alone. Call us 22-0110″.
#06. Abandoned hospital, Parma, Italy
The walls of an old abandoned psychiatric hospital became a canvas for a rather unusual art project “1000 Shadows”, which added even more creepiness to this place. Here are depicted unrepentant souls roaming the corridors, and the rest is up to your imagination.
#07. Church of St. George, Czech Republic
We don’t know why, but a church made it into the rating again – this time in the Czech village of Lukova, it has been abandoned since 1968, when part of its roof collapsed during a funeral ceremony. The artist Jakub Hadrava inhabited the church with ghost sculptures, giving it a particularly ominous appearance.
#08. Catacombs of Paris
Paris is not only a city of love but also a city of horror. The catacombs are a network of winding underground tunnels and caves under a fairly large part of the city. Some were formed from old wine cellars, others were created specifically – due to the “overpopulation” of Parisian cemeteries. The total length, according to various data, is from 187 to 300 kilometers. Since the end of the 18th century, the remains of almost 6 million people have been buried in the catacombs.
#09. City of Centralia, Pennsylvania, USA
Due to an underground fire that broke out 50 years ago, which continues to burn to this day, the number of inhabitants decreased from 1000 people (in 1981) to 7 people (in 2012). Centralia’s population is now considered the smallest in the state of Pennsylvania. It was Centralia that served as the prototype for the creation of the city in the series of games “Silent Hill” and in the film based on this game.
#10. Akodesseva Magic Market, Togo
The market of magic items and magical herbs Akodesseva is located right in the center of the city of Lome, the capital of the state of Togo in Africa. The Africans of Togo, Ghana, and Nigeria still profess the voodoo religion and believe in the miraculous properties of dolls. The fetish assortment of Akodesseva is extremely exotic: here you can buy the skulls of cattle, the dried heads of monkeys, buffaloes, and leopards, and many other equally “wonderful” things.
#11. Plague Island, Poveglia, Italy
Poveglia is one of the most famous islands of the Venetian lagoon, in the north of Italy. They claim that since Roman times, the island has been used as a place of exile for plague patients, which is why up to 160,000 people were buried there. The souls of many of the dead have allegedly turned into ghosts, which now overrun the island. The gloomy reputation of the island is aggravated by stories about terrible experiments, to which patients of the psychiatric clinic were allegedly subjected to. Because of this, researchers of paranormal phenomena call the island one of the most terrible places on earth.
#12. Mount Krestov, Lithuania
The Mountain of Crosses is a hill on which many Lithuanian crosses are installed, the total number of which is approximately 50,000. Despite the external similarity, it is not a cemetery. According to popular belief, the one who leaves a cross on the Mountain will be accompanied by good luck. Neither the time of appearance of the Mountain of Krestov nor the reasons for its appearance can be said with certainty. To this day, this place is shrouded in secrets and legends.
#13. Kabayan Burial Grounds, Philippines
The famous fire mummies of Kabayan dating back to 1200-1500 AD are buried here, as well as, as the locals believe, their spirits. They were made using a complex process of mummification, and now they are carefully guarded, as cases of their theft are not uncommon. Why? As one of the robbers said, “he had the right to do so,” since the mummy was his great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather.
#14. Overtown Bridge, Scotland
The old arch bridge is located near the Scottish village of Milton. In the middle of the 20th century, strange things began to happen on it: dozens of dogs suddenly jumped from a 15-meter height, fell on stones, and crashed to death. Those that survived, returned and repeated the demand. The bridge turned into a real “killer” of four-legged animals.
#15. Aktun-Tunychil-Muknal Cave, Belize
Actun-Tunychil-Muknal is a cave near the city of San Ignacio, Belize. It is an archaeological monument of the Mayan civilization. It is located on the territory of Mount Tapira Nature Park. One of the halls of the cave is the so-called cathedral, where the Maya performed sacrifices, as they considered this place shibalbo, the entrance to the underworld.
#16. Leap Castle, Ireland
Leap Castle in Offaly, Ireland is considered one of the world’s cursed castles. Its dark attraction is a large underground dungeon, the bottom of which is studded with sharp stakes. The dungeon was discovered during the restoration of the castle. In order to take out all the bones from it, the workers needed 4 wagons. Locals say that the castle is inhabited by many ghosts of people who died in the dungeon.
#17. Chauchilla Cemetery, Peru
The Chauchilla Cemetery is located approximately 30 minutes from the desert plateau of Nazca, on the southern coast of Peru. The necropolis was discovered in the 20s of the 20th century. According to the researchers, bodies were found in the cemetery, which is about 700 years old, and the last burials here took place in the 9th century. Chowchilla differs from other burial places in the special way in which people were buried. All the bodies are “squatting”, and their “faces” seem to be frozen in wide smiles. The bodies were perfectly preserved thanks to Peru’s dry desert climate.
#18. Sanctuary of Tophet, Tunisia
The most infamous feature of the Carthaginian religion was the sacrifice of children, mostly infants. It was forbidden to cry during the sacrifice, as it was believed that any tear, any plaintive sigh would detract from the value of the sacrifice. In 1921, archaeologists discovered a place where several rows of urns were found with the charred remains of both animals (they were sacrificed instead of people) and small children. The place was named Tophet.
#19. Snake Island, Brazil
The island of Queimada Grande is one of the most dangerous islands in the world, and don’t let its cheerful appearance fool you. On it, there is only a forest, a rocky inhospitable shore up to 200 meters high, and snakes. There are up to six snakes per square meter of the island. The poison of these reptiles acts instantly. The Brazilian authorities have decided to completely ban anyone from visiting this island, and local residents tell chilling stories about it.
#20. Buzludzha, Bulgaria
The largest monument in Bulgaria, located on Mount Buzludzha at a height of 1,441 meters, was built in the 1980s in honor of the Bulgarian Communist Party. Its construction took almost 7 years and involved more than 6,000 workers and experts. The interior was partly decorated with marble, and the stairs were decorated with red cathedral glass. Now the memorial house has been completely looted, and only a concrete frame with fittings, similar to a destroyed alien ship, remains.
#21. City of the Dead, Russia
Dargavs in North Ossetia looks like a cute village with small stone houses, but in fact, it is an ancient necropolis. In crypts of various types, people were buried with all their clothes and personal belongings.
#22. Abandoned hospital, Belitz-Heilstetten, Germany
During the First and Second World Wars, the hospital was used by the military, and in 1916, Adolf Hitler was treated there. After the Second World War, the hospital was in the zone of Soviet occupation and became the largest Soviet hospital outside the USSR. The complex consists of 60 buildings, some of which are now restored. Almost all abandoned buildings are closed to access. Doors and windows are securely nailed with high boards and sheets of plywood.
#23. Subway in Cincinnati, USA
The abandoned subway depot in Cincinnati is a construction project of 1884. But after the First World War and as a result of changes in the demographic situation, the need for the subway disappeared. Construction slowed down in 1925, and half of the 16-kilometer line was completed. Now there are tours of the abandoned subway twice an hour, but it is known that many people wander through its tunnels alone.
#24. Hanging Tombs of Sagada, Philippines
One of the scariest places in the Philippines is located on the island of Luzon in the village of Sagada. Here you can see unusual burial structures made of graves placed high above the ground on rocks. Among the indigenous population, there is a belief that the higher the body of the deceased is buried, the closer his soul will be to heaven.
#25. Capuchin Catacombs, Palermo, Italy
Here you will find about 8,000 mummified bodies, many of which are eerily hung on the walls. In 1920, one of the last permanent residents here was a 2-year-old girl, Rosalia Lombardo. Surprisingly well-preserved, she still surprises visitors with her beautiful hair color.