By Orlando Parfitt
Ghoulish goings-on are routine in the world of castles. The scene of many a bloodthirsty battle, fortresses have also been used as prisons, torture chambers and - like one entry on this list – was home to the world’s most famous vampire. If you’re a traveller with a penchant for the macabre, these creepy castles will float your moat…
Bran Castle
Where is it? Romania
Why is it creepy? Because it’s Dracula’s castle! Okay, it was actually Vlad III’s (better known as ‘The Impaler’) – who inspired Bram Stoker’s blood-sucking character. Plus our Vlad never actually lived here, he only besieged the place, but that hasn’t stopped this castle from becoming Romania’s best-known tourist destination. Besides impalement, other forms of torture used by Vlad include boiling his victims, and nailing their hats to their heads.
Where is it? Romania
Why is it creepy? Because it’s Dracula’s castle! Okay, it was actually Vlad III’s (better known as ‘The Impaler’) – who inspired Bram Stoker’s blood-sucking character. Plus our Vlad never actually lived here, he only besieged the place, but that hasn’t stopped this castle from becoming Romania’s best-known tourist destination. Besides impalement, other forms of torture used by Vlad include boiling his victims, and nailing their hats to their heads.
Cachtice Castle
Where is it? Slovakia
Why is it creepy? The most prolific female killer in history was imprisoned here. Said nutcase was Elizabeth Báthory, a 16th century Hungarian noble woman who, so the legend goes, was accused of torturing and killing hundreds of young girls so she could bathe in their blood and thus retain her youth (that last bit is probably 18th century embellishment). Mostly ruins today, it’ll still send a shiver down your spine.
Where is it? Slovakia
Why is it creepy? The most prolific female killer in history was imprisoned here. Said nutcase was Elizabeth Báthory, a 16th century Hungarian noble woman who, so the legend goes, was accused of torturing and killing hundreds of young girls so she could bathe in their blood and thus retain her youth (that last bit is probably 18th century embellishment). Mostly ruins today, it’ll still send a shiver down your spine.
Edinburgh Castle
Where is it? Edinburgh (obviously), Scotland
Why is it creepy? Loads of ghosts have been spotted here down the years, but the most sinister is probably the Headless Drummer Boy. First sighted in 1650, this percussion-loving phantom apparently only appears when the castle is about to be attacked, so he’s not been seen for a while. Another music-loving ghost, The Lone Piper, wanders the castle’s tunnels playing haunting/really annoying tunes.
Where is it? Edinburgh (obviously), Scotland
Why is it creepy? Loads of ghosts have been spotted here down the years, but the most sinister is probably the Headless Drummer Boy. First sighted in 1650, this percussion-loving phantom apparently only appears when the castle is about to be attacked, so he’s not been seen for a while. Another music-loving ghost, The Lone Piper, wanders the castle’s tunnels playing haunting/really annoying tunes.
Moosham Castle
Where is it? Austria
Why is it creepy? It’s also known as ‘Witches Castle’… because hundreds of young women were tried, tortured and executed there for, err, being witches back in the 17th and 18th centuries. Today you can still walk around the torture chambers in the bowels of the castle. Not an ideal honeymoon location.
Where is it? Austria
Why is it creepy? It’s also known as ‘Witches Castle’… because hundreds of young women were tried, tortured and executed there for, err, being witches back in the 17th and 18th centuries. Today you can still walk around the torture chambers in the bowels of the castle. Not an ideal honeymoon location.
Kellie’s Castle
Where is it? Malaysia
Why is it creepy? The home of Scottish rubber baron William Kellie Smith, this castle has been shrouded in mystery since his death in 1926. Never finished because dozens of builders died from flu, this strange Greco-roman/Moorish eyesore fell into disrepair in the 1930s. Amid rumours Smith’s ghost wanders the grounds, the site was excavated in 2003 and secret tunnels were discovered. Why they’re there, no one knows…
Where is it? Malaysia
Why is it creepy? The home of Scottish rubber baron William Kellie Smith, this castle has been shrouded in mystery since his death in 1926. Never finished because dozens of builders died from flu, this strange Greco-roman/Moorish eyesore fell into disrepair in the 1930s. Amid rumours Smith’s ghost wanders the grounds, the site was excavated in 2003 and secret tunnels were discovered. Why they’re there, no one knows…
Berry Pomeroy Castle
Where is it? Devon, England
Why is it creepy? It has a reputation for being the most haunted castle in England. The most famous ghoulish resident is the ‘White Lady’, apparently the ghost of Lady Margaret Pomeroy. She was imprisoned in the castle for 20 years by evil sister Eleanor - because she was younger and prettier – and eventually starved to death. Khloe Kardashian: don’t get any ideas…
Where is it? Devon, England
Why is it creepy? It has a reputation for being the most haunted castle in England. The most famous ghoulish resident is the ‘White Lady’, apparently the ghost of Lady Margaret Pomeroy. She was imprisoned in the castle for 20 years by evil sister Eleanor - because she was younger and prettier – and eventually starved to death. Khloe Kardashian: don’t get any ideas…
Houska Castle
Where is it? Czech Republic
Why is it creepy? Because it’s built on ‘The Gateway to Hell’! According to the legend, the chapel in the castle was constructed over a bottomless hole that, some believe, leads to the devil’s abode. Making the site even creepier are the walls of the chapel, which (so visitors report) are adorned with paintings of knights slaying lizard-like creatures. Did these beasts emerge from the satanic gateway?
Where is it? Czech Republic
Why is it creepy? Because it’s built on ‘The Gateway to Hell’! According to the legend, the chapel in the castle was constructed over a bottomless hole that, some believe, leads to the devil’s abode. Making the site even creepier are the walls of the chapel, which (so visitors report) are adorned with paintings of knights slaying lizard-like creatures. Did these beasts emerge from the satanic gateway?
Malaspina Castle
Where is it? Italy
Why is it creepy? This sinister medieval castle is home to all kinds of weird legends. Firstly, one of the bedrooms is apparently home to the ‘well of oblivion’ - a knife-filled pit where one female member of the Malaspina family would throw her lovers. There’s also a torture chamber in which, so the myth goes, a noblewoman was locked with a boar and dog for trying to marry a man her father didn’t approve of. Years later, excavations in the room found human and animal remains chained together…
Where is it? Italy
Why is it creepy? This sinister medieval castle is home to all kinds of weird legends. Firstly, one of the bedrooms is apparently home to the ‘well of oblivion’ - a knife-filled pit where one female member of the Malaspina family would throw her lovers. There’s also a torture chamber in which, so the myth goes, a noblewoman was locked with a boar and dog for trying to marry a man her father didn’t approve of. Years later, excavations in the room found human and animal remains chained together…
Reszel Castle
Where is it? Poland
Why is it creepy? Barbara Zdunk, one of the last women in Europe to be executed for ‘witchcraft’, was imprisoned and tortured here in the early 19th century. She was accused of starting a massive fire that burnt most of Reszel town to the ground and was eventually (and perhaps ironically) burnt at the stake. She was quite possibly innocent, which makes this cursed fortress all the more eerie.
Where is it? Poland
Why is it creepy? Barbara Zdunk, one of the last women in Europe to be executed for ‘witchcraft’, was imprisoned and tortured here in the early 19th century. She was accused of starting a massive fire that burnt most of Reszel town to the ground and was eventually (and perhaps ironically) burnt at the stake. She was quite possibly innocent, which makes this cursed fortress all the more eerie.
Castillo de San Cristóbal
Where is it? Puerto Rico
Why is it creepy? This fort was originally built by the Spanish in the 16th century to protect the town of San Jaun from pesky English ‘pirate’/all-round legend Francis Drake. A couple of centuries later it developed a ghostly reputation (so says the legend) after soldiers began mysteriously vanishing from the fortress. Perhaps that’s why one of the towers is known as La Garita del Diablo – literally the ‘The Devil’s Watchtower’.
Where is it? Puerto Rico
Why is it creepy? This fort was originally built by the Spanish in the 16th century to protect the town of San Jaun from pesky English ‘pirate’/all-round legend Francis Drake. A couple of centuries later it developed a ghostly reputation (so says the legend) after soldiers began mysteriously vanishing from the fortress. Perhaps that’s why one of the towers is known as La Garita del Diablo – literally the ‘The Devil’s Watchtower’.
Posting Source: http://uk.travel.yahoo.com/p-promo-3361351
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