1.Chinese hollow black bamboo.

In many countries there are so-called “Valleys of Death”, where mysterious and anomalous phenomena regularly occur. One of the strongest anomalous zones In the world, the Heizhu Valley in southern China is considered, the name of which literally translates as “Black Bamboo Hollow.”
Behind long years In the ravine, under mysterious circumstances, many people disappeared without a trace, whose bodies were never found. Horrible accidents and people die quite often here.
So, in 1950, a plane crashed in the valley for an unknown reason: the ship did not have any technical problems and the crew did not report a disaster. That same year, according to statistics, about 100 people went missing in the ravine!
12 years later, the valley “swallowed” the same number of people - an entire geological exploration group disappeared. Only the guide survived and told what happened.
When the expedition approached the valley, he fell behind a little, at that moment a thick fog suddenly appeared, due to which nothing was visible within a radius of about a meter. The guide, feeling an inexplicable fear, froze in place. A few minutes later, when the fog cleared, the group was no longer there...
The geologists, as well as all their equipment, were never found.
In 1966, a detachment of military cartographers who were engaged in correcting relief maps of this area disappeared here. And in 1976, a group of forest rangers disappeared in a ravine.
There are many versions explaining the anomalous properties of Black Bamboo Hollow - from the effect on human consciousness of vapors emitted by rotting plants and strong geomagnetic radiation to transitions to parallel worlds located in this zone.
Be that as it may, the mystery of the Chinese “Death Valley” has still not been solved, which attracts many tourists here. There is even a souvenir trade here.

2.Valley of headless gold miners in Canada

There is also a valley in northwestern Canada that has a similar dark notoriety. Until the beginning of the 20th century, this desert area had no name: it received its terrible name only in 1908, after the skeletons of gold miners who had disappeared here three years earlier were found beheaded
By the end of the 19th century Golden fever swept the northwest of Canada - in 1897, incredibly large-scale mining of the precious metal was carried out in the famous Klondike.
A year later, the Klondike fever ended, and those who wanted to get rich easily and quickly had to look for new “golden places”. Then six daredevils went to the valley located along the South Nahanni River, which the local Indians avoided.
Gold miners did not pay attention to superstitions. They were never seen alive again. This was the first officially registered case of missing people in this area.
The Canadian police files preserved official data on the valley’s numerous victims: since it received its unattractive name, people regularly disappeared here, and then their bodies were found beheaded.
It is interesting that most of the dead were gold miners, and each of them had a strong physique and could fend for themselves.
It was assumed that bandits were hunting in the Valley of the Headless, or that local residents were thus protecting their gold. The Indians, however, claimed that people were being killed by the local " big Foot" - Sasquatch.
In 1978, an expedition led by scientist Henk Mortimer set off for the valley. The six researchers were equipped with the latest technology and, of course, were ready to defend themselves.
Having reached the place, the scientists reported that they had set up a tent and were heading deep into the valley. Towards evening another call came. The operator heard a heart-rending cry: “Emptiness is coming out of the rock! This is terrible...”, after which the connection was interrupted.
Of course, rescuers were immediately sent to the expedition’s camp site, but, having arrived there by helicopter half an hour after the message, they found neither people nor tents. The headless body of one of the researchers was discovered only six days after the tragedy.
After this, the area acquired the glory of a mystical place. And people continued to disappear... In 1997, a group of scientists, anomaly specialists and military personnel went to the uncanny valley, which also disappeared. The last thing they said: “We are surrounded by thick fog”...
The mystery of the murderous valley has not been solved to this day, but despite this, curious tourists continue to visit it willingly.

3.Ghosts of Sable Island in the Atlantic Ocean

In the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately 180 km southeast of the coast of Canada, a “nomadic” sickle-shaped fish is drifting Sable Island.
Since this small island was discovered by Europeans, it has instilled real terror in sailors. As soon as they called it: “ship devourer”, “shipwreck island”, “deadly saber”, “ghost island”...
And in our time, Sable is called the “cemetery of the Atlantic.” By the way, its official name in English means black, mourning color (sable).
Of course, it was not by chance that the island became so notorious - shipwrecks actually happened here all the time. Now it’s difficult to say how many ships found their deaths here...
The fact is that in the coastal waters of Sable, navigation is very difficult due to two currents found here - the cold Lambrador and the warm Gulf Stream. The currents create whirlpools, huge waves and the movement of the sand island.
Yes, Sable moves in the ocean waters. To the east, at an approximate speed of 200 meters per year. Moreover, along with the position of the treacherous island, which is difficult to see due to constant fog and giant waves, its size is constantly changing.
So on maps of the 16th century its length was about 300 km, but now it has decreased to 42. It was assumed that the island would soon completely disappear, but over the last century it has, on the contrary, begun to increase
The fate of the wrecked ships was also aggravated by the nature of the local sands - they quickly suck in any objects. Huge ships disappeared completely underground in just 2-3 months.
The last victim of the insatiable island was the American steamship Manhassent in 1947. After that, 2 lighthouses and a radio station were installed on Sable - since then the disasters have finally stopped.
Nowadays, about 20 - 25 people permanently live on the island - they service the lighthouses, radio station and local hydrometeorological center, and also know how to conduct rescue operations- in case of a shipwreck.
These people work in very difficult conditions, and not only because of the constant fog and hurricane winds - many of them say that they see the ghosts of dead sailors. Not surprising - they literally live on bones.
One of the workers even had to be evacuated from the island, because every night he was begged for help by a ghost with the schooner Sylvia Mosher that was wrecked here in 1926...

4. Nightmare of Venice-Poveglia

Romantic Venice also has its own mystical places. Not far from the wonderful canals of the city is the island of Poveglia, which has gained the dubious reputation of a real “symbol of horror”.
It all started back in Roman times, when plague victims were brought here to certain death in order to isolate society from them.
In the 14th century, during the second epidemic of this disease, or the Black Death, hopelessly ill Venetians were brought to Poveglia, where, in terrible agony, they said goodbye to life. People were buried in one huge mass grave.
According to legends, due to the fact that there was no time to bury the dead, the bodies were simply burned, so now the soil of the island is half made of human ashes. They say that in total about 160 thousand unfortunate people died here.
In 1922, a psychiatric hospital was opened on the creepy island, “a haven of lost souls.” That’s when a real nightmare began here - patients complained of wild headaches, and at night the ghosts of dead people appeared to them, patients heard wild screams and screams...
And in Venice there were rumors that the head doctor of this hospital was himself unwell and was conducting experiments on the mentally ill - testing prohibited drugs and sophisticated healing techniques on them, and in the bell tower of the hospital he was performing a lobotomy using improvised means - chisels, hammers, drills...
If you believe local legends, soon the doctor himself began to see the ghosts of Poveglia, after which, in a fit of madness, he threw himself from that very tower.
In 1968, Poveglia was completely abandoned, now no one lives here, the hospital bell tower serves only as a landmark, and even fishermen try to stay away from the cursed island - they are afraid of accidentally catching human bones instead of fish.
The authorities, and the Venetians themselves, deny all these rumors - they claim that the island building served only as a rest home for the elderly. However, its dilapidated premises still contain hospital beds and pieces of medical equipment.

5. The ominous Lake Ivachevskoye in Russia

Russia also has its own sinister zones. One of them is located in the Vologda region near the city of Cherepovets - in the area of ​​the local lake Ivachevskoye, on the shores of which people relax both in summer and winter.
Researchers of anomalous phenomena consider this place to be disastrous, since people quite often disappear here without a trace. At the same time, as in any other similar case, there are many explanations for these mysterious phenomena - aliens and monsters, unknown evil forces and transitions to other worlds are blamed for the disappearance of people.
Some who have visited the lake say that when approaching it, their heartbeat and breathing slowed down, and then a feeling of complete serenity appeared. However, already at the very water, calmness was replaced by anxiety, turning into inexplicable fear - it seemed that something hostile was nearby.
Other “eyewitnesses” said that they even felt a certain force that forced them to obey themselves. Perhaps this is why suicides occur so often here.
Four years ago, a group of researchers was sent to the area. As a result, scientists have identified signs of geomagnetic changes in this area that could cause anomalies.
Skeptics find a much more prosaic explanation for the disappearances of people - they blame the swamps located near the lake for all misfortunes.
Moreover, in the 19th century, those same swamps were called Living because of the much greater number of crimes and suicides committed here, in contrast to other Russian provinces.
However, local residents, like skeptics, are sure that Ivachevskoye is a very ordinary lake, since nothing strange happened to them there. I think the truth is somewhere in the middle.

6.Scottish Overtown Bridge.

In the ancient Scottish estate of Overtoun, which is located a few kilometers northwest of the town of Glasgow, there is a stone arched bridge over a small river, built at the end of the 19th century.
Until the middle of the next century, the bridge was very ordinary, and nothing strange was connected with it. And so, in the 50s of the 20th century, completely inexplicable events began to happen here - dogs began to regularly jump from one of its niches, most of which crashed to death, since the height of the bridge is 15 meters.
Surprisingly, the few surviving quadrupeds, despite the pain and wounds, again climbed to that same niche and repeated the suicide attempt, as if they were forced by some unknown force...
About once a month, a variety of dogs repeated the fate of their unfortunate predecessors. Of course, the appearance of the mystical legend did not take long to arrive.
Locals they began to say that the dogs were being pushed to death by two ghosts - the spirit of a child who was thrown from this very place by his own father, and the father himself, who repented and flew after the child.
However, scientists have put forward their hypothesis about the reasons for the strange phenomenon. The fact is that rodents live under the bridge, and dogs, having smelled them, are just following their hunting instinct. Although this theory does not explain the repeated jumping of dogs, which contradicts the instinct of self-preservation.
Therefore, those who believe in anomalous phenomena suggest that the Overtown Bridge may be some kind of transition to other worlds, and dogs pay with their lives for being too curious.

7. Mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle.

Perhaps the most famous mystical place in the world is the Bermuda Triangle, a section of the Atlantic Ocean between Bermuda, Florida and Puerto Rico.
The name of the Bermuda Triangle has already become a household name and, of course, we have all repeatedly heard stories about the inexplicable and traceless disappearances of ships and planes in it, about ghost ships found here, abandoned by the crew, about mysterious movements in time, instantaneous in space and many other creepy things things.
There are also a great many explanations for all these phenomena - some claim that aliens are at work here, others believe that there are temporary or black holes in the Bermuda Triangle, others suggest that faults in space are to blame, and some even think that people are being abducted inhabitants of the disappeared Atlantis!
Skeptics and scientists do not find anything mystical in the notoriety of the triangle - it has been established that this area is very difficult to navigate, since there are many shallows here, and storms and cyclones often arise.
In 1502, the navigator Bermudez, originally from Spain, near the coast of Central America came across islands surrounded by dangerous shoals and reefs. He called them the Devil's Islands. And only a few decades later they began to be called Bermuda in honor of himself.
For many centuries, the area of ​​Bermuda was recognized as dangerous among travelers, but the unfavorable zone expanded significantly only in the 20th century.
It all started in 1950, when a correspondent for the Associated Press, one of the world's largest news agencies, wrote about mysterious disappearances in the area, which he called the "Devil's Sea." The famous name appeared only 14 years later in the publication of Vincent Gaddis in one of the spiritualist magazines.
However, the real popularity of the triangle was brought by Charles Berlitz’s 1974 book “The Bermuda Triangle,” which collected all the mysterious cases that occurred in this zone.
However, it was later established that some facts in the book were presented incorrectly, and other strange cases occurred completely outside the boundaries of that same triangle.
Opponents of the mystical theory of this area also point out that in many other, most ordinary places on our planet, inexplicable accidents also occur quite often.
Be that as it may, it is unlikely that in the near future we will be able to say with one hundred percent certainty whether there is something mystical in the Bermuda Triangle or not, and also whether mystical phenomena exist at all, or whether everything anomalous has simply not yet been explained by science.
One thing is absolutely clear - rumors, myths and legends never appear out of nowhere.

Places and buildings covered in legends and mystical stories. Places that give you goosebumps.

Hunters looking for thrills and adrenaline, glasses splashing in the blood, can not only jump with a parachute and run from avalanches. Less athletic citizens, especially those inclined to travel, prefer to travel to strange and scary places, of which there are plenty on our planet. And it’s not always Pripyat, where a terrible disaster really happened. These are places that are the stuff of legends. About which you can make horror films.

1. House of Winchester
California

160 rooms, 40 stairs and one big secret. This is what the Winchester house is like - a huge manor in San Jose, where a crazy widow and a whole family of ghosts lived. It all started when Sarah Winchester lost her husband and inherited his multi-million dollar fortune. Later, the spirit of the deceased appeared to her, who told her the sad news: money was made on human bones, all Winchesters were cursed, and the ghosts would take revenge. You can make peace with them only by starting to build a house. Preferably without stopping. Because if the hammering stops, the woman will die.
Sarah immediately got to work. The newly minted millionaire bought an old mansion in California and hired workers. New rooms, corridors, balconies and secret passages began to appear in the house. The floors were intertwined with a web of stairs, which most often led to nowhere - Mrs. Winchester, who was gradually losing her mind, hoped to lead the ghosts that were pursuing her astray. The house grew by leaps and bounds, construction did not stop for more than a day, and eventually continued for 38 years! Today, tourist excursions are taken to this grand mansion. You cannot fight off the group - otherwise you will instantly get lost in the maze of creepy rooms. In which, as they say, ghosts are still waiting for their victims.

2. Aokigahara Forest
Japan

The gloomy forest at the foot of Mount Fuji would be suitable for filming The Blair Witch Project. The sun barely breaks through the dense trees of the national park, and people’s compasses stop working here. The Japanese themselves nicknamed this place the “Forest of Suicides”: since the 1950s, more than five hundred people have committed suicide in the remote thicket. In terms of the number of suicides, only the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco is ahead of Aokigahara.
Instead of signs saying “Don’t throw trash!” There are notices in the forest asking people to think about their loved ones. Telephone numbers of psychological services are written everywhere. Video surveillance is underway. But people (most often clerks in business suits, tortured by office life) continue to die regularly: peaceful tourists from time to time stumble upon the bodies of the dead in the forest or “murder weapons” in the form of tablets and rope loops. In general, have a nice walk!

3. Overtone Bridge
Scotland

The old arch bridge is located near the Scottish village of Milton. Next to it is the powerful Overtown mansion, which could become a refuge for dozens of disgruntled ghosts. But we have no complaints about the house, but we do have complaints about the bridge. In the middle of the 20th century, strange things began to happen on it: dozens of dogs suddenly threw themselves from a 15-meter height, fell onto rocks and were killed. Those that survived returned and tried again. The bridge has turned into a real “four-legged killer.”
Over the course of ten years, several hundred dogs died on the bridge. They all jumped from the same parapet. No one could understand what pushed the watchdogs into the abyss. Zoologists, veterinarians and other specialists tried to unravel the terrible mystery. It soon became clear that rats and minks lived under the bridge, on which dogs driven by the hunting instinct could rush. But there was another version - they say, the bridge is located on the border between the worlds of the living and the dead. Sensing something paranormal, the dogs followed the trail and died as punishment for their curiosity.

4.San Zhi Ghost Town
Taiwan

A luxurious resort on the sea coast was built specifically for the local rich. Futuristic-style houses with round rooms and curved staircases were intended for those who were tired of everyday life. However, already at the construction stage it became clear that San Zhi was under a curse. Dozens of workers died under strange circumstances: they broke their necks falling from a height (even with safety ropes), and died under collapsed cranes. The surrounding residents were sure that the town was inhabited by evil spirits. There were harrowing stories about a Japanese “death camp” that had once been located here.
At the end of the 1980s, construction stalled. Investors expected that San Zhi’s “space” apartments would find their buyers, but all negotiations ended in nothing. Having learned about the ominous features of this place, superstitious Taiwanese refused to invest money in real estate. As a result, the resort gradually turned into a ghost town. Pot-bellied houses stand in disrepair, beautiful beaches are deserted, paths are overgrown with weeds. The authorities even wanted to demolish the abandoned resort, but were stopped by a wave of protests: local residents are afraid that after the destruction of their houses, evil spirits will go for a walk in the nearest villages.

5. Poveglia Island
Italy

The tiny island of Poveglia near Venice is surrounded by a thick fog of horror stories. For several decades of the 14th century, during the Black Death that raged in the world, people infected with the plague were brought here - hopelessly ill people who had no chance to survive. Here, on the island, a “mass grave” was built in which thousands of bodies were buried. There is a version that the corpses were not buried, but burned, which is why the soil on Poveglia consists of 50 percent human ash.
However, this is only the beginning of the horror story. In 1922, a psychiatric hospital was located on the island. Almost all of her patients soon began to suffer from terrible headaches and complain that the clinic was literally filled with the ghosts of the dead. But this only played into the hands of the chief doctor, who fed the mentally ill with neuroleptics and experimented on them. The dilapidated clinic building with barred windows, beds and fragments of medical equipment still remains on the island. There is also a bell tower here (now it serves as a lighthouse), from which, according to legend, a crazy doctor threw himself at the end of the story.

6. Jatinga
India

The village of Jatinga in the mountains of the Indian state of Assam has long been nicknamed “the graveyard of birds.” Every August, large flocks of birds appear in the sky above the local valley and fall to the ground screaming. The mass suicide lasts for several days in a row, some of the birds die, while the rest, as if under the influence of hypnosis, easily allow themselves to be controlled. The peasants call this eerie phenomenon “nights of falling birds” and specially gather around the fires in the evenings to watch the almost constant fall of birds. Indians consider it a gift from God.
Ornithologists have been studying the Jatinga phenomenon for many years. According to one version, the culprit is geophysical anomalies that throw migratory birds off course. Another idea is that the birds get caught in powerful wind currents, lose their strength, and are blown towards the village. Noticing the lit fires, the birds rush into the light and, not calculating the distance, die.

7. Island of the Dolls
Mexico

You can get to this kingdom of fear in the land of the Aztecs by boat along the famous canals of Xochimilco. The views will appeal to fans of films about Chucky the killer doll: every tree and every building on the island is covered with creepy dolls with empty eye sockets, broken limbs and crushed heads. All this was done on the island by a guy named Julian Barrera. Once, when a girl drowned in a canal, he accidentally found a doll at the place of her death. Believing that the toy was connected to the spirit of the deceased, Barrera left it on the island. And then I found another doll. And he could no longer stop, continuing to collect discarded dolls for the next 50 years.
The crazy Mexican (who, by the way, loved to pawn his collar) even built a hut on the island, where he settled. The collection of mutilated toys continued to grow. One day, the island suddenly went under water (this sometimes happens in Mexico), and soon surfaced again, but by that time its inhabitant had already disappeared without a trace. All that remains are the dolls, which today tourists who are partial to horror stories come to see.

8. Mary King's Dead End
Edinburgh

400 years ago, Mary King's Quarter (that was the name of the owner of most of the houses here) was one of the busiest places in Edinburgh. The situation changed when a plague epidemic came to the city. There is a legend that, trying to prevent the spread of the disease, the authorities isolated all those infected in one area, after which they surrounded the dangerous area with a blank wall. People were taken to Mary King's cul-de-sac during several epidemics and died without any outside help. Among these unfortunates was Little Annie - a little girl who was separated from her parents and locked up in " city ​​of the dead" because she was infected. It is known for certain that only part of this legend is fiction. In fact, there was no wall, although there was a quarantine for the infected who were visited by the doctor.
Today the underground quarters of Edinburgh (above them a long time ago New town) have become a tourist attraction. Why haven't they stopped being creepy? IN stone labyrinths It’s better not to go in without a guide, and it’s worth inserting new batteries into the flashlight – there’s nothing to do in the dungeon without light. There are stories that Mary King's Dead End is infested with the ghosts of dead people, and that some "lucky" people are grabbed by the knees by the ghost of little Annie.

During a visit, your skin gets goosebumps from what you see here. We will get acquainted with the most terrible places on earth below.

Old Jewish cemetery in Prague, Czech Republic

Processions in this cemetery took place for almost four centuries (from 1439 to 1787). More than 100 thousand dead are buried on a relatively small plot of land, and the number of gravestones reaches 12,000. More ancient
Cemetery workers covered the burials with earth, and new tombstones were erected in the same place. On the territory of the cemetery there are places where 12 burial tiers are located under the earth's crust. As time passed, the subsided earth revealed old gravestones to the eyes of the living, who began to move later slabs. The view was not only unusual, but also creepy.

Island of Abandoned Dolls, Mexico

There is a very strange abandoned island in Mexico, most of which is inhabited by scary dolls. They say that in 1950, a certain hermit, Julian Santana Barrera, began collecting and hanging dolls from trash cans, who in this way tried to calm the soul of a girl who had drowned nearby. Julian himself drowned on the island on April 17, 2001. Now there are about 1000 exhibits on the island.

Hashima Island, Japan

Hashima is a former coal mining settlement founded in 1887. It was considered one of the most densely populated places on earth - with coastline about a kilometer its population in 1959 was 5,259 people. When coal mining here became unprofitable, the mine was closed and the island city joined the list of ghost towns. This happened in 1974.

Chapel of Bones, Portugal

The Copella was built in the 16th century by a Franciscan monk. The chapel itself is small - only 18.6 meters long and 11 meters wide, but the bones and skulls of five thousand monks are kept 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”).

Suicide Forest, Japan

Suicide Forest is the unofficial name of the Aokigahara Jukai forest, located in Japan on the island of Honshu and famous for the frequent suicides committed there. The forest was originally associated with Japanese mythology and was traditionally thought to be the abode of demons and ghosts. Now it is considered the second most popular place in the world (first at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco) to commit suicide. At the entrance to the forest there is a poster: “Your life is a priceless gift from your parents. Think about them and your family. You don't have to suffer alone. Call us 22-0110."

Abandoned psychiatric hospital in Parma, Italy

Brazilian artist Herbert Baglione created an art piece from a building that once housed a psychiatric hospital. He depicted the spirit of this place. Now ghostly figures of exhausted patients wander around the former hospital.

Church of St. George, Czech Republic

The church in the Czech village of Lukova has been abandoned since 1968, when part of its roof collapsed during a funeral ceremony. Artist Jakub Hadrava populated the church with ghost sculptures, giving it a particularly sinister look.

Catacombs in Paris, France

Catacombs - a network of winding underground tunnels and caves near Paris. The total length, according to various sources, 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.

Centralia, Pennsylvania, USA

Due to an underground fire that broke out 50 years ago and continues to burn to this day, the number of residents has decreased from 1,000 people (1981) to 7 people (2012). Centralia now has the smallest population in the state of Pennsylvania. Centralia served as the prototype for the creation of the city in the Silent Hill series of games and in the film based on this game.

Magic Market Akodessewa, Togo

The Akodesseva market for magical items and witchcraft herbs is located right in the center of the city of Lome, the capital of the state of Togo in Africa. Africans of Togo, Ghana and Nigeria still practice the voodoo religion and believe in the miraculous properties of dolls. Akodesseva's fetish assortment is extremely exotic: here you can buy cattle skulls, dried heads of monkeys, buffalos and leopards and many other equally “wonderful” things.

Plague Island, Italy

Poveglia is one of the most famous islands Venetian lagoon, northern Italy. It is said that since Roman times the island was used as a place of exile for plague patients, and therefore up to 160,000 people were buried on it. The souls of many of the dead allegedly turned into ghosts, with which the island is now filled. The island's dark reputation is compounded by stories of horrific experiments allegedly carried out on psychiatric patients. In this regard, researchers paranormal phenomena They call the island one of the most terrible places on earth.

Hill of Crosses, Lithuania

The Mountain of Crosses is a hill on which many Lithuanian crosses are installed, their total number is approximately 50 thousand. Despite the external resemblance, it is not a cemetery. According to popular belief, good luck will accompany those who leave a cross on the Mountain. Neither the time of the appearance of the Mountain of Crosses nor the reasons for its appearance can be said with certainty. To this day, this place is shrouded in secrets and legends.

Burials of Kabayan, Philippines

The famous fire mummies of Kabayan, dating back to 1200-1500 AD, are buried here, as well as, as local residents believe, their spirits. They were made using a complex mummification process, and are now carefully guarded, as cases of their theft are not uncommon. Why? As one of the robbers said, “he had the right to do this,” since the mummy was his great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather.

Overtoun 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 threw themselves from a 15-meter height, fell onto rocks and were killed. Those that survived came back and tried again. The bridge has turned into a real “killer” of four-legged animals.

Actun-Tunichil-Muknal Cave, Belize

Actun Tunichil Muknal is a cave near the city of San Ignacio, Belize. It is an archaeological site of the Mayan civilization. Located on the territory natural park Mount Tapira. One of the halls of the cave is the so-called cathedral, where the Mayans made sacrifices, as they considered this place to be Xibalba - the entrance to the underworld.

Leap Castle, Ireland

Leap Castle in Offaly, Ireland is considered one of the cursed castles in the world. Its gloomy 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 remove all the bones from it, the workers needed 4 carts. Local residents say that the castle is haunted by many ghosts of people who died in the dungeon.

Chauchilla Cemetery, Peru

The Chauchilla Cemetery is located about 30 minutes from the Nazca desert plateau, on the southern coast of Peru. The necropolis was discovered in the 20s of the twentieth century. According to researchers, bodies found in the cemetery are about 700 years old, and the last burials here took place in the 9th century. Chowchilla differs from other burial sites in the special way in which people were buried. All the bodies are “squatting”, and their “faces” seem to be frozen in a wide smile. The bodies were perfectly preserved thanks to the Peruvian dry desert climate.

Sanctuary of Tophet, Tunisia

The most notorious feature of Carthage's religion was the sacrifice of children, mainly infants. During the sacrifice it was forbidden to cry, since it was believed that any tear, any plaintive sigh would detract from the value of the sacrifice. In 1921, archaeologists discovered a site where several rows of urns were found containing the charred remains of both animals (they were sacrificed instead of people) and small children. The place was called Tophet.

Snake Island, Brazil

Queimada Grande is one of the most dangerous and famous islands on our planet. There is only a forest, a rocky, inhospitable coast 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. Brazilian authorities have decided to completely ban anyone from visiting the island, and locals are telling chilling stories about it.

Buzludzha, Bulgaria

The largest monument in Bulgaria, located on Mount Buzludzha with a height of 1441 meters, was built in the 1980s in honor of the Bulgarian Communist Party. Its construction took almost 7 years and involved more than 6 thousand workers and experts. The interior was partly decorated with marble, and the staircases were decorated with red cathedral glass. Now the monument house has been completely looted, only a concrete frame with reinforcement remains, looking like a destroyed alien ship.

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. People were buried in various types of crypts along with all their clothing and personal belongings.

Abandoned military hospital Beelitz-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 World War II, the hospital found itself in the zone of Soviet occupation and became the largest Soviet hospital outside the USSR. The complex consists of 60 buildings, some of which have now been restored. Almost all abandoned buildings are closed to access. The doors and windows are securely boarded up with high boards and sheets of plywood.

Unfinished subway in Cincinnati, USA

Abandoned subway depot in Cincinnati - project built in 1884. But after the First World War and as a result of changing demographics, the need for the metro disappeared. Construction slowed in 1925, with half of the 16 km line completed. The abandoned subway now hosts tours twice a year, but many people are known to wander its tunnels alone.

Hanging Coffins of Sagada, Philippines

On the island of Luzon, in the village of Sagada, there is one of the most frightening places in the Philippines. Here you can see unusual funeral structures made of coffins placed high above the ground on the rocks. There is a belief among the indigenous population that the higher the body of the deceased is buried, the closer his soul will be to heaven.

Nuclear lighthouse at Cape Aniva (Sakhalin)

The lighthouse was built with great difficulty in 1939 according to the design of the architect Miura Shinobu - it was a unique and most complex technical structure in all of Sakhalin. It operated on a diesel generator and battery backup until the early 1990s, when it was refurbished. Thanks to the nuclear energy source, maintenance costs were minimal, but soon there was no money left for this either - the building was empty, and in 2006 the military removed two isotope installations that powered the lighthouse from here. It once shone for 17.5 miles, but is now plundered and abandoned.

Eighth workshop of the Dagdizel plant, Makhachkala

Naval weapons testing station, commissioned in 1939. It is located 2.7 km from the coast and has not been used for a long time. Construction took a long time and was complicated by difficult conditions. Unfortunately, the workshop did not serve the plant for long. The requirements for the work carried out in the workshop changed, and in April 1966 this grandiose structure was written off from the factory balance sheet. Now this “Array” is abandoned and stands in the Caspian Sea, resembling an ancient monster from the shore.

Psychiatric Clinic Lier Sikehus, Norway

At the Norwegian psychiatric hospital, which is located in small town Lier, half an hour from Oslo, has a dark past. Experiments on patients were once carried out here, and for unknown reasons, four hospital buildings were abandoned in 1985. Equipment, beds, even magazines and personal belongings of patients remained in the abandoned buildings. At the same time, the remaining eight buildings of the hospital are still operating to this day.

Gunkanjima Island, Japan

In fact, the island is called Hashima, nicknamed Gunkanjima, which means “cruiser island.” The island was settled in 1810 when coal was discovered there. Within fifty years, it has become the most populated island in the world in terms of the ratio of land and the number of inhabitants on it: 5,300 people with a radius of the island itself of one kilometer. By 1974, the reserves of coal and other minerals on Gankajima were completely exhausted, and people left the island. Today, visiting the island is prohibited. There are many legends about this place among the people.

There are places in the world that have attracted people for many decades. They are accompanied by mysticism, crimes remain unsolved, disappearances of people are not explained in any way, frightening natural phenomena and creepy stories of witnesses appear constantly. Stories are passed down from generation to generation. Sometimes it is very difficult to find out the truth about such a mysterious place. In the age of science, the inability to explain everything rationally can lead to madness. Especially when there is no way to get an answer at all. Even leading scientists regularly encounter mysteries so complex that they simply cannot figure them out. In a world that is well explored, it is always unusual to learn about places that hide surprises. If you love mysticism and think you can solve the mysteries of these places, get to know them. You may come to the conclusion that some things are better left unknown.

Overton Bridge, Scotland

Fifty dogs have jumped off the bridge in the last fifty years. Animals die on sharp stones tens of meters under the bridge. The record number was five dogs in six months. All tragic incidents occurred in the same place, on the right side between the last two parapets. The Scottish SPCA recognized the problem as a mystery. All this has caused a lot of discussion on the Internet about the reasons why animals commit suicide. Locals try not to walk their dogs in the vicinity of the bridge. Many believe the bridge is haunted after a man threw his child off it. He believed that the newborn was the embodiment of the devil. After that, he tried to kill himself, but it didn’t work out, and when he was asked why he decided to do this, the man replied that the bridge forced him.

Humberstone and La Noria, Chile

In 1872, these two towns in the Chilean desert were crowded with salt mine workers. During the Great Depression, manufacturing collapsed and cities were abandoned. In the sixties of the twentieth century, no one lived here anymore. Local residents refuse to walk the streets of abandoned towns. There are rumors that the souls of the dead wander there at night. There is a legend that the inhabitants never really left their houses. You can ignore the rumors about ghosts, but there is something even more frightening - most of the graves have been excavated and skeletons are visible. People are sure that the dead walk at night because grave robbers have disturbed their rest. Even in daylight, some people hear voices and children's laughter here.

Lake Anjikuni, Canada

How can an entire village with all its inhabitants simply disappear without a trace? In 1930, hunter Joe LaBelle went to an Indian village near Lake Anjikuni. When he got there, he saw that the place was completely deserted - people had left food, weapons and clothes. All thirty residents have disappeared! Labelle reported this to the police, but the Indians were never found. The strangest part of what happened is that the dogs that lived in this village were found frozen to death, they were hungry, but there was plenty of food around. To this day there is no clear explanation for what happened. Unless, of course, you believe in aliens - some believe that they abducted the Indians.

Skeleton Lake, India

In 1942, a frightening discovery was made in India - Lake Roopkund was found in the mountains, in which more than two hundred skeletons were discovered. The bones have been dated to 850 AD. Scientists have never been able to explain their appearance. Some believe that people died during the storm, while others say it was suicide.

Bigelow Ranch, USA

The last owners of the house were Terry and Gwen Sherman. He encountered so many paranormal events that he simply ran away from the ranch. For example, ten cows simply disappeared without a trace, large shining spheres were seen above the house, doors appeared in the air, three dogs disappeared, and in the place where they were last seen, a huge spot was noticed, as if from a fire. Surprisingly, all the dead animals found near the ranch did not shed a drop of blood - the skeletons were removed from the corpses, but there was no trace on the ground.

Disney Discovery Island, USA

The island has been closed to visitors for almost twenty years. Some are sure that the reason is mysticism. The abandoned island still has electricity. Why? In addition, creepy vultures live there. The atmosphere there is truly scary!

Yonaguni Monument, Japan

In 1986, a diver discovered mysterious underwater structures near south coast Japan. Twenty-five meters underwater is the largest pyramid in the world. There is a road around it, it is absolutely clear that the entire structure is created by human hands. Scientists have studied the structure and are sure that it is five thousand years old. But why is it there? The debate continues further.

Hotel del Salto, Colombia

The hotel is located thirty kilometers from the capital, and was once very popular. Now it is closed - a whole chain of suicides has occurred there. Locals are sure that the place is cursed.

Kapustin Yar, Russia

This place is one of the most mysterious in Russia. The space program developed here and nuclear weapons were tested. It is not possible to explore this place - it is closed to outsiders.

Aokigahara Forest, Japan

At the foot of Mount Fuji is the Aokigahara forest, where an incredible number of suicides have been committed. According to legend, demons and spirits live in the forest. Anyone who comes there sad falls under the power of evil forces and kills himself. More than fifty corpses are found here every year!

Chateau Miranda, Belgium

The castle's previous owners abandoned it during the French Revolution. Then they opened a shelter there, but that too soon moved. The building stands abandoned and is accompanied by an atmosphere of mystery. Why does everyone leave him without regrets?

Devil's Triangle, Pacific Ocean

People are mysteriously disappearing in this part of the ocean. Mysterious situations are associated with plane crashes and magnetic anomalies. Researchers tried to explain the nature of what was happening, but failed to cope with the task.

Lighthouse at Cape Aniva, Russia

The lighthouse was built in 1939 near Sakhalin. It is believed to be radioactive, so entering the building is prohibited. Some believe that the building is a government shelter where political criminals are interrogated. Others believe that the lighthouse is haunted.

Helltown, USA

Strange things are happening on this piece of land in Ohio. Satanists gather here, it is believed that the souls of people who burned alive in their houses still live here, and someone claims that a chemical disaster occurred here, from which some residents mutated.

San Luis Valley, USA

Aliens have been seen here many times. Disks and spheres appear in the sky, which have been repeatedly recorded on film and photographed by local residents. The mystery remains: why is everything happening in this particular valley?

Pine Gap, Australia

This is a closed piece of land that is controlled by the government and is secret. It is believed that from here researchers are trying to contact other galaxies. However, everything is classified, so it is unlikely that it will be possible to find out the truth.

Paris Mines, France

Everyone knows the catacombs in Paris, but the mines are closed to visitors. They are so secret that even the most enthusiastic researchers cannot get there. In September 2004, the police found an underground cinema in the mines, but the next day there was no trace of it!

Riddle House, USA

Many tragedies happened in this house. For example, one of the employees committed suicide. Residents heard strange voices and sounds. The house was abandoned. When the workers returned again, they noticed strange occurrences - windows opened on their own, and tools turned on for no reason.

Death Valley, USA

This valley is known for rocks that move across the ground for no apparent reason. Scientists have not been able to explain why this might happen. Each stone weighs hundreds of kilograms and moves! This is a real mystery.

Door to Hell, Turkmenistan

When Soviet scientists were looking for a source of natural gas here, a huge crater emerged from which flames burst out - the fire has not gone out for almost fifty years. No wonder tourists come here. It is simply impossible to close the crater, and how much gas there is still in it is unknown.

How nice it is to find a quiet and cozy clearing in the forest. Or admire the beautiful panorama from the top of a mountain. What if we told you that there may be something waiting for you there that you are not always ready to face?

We present to your attention 20 mysterious places that attract with their otherworldly power.

Patriarch's Ponds, Moscow

It was not for nothing that Bulgakov made the Patriarch’s the place where Woland first appeared in Moscow. Legends about the appearance of the devil to people arose when the place was still called “Three Ponds”. The ponds were named Patriarchal after frightened local residents asked the patriarch to consecrate the place.

Besov Nos, Karelia

Besov Nos is located on Lake Onega. It is famous for its petroglyphs, which date back to approximately the 3rd millennium BC. e. The most famous of them is the 2.3-meter “Demon”, which gave the name to the cape.

The monks who arrived on the cape in the 16th century saw evil in the image, after which they knocked an eight-pointed cross over the image of the devil. Those who have visited the Demon Nose note that the perception of time changes there.

Sami labyrinths, Karelia

There are 500 such labyrinths in the world, and 50 of them are in Russia. They were erected mainly on the shores of the seas or at the mouths of rivers. All labyrinths had cult significance, but historians do not yet know by whom exactly and for what purpose they were built.

Many scientists believe that labyrinths were built on burial grounds so that the soul of the deceased could not leave its resting place. Babylons are scattered along the shores of the White, Barents and Baltic seas.

Whale Alley, Chukotka

Scientists believe that the bones of 50 bowhead whales were used to build Whale Alley. Apparently, the alley was built according to a clear design - the bones were dug in opposite each other, each about 5 meters high.

Historians agree that Whale Alley was a ritual place for the Chukchi tribes, although it is not mentioned in local legends. It is believed that the alley could equally have been a sanctuary, a coliseum and a meeting place for the tribe.

Kashkulak cave, Khakassia

Now the Kashkulak cave is a tourist site. But 2 thousand years ago, the first tier was used by local shamans as a ritual hall. The walls of the Temple Grotto are still covered with soot from numerous sacrifices.

The Kashkulak cave appears in many legends, most often quite gloomy ones. People disappear in it, strange sounds are heard, and local residents claim that the spirit of an evil shaman lives in the cave. By the way, shamanic rituals are still held there today.

Lake Teletskoye, Altai

Lake Teletskoye is the second in our country in terms of reserves fresh water. Even in winter it does not completely freeze. There is a legend about the “forest of the dead” at the bottom of the lake.

Despite its relatively small size, Lake Teletskoye is quite deep - up to 325 m at the Korbu waterfall. At the same time, the temperature at depth, even at the height of summer, does not exceed 4 °C. Due to this, at a depth of more than 100 m, bodies are simply “preserved” and remain there, as they say, for centuries.

Vasyugan swamps, Western Siberia

The Vasyugan swamps are sometimes called the “Russian Amazon”. They stretch for 573 km from west to east. Their area is constantly growing and already exceeds 53 thousand square meters. km (which is larger than the area of ​​Switzerland).

Over the past 500 years, 75% of the swamps have formed. The age of the Vasyugan swamps is at least 10 thousand years. Local residents willingly tell legends that these swamps were created by a devil who tried to hide the Earth from God.

Mount Kholatchakhl, Ural

Tradition says that during a terrible flood, 10 men and 1 woman were saved on the slopes of the mountain. They climbed to the top to protect themselves from the flood, but the waves managed to take 9 men. The survivors gave rise to the Mansi people, and the mountain that saved them was called Kholatchakhl, or “mountain of the dead.”

The mountain gained fame due to a terrible incident in 1959, when Dyatlov’s group died on an unnamed pass. The circumstances of their death are still unknown.

Menhirs, Khakassia

These are huge slabs of wild stone, roughly processed by primitive man and vertically stuck into the ground. They can reach a height of 20 m, and some weigh up to 200 tons! There is still no exact data for what purpose ancient people created menhirs. The Khakass giants are located in an anomalous area, directly above tectonic faults in the earth's crust.

The two largest stones are called the "Great Gate". They say that if you make a wish while you are between them, it will come true. Finding menhirs is quite easy - you need to get to the capital of Khakassia, Abakan.

Cape Ryty, Eastern Siberia

Cape Ryty is replete with rich pastures, but there are no human settlements nearby. Locals consider the cape dangerous place and they call it Kher-Khushun - “angry, angry cape.” There is a legend that due to the strife of three tribes in this place, an angry spirit brought down a mudflow on them.

No real evidence of this has been found. But archaeologists discovered a stone wall on the cape, the purpose of which is unknown, and stone tours and pots, which were most likely used as lamps.

Lake Pleshcheyevo, Pereslavl-Zalessky

Old-timers consider the lake a mystical place. Sometimes tourists get lost in the fog on the coast and find themselves days later, many of them losing their sense of time.

And here is the Blue Stone - a ritual pagan object. It was recorded that the stone was moved from place to place several times. Scientists believe that it was moved by ice, and draw an analogy with the crawling stones in Death Valley in.

Lake Svetloyar, Nizhny Novgorod region

According to legend, in 1237 the city of Kitezh was located on the site of the lake. When Mongol troops besieged it and stormed the Kitezh walls for several days, all its inhabitants closed themselves in numerous churches and prayed for salvation.

According to the chronicle, a miracle took place. Before the eyes of the amazed enemy warriors, the city disappeared under water. And where he had just stood, Lake Svetloyar appeared. They say that bells and sounds similar to the chirping of birds and the barking of dogs can still be heard from under the water. Scientists actually found traces of civilization at the bottom of the lake in the form of clay shards, knuckles and other utensils.

Mount Vottovaara, Karelia

At the top of Vottovaara there are about 1,600 seid stones arranged in some mysterious order. The Sami would place offerings to local spirits on or near the stones. It was forbidden to touch the seids, and women, as more susceptible to the influence of evil forces, were not allowed to approach the sacred mountain at all.

There is also a “stairway to heaven” - this is the nickname for the 13 steps carved into the rock, ending in a deep cliff. Who built it is still unknown - archaeologists say: the local tribes in ancient times simply could not have had the “idea of ​​a staircase.”

Dancing forest, Kaliningrad region

The famous “drunken” or “dancing” pine forest is located in national park « Curonian Spit» in the Kaliningrad region. The trees were planted in 1961. After some time, it became clear that the grown pines in a small area had unusual shape: their trunks are twisted into spirals and rings.

There are a lot of versions on this matter, however, which of them is correct has not yet been established. Scientists who do not believe in mysticism have the following assumptions: the causes of the anomaly are either winds blowing in one direction, or a pest that deposited larvae in the buds of young shoots. But these versions do not explain why only a small section of the forest is curved: the nearby pines are straight.

Lake Shaitan, Kirov region

Local residents claim that columns of water resembling geysers sometimes appear from the lake. Allegedly, a demon lives at the bottom here, and what happens to the lake is the result of the anger of an otherworldly creature. Since ancient times, people did not catch fish in Shaitan, or even did not come close to the water.

Dolmens, Western Caucasus

The purpose of the Caucasian dolmens is not precisely determined, but many archaeologists are of the opinion that these are tombs of the megalithic era.

Dolmens were built mainly from sandstone. The methods for manufacturing and transporting the slabs to the installation site are still unclear. Many people feel mood swings when they are near dolmens. The reasons for these anomalies are also unknown.

Arkaim, Chelyabinsk region

Arkaim is one of the fortified settlements of the Southern Urals - the “country of cities”. The youngest of these monuments is the same age as the Egyptian pyramids. Arkaim is associated with many secrets and mysteries.

The layout of the city resembles the sun, and the structure of the rings and the radial direction of the building are oriented according to the stars. The houses in the city were multi-family, and pottery and metallurgical workshops were found in some buildings.

Ukok Plateau, Altai Territory

Local residents still consider the Ukok plateau to be a sacred place. Shepherds avoid glaciers, trying not to disturb the peace of individual tracts. Only ritual activities are allowed on the plateau.

The most famous discovery made on the plateau is the burial of Ak-Alakha. In 1993, archaeologists discovered the mummy of a young noble woman whose body was covered with tattoos. It turned out that the indigenous population calls her Ak-Kadyn (“white lady”). According to their faith, Ak-Kadyn is the keeper of the gates underworld.

Nevyansk Tower, Nevyansk

This tower is located on the Demidovs’ mountain estate in the city of Nevyansk. By analogy with the world famous Leaning Tower of Pisa The Russian tower is also inclined. But this is not the main thing. After all, the tower is surrounded by many historical secrets.

The exact date of construction and the name of the architect are unknown. It is not clear why the so-called sound room is needed: a person in one corner of it can clearly hear the slightest whisper uttered by another person who is standing at the other end of the room. But it has been established that many secrets are hidden underground around the perimeter of the tower. underground labyrinths.

Molebsky triangle, Perm region

This triangle carries no less mysteries and secrets than the Bermuda triangle. Here, a change in the passage of time is very often observed, objects can float above the ground and then fall again, people hear different sounds - creaks, groans - a person’s body temperature may rise, and dizziness may appear.

There is a whole set of mystical places in this triangle. For example, here huge strong trees are uprooted and neatly stacked (“Witch’s Rings”). In photographs taken in this place, balls with white spots appear. And near the Black River, time changes course. At Vyselki, many see mysterious creatures, and those who spent the night here are haunted by nightmares for a long time.