Sedlec Ossuary, Czech Republic
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Since the Sedlec Ossuary was what inspired this entire post, I figured we could start with that. The Sedlec Ossuary definitely falls under the category of creepy, solely because of the human chandelier. The thing with this Czech chapel is that not just the chandelier is made of human bones. There are a number of details inside, including a massive coat of arms, that are made completely from human bones. It's very dark to me, but I also can't help but admire the detailing that went into creating these things. This is technically both a cemetery and a church, but I classify it as more of a church. The chapel is said to be decorated with the bones of over 40,000 skeletons, and not only do I wonder whose idea this was initially, but I also kind of think it's beautiful....in the most macabre, morbid way. Apparently, Sedlec was the place to be buried, so people requested to be buried there all the time. I guess this was a way to accommodate everyone's wishes. I mean, it's certainly a way to live on in some fashion, isn't it? I have a sick sense of humor, but I don't want to offend anyone so I'll keep it to myself this time. lol The Gypsy Nesters have a first-person account from their visit to the Ossuary, complete with photos.
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Old Christ Church, Pensacola, FL
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I came across this church through a book called Haunted Pensacola, which features the various historic (and usually haunted) locations in Pensacola. Old Christ Church is a registered historic church, the oldest church in the state, located near a known haunted spot, the Dorr House. During the Civil War, the church was converted into a hospital, prison and stable, and became severely damaged. A few vicars had been buried underneath the church some time before and during the war, their graves were violated. After the war ended, renovations began on the church and a reburial service was held a couple of decades ago for the former vicars. Several witnesses noted seeing the vicars walking amongst the guests both during and after the services. Another man, a former sexton, was said to have been murdered on Easter Day on the steps of the church and now sits throughout the services. Again, several witnesses have spotted the man, as he seems to be a regular visitor, but disappears before he can be approached. I included this church not because it had beaucoup stories of being haunted, but because it's such a historic church and the area it is in has a rich history as well, so many of the haunted stories in Historic Pensacola go hand in hand. I really liked the history of the church.
Church of St. Andrew, Staten Island, NY
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What I like about this church is that it plays into its own hype. It has long been rumored to be haunted, so the church plays into that now by holding Fright Night fundraisers. These both capitalize on public opinion of the grounds, which gets people to come out in droves, and provides the church with funding since it is still in operation today. The Church of St. Andrew has been around since before the Revolutionary War, but it was used as a makeshift hospital for soldiers during the war. It is said that Witnesses have mentioned spotting ghosts on the grounds, hearing the bells chime in the church, which apparently are very hard to ring, pictures have mysteriously fallen off of walls, and other unexplained occurrences. Ghost hunting shows have visited the church, and have found that the most popular hours for paranormal activity happen between midnight and 3am. One of the shows has gone back a number of times over the years to gather more data on the paranormal occurrences at the church.
Czermna Chapel, Poland
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This chapel gives me all the creeps. If you thought the Sedlec Ossuary was bad, check out the Czermna Chapel in Poland. The walls and ceilings are made entirely of over 20,000 human skulls and bones. The idea for this chapel came from a priest local to the area after the Silesian and Thirty Years' Wars and he wanted to do something to memorialize all of those who'd fallen. There were also tons more who'd fallen due to diseases, and wanting to do something to properly commemorate them, he took the remains, cleaned them thoroughly, and began to arrange them around the chapel's walls and ceilings. The detailing is obvious in the patterns that the bones were arranged in on the walls. A trap door hides the majority of the bones, which are also arranged in a crypt. The idea behind it was to somehow provide peace to those who suffered in death. The creator became part of his creation after he passed on; his skull is now memorialized here as well. The chapel is open year-round for tours.
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Church of the Transfiguration, Buffalo, New York
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This one falls under the Gothic category, but it was so beautiful I had to include it. I'd had another church on here first, but I noticed that I didn't really have too many Gothic churches on the list. Church of the Transfiguration was constructed using a combination of Gothic revival and Romanesque elements in the late 1800s to accommodate the growing Polish community in the area. The church was used full-time until around 1990, when the actual church building was closed down and all services were relocated to two classrooms. A couple of years later, partially because of the steadily decreasing turnout, the entire place was empty, the parishioners relocated permanently. Opacity has a great collection of photos taken from his visit to the church. The structure and design of this building are so beautiful to me; it's a pity that it's no longer open.
The Church of St. Mary the Virgin, United Kingdom
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Finally, the UK-based Church of St. Mary the Virgin, or St. Mary's Church, as its known by today, has a very rich...and disturbing...backstory. The photo shown here is actually of the original design, which gradually fell into disrepair over the years and was left abandoned for quite some time. The local community got approval and the majority of the needed funding to start renovations on the original church a couple of years ago. The reason why I say the backstory is a little disturbing is because the graves of several people buried on the grounds were desecrated. Two boys were found playing with a human skull they'd found in the church remains, and bones were later discovered from the violated graves in a pattern commonly used for Satanic rituals. An apothecary's wife or daughter (it's unclear which one she was, different articles have had different answers) was in one of the disturbed graves, and hers was repeatedly attacked. Even after the initial investigation into the destroying of the graves, people still continued to break into the graves and steal the remains to use for ritualistic purposes. It was said that the repeated attacks were done by a coven of witches using the holy grounds for dark magic. Ghost hunters have visited the grounds before and while some come back with reports of paranormal activity, others don't report anything amiss. At very least, something Satanic went down on the old church grounds.
I didn't do too many churches because even though there are tons of old churches that are said to be haunted, I wanted to find churches with claims that had been verified by other visitors. Basically, I don't want to repeat the same lists I'm sure you've seen online but I also don't want to call a place 'haunted' because one or two people said it was. I also wanted to stop trying to add too much into these posts; I've noticed that the more in-depth I try to make them, the longer it takes me to finish them. This was supposed to be on schedule, but I've been late all month. I'm sorry about that. Despite that though, I do hope you've been enjoying the posts. Anywho, I'll see you soon!
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