A European vacation can be filled with many great attractions, but there is a spookier side to Europe. In Europe’s most haunted places, eerie spirits lurk around historic destinations. Most of the stories we’ve heard and seen in movies are from Europe. For instance Dracula, Frankenstein, Witches, and The Wolfman, all were stories imported from Europe.
Kilkenny, Ireland
Kilkenny, Ireland has a storied past filled with tragic events that allegedly left behind spirits that visitors witness today. It was the site of Ireland’s first witch trial and 16 people drowned in the river after a bridge collapsed during a flood in 1763. People still see creepy figures in the River Nore that rise above the mist in the early morning. Browse Ireland tours.
Venice, Italy
There’s a personal story about Venice that I’d like to share. My wife and I took a two-week tour of Italy, and by the time we reached Venice, I learned something that was a bit off-putting. It turned out that the five-star luxury hotel we were staying at was off the coast of Venice’s mainland. The name of the island was Isola di San Clemente, and the hotel is called the San Clemente Palace, which was once an insane asylum for women from 1884 to 1992 when the hospital was abandoned.
The hotel was gorgeous as we approached the dock, and more so when we entered, but as we made our way to our room, all I could imagine was The Shining, lol. For instance, there were no windows or natural light throughout the corridor. I mean it’s Venice, and San Mark’s Square was up ahead! What was wrong with a view of that? For the windows I did see, they were barred up. Why praytell? Once we entered our room, the suite was beautifully appointed with plush carpeting, royal furniture, a marble bath with shower & tub, and last but not least, a window, which opened to a courtyard surrounded by a ten-foot-high concrete wall. Guess what I imagined looking out at that view? You got it… Patients walking around in hospital gowns sedated to the brim looking like zombies staggering through the courtyard. I swear, I imagined one of them looking up at me!!
I’ve seen my share of movies, and at that point, all I could think about was The Tourist starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. Remember the scene as they disembarked the beautiful Vaporetto and entered the Hotel Danieli. Why couldn’t that hotel be the one we were booked into? It was the same caliber hotel as the one we were at. In fact, the hotel we were at was and continues to be a part of the Luxury Hotels of the World catalog, which supersedes 5-star rated hotels like the Hotel Danieli. So why couldn’t they have booked the group at the Hotel Danieli? Fine… It happened; it’s done; we survived… That night, we went for dinner near San Mark’s Square, but when we returned, the only way back to the mainland was by backstroke as there were no water taxis available after 10 pm. If you think that was bad, there’s a worse part of Venice that has been deemed unlawful to enter due to all the monstrosities that occurred on that particular island, off the coast of Venice’s mainland… Browse Italy vacation packages.
Poveglia Island
Poveglia Island, which is considered the scariest and most haunted island in the world! It was once a home of bubonic plague or (as it was deemed) Black Death victims and later the location of an infamously evil mental institution. When the Bubonic Plague began in 1346, throughout its devastation of 50 million deaths, the Roman Empire decided to separate the diseased from the healthy, by placing the unhealthy on an island off the coast of Venice. The name of this island was and continues to be Poveglia.
It was said that the thousands of people who made it to this island, lived the rest of their short wretched lives here, and later burned to ash in mass graves. The island wreaked of death, but that wasn’t the worse! The worse was when an insane asylum was erected during the Mussolini administration, which began in 1922 and ended in 1943. Upon its inception, a Mussolini loyalist ran the hospital. Imagine, being able to run an insane asylum any way you want without regulations of any kind to stop you from doing what you please? Let’s face facts, the patients were all murderers and mentally ill people. They weren’t going to be missed, and at the time, who was going to go against Mussolini? No one.
Oh… And did I mention there was no anesthesia of any kind? Oh yeah… They were all awake as they were being lobotomized!! Saws, Drills, Hammers, Nails, and Screws were all the tools used by this doctor who made his way through each and every insane patient for the sake of experimenting.
Imagine being a murderously insane patient during this point in history. Even if this person were to die of old age, their spirit would be cantankerous. However, dying as a murderously insane patient while watching and feeling yourself lobotomized would make them into demons; thousands of demons.
Chateau de Brissac
Chateau de Brissac, France is a haunted castle with gold leaf ceilings and opulent furniture, but it hides a dark secret. Charlotte of France was murdered there after her husband found her cheating with one of his friends. The young Charlotte is said to wander the castle, with sightings most frequently in the tower room of the castle’s chapel.
The Tower of London
The Tower of London has been used as a prison and execution site. Henry VI was killed at the tower during the Wars of the Roses, as well as three queens. Anne Boleyn, one of the queens is said to walk the Tower Green, the site of her execution, and Arbella Stuart, Queen Elizabeth’s cousin, who was arrested for marrying without royal permission, is rumored to haunt the Queen’s House. Browse England vacation packages.
Akershus Festning, Norway
Akershus Festning, Norway is a medieval castle completed in 1300 and the site of a prison closed in 1950. Prison sentences at the castle involved hard physical labor and were known for using irons and chains as a way to discipline prisoners. Whispers and scratching are still heard along the hallways and guards have reported being pushed by someone who wasn’t there, while they were working. Browse Norway tours.
Ancient Ram Inn, Worron-Under-Edge, England
Ancient Ram Inn, Worron-Under-Edge, England is often called the most haunted house in Britain. Before the building’s construction in 1145, the site was home to a Pagan burial ground that traces back to the mysterious site of Stonehenge. It was a home for slaves, masons, and other workers building St. Mary’s Church. Streams on the grounds had to be diverted around the church site, which opened the portal for the dark energy once used in rituals performed by Pagans in the area.
Corvin Castle, Hunedoara, Romania
Corvin Castle, Hunedoara, Romania is one of the largest castles in Europe. Legend has it that it was the place where Vlad the Impaler, Prince of Wallachia was held prisoner by John Hunyadi, Hungary’s military leader during the King’s minority. Later Vladd III entered a political alliance with John Hunyadi, although the latter was responsible for the execution of his father Vlad II Dracul. Because of these links, the castle is mentioned as a source of inspiration for Castle Dracula in Bram Stoker’s 1897 horror novel Dracula. In the castle yard, there is a well dug by 3 Turkish prisoners to whom liberty was promised if they reached the water. Their captors did not keep their promise. The inscription on a wall of the well means you have water, but no soul. Specialists have translated the inscription as he who wrote this was Hasan, a slave of the giaours, who lives in the fortress near the church.
The Catacombs, Paris, France
The Catacombs, Paris, France are underground ossuaries that hold the remains of more than six million people in a small part of a tunnel network built to consolidate Paris’ ancient stone quarries created to eliminate the city’s overflowing cemeteries. Saint Innocents cemetery quarter basement wall collapsed and wagons transferred remains to a mine shaft. It became a place for concerts and private events in the early 19th century and opened to the public in 1874. It became known as “The Empire of Death”. Browse escorted France tours.
Other Halloween blogs that may interest you:
Haunted Cities in America
Haunted Hotels: A Room with a Boo
Historic Haunted Hotels You Must See in the U.S.
Halloween Traditions Around The World
Haunted Bodies of Water
Most Haunted Places in the Caribbean
