Top Haunted Spots in Europe

October 25, 2017

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Europe is full of creepy and eerie places, from abandoned castles to gruesome museums. This time of year is perfect for exploring the darker side of Europe, from the castles of France to the forests of Germany, seeking out ghosts and monsters in every corner. If you’d like to add a ghostly element to your holiday in Europe, take a look at some of our favourite haunted spots below.

Akershus Fortress, Oslo

Norway’s most prominent castle has proudly guarded its capital since medieval times. It’s also been used as a palace and a prison, and more recently as a museum and military headquarters. Several ghosts are said to haunt its many walls and buildings, including a monstrous dog called Malcanissen, which literally means the vicious or evil dog. It’s said to guard the old main entrance to the castle at Maiden’s tower. Many people have spoken of a faceless woman called Mantelgeisten, wandering the castles’ chambers in a long robe.

 

Abbaye de Mortemer, Lisors

Southwest of Rouen in northern France lies this ancient abbey, originally built on land gifted by Henry I of England. They abbey takes its name from the stagnant lake created by monks centuries ago, aptly named ‘the dead pond’, a good start if you want to create a creepy atmosphere. There are plenty of ghost stories and legends attached to the place now, including the haunting of the White Lady, daughter of Henry I, who was locked in a castle chamber for five years. It’s also said that any cats you see in the grounds are in fact ‘goblin cats’ guarding the abbey’s hidden treasure.

 

Blood Street, Amsterdam

Amsterdam is full of reputedly haunted spots, and the narrow streets have a particularly gothic air when it’s quiet late at night. Blood Street (Bloedstraat) is one such haunt, located in the heart of the Red Light District, the oldest part of the city. It’s claimed that its unsettling name is because of the blood of prisoners executed at Nieumarkt draining along the street to the canal. Others say it’s because of a monastery that once stood on the site, which was home to the Duke of Alba’s Council of Blood, the body that decided the grisly fate of accused heretics in the 16th century. Either way, it’s a wonderfully horrid name.

 

Jardin de Tuileries, Paris

It’s hard to imagine these tourist-filled gardens in front of the Louvre could be host to one of France’s most infamous ghosts, the Red Man of the Tuileries. According to legend, he was a butcher secretly murdered by the famous queen Catherine de Medici for the crime of knowing too much about her private affairs. Apparently he had told someone that he knew exactly when the queen was going to die, sealing his own fate in the process. The appearance of his ghost is supposedly linked to events of national importance, as he was reputedly seen by Marie Antoinette, and by Napoleon.

 

Mont Saint-Michel, Normandy

This breath-taking town and monastery sit majestically on a rock off the coast of Normandy, surrounded by serene sandbanks and the waters of the English Channel. This beautiful sight belies its bloody history during the Hundred Years’ War, when the Captain Louis d’Estouteville led his soldiers in the slaughter of more than 2000 Englishmen. Their blood stained the sand red for miles around, and their spirits are said to haunt the waters around the island. It’s also said that the island itself is haunted by the many monks who lived and died there.

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