Are traditional ways of spending free time not enough for you? And what would you say to a trip with a bit of thrill and cold sweat on your back? We give you the most haunted places in Poland! Dare to get off the beaten track and learn the chilling stories!
No paper guidebook will tell you about them, you won't learn about them from tourist information. Places with a terrible past, stories repeated by the locals so often that legends mingle with the truth. They are said to be haunted. Haunted Poland is full of such places. Will you dare to see the most interesting ones?
Let us take you on a dreadful journey full of thrill, during which you will learn the legends of:
- The Chapel of Bones
- The abandoned psychiatric hospital
- The mountain where witches' Sabbaths were held
- The chamber in a mine inhabited by a ghost
- The haunted house
- The mysterious forest with a dark past
Haunted places in Poland: Skull Chapel in Kudowa-Zdrój
Even if you find a traditional tour of chapels boring, you cannot pass by this building indifferently. The chapel was built in 1776-1804 by Fr. Wacław Tomaszek, who served as a parish priest in the nearby parish in Czermna.
The history of the Skull Chapel began one ordinary day of 1776 when Fr. Tomaszek noticed human bones in the embankment near the belfry. He called the undertaker Langer, and when they started digging, it turned out that the area was literally strewn with human remains!
As they later found out, the bones belonged to the victims of wars in the Kłodzko region as well as the victims of the cholera epidemic. The priest ordered the undertaker to clean and bleach all the skulls and bones, and then put them in the chapel. Over the years, Father Tomaszek and the undertaker Langer accumulated more and more bones in the chapel. Skull Chapel is to remind visitors of passing and death.
Trivia: Fr. Tomaszek and undertaker Langer decided that their remains would also be put in the chapel 20 years after their death. Indeed, the bones of the builders and many other historical figures can be found there today.
Location: Skull Chapel is located in the town of Kudowa Zdrój, located in the Lower Silesian Province, next to the Czech border.
Warsaw haunted house: the abandoned Zofiówka psychiatric hospital
If you dare, you can enter the building of the old Zofiówka asylum, located in Otwock near Warsaw. Be warned, however – this is not a place for weaklings! What hides in the walls of the abandoned asylum that only the brave few decide to enter?
The Zofiówka asylum was founded in 1907 and was intended for mentally nervously ill Jews. During the liquidation of the ghetto in Otwock in 1942, the Germans killed about 110-140 patients of this hospital in the nearby forest as part of Aktion T4 (a program implemented in the Third Reich, involving the extermination of disabled people). The rest of the patients were taken to concentration camps. Some medical staff managed to flee in an ambulance to Warsaw, and those who remained committed suicide.
However, the building was not abandoned completely until 1998, after closing a sanatorium that had been functioning there after the war. The locals still hear disturbing moans and footsteps in this Warsaw haunted house, and many of them swear that they saw blurred faces in the forest, surrounded by a strange glow.
Trivia: If you enter the hospital building, red inscriptions on the walls may catch your eye. Someone must have thought that spraying the words: "Behind you", "I see you!" or "He craves your blood" will be very funny, but you have to admit that seeing such an inscription after dark may indeed be an unforgettable experience.
Location: The Zofiówka Sanatorium in Otwock is located in the centre of Poland, about 40 minutes south-east from the centre of Warsaw.
Haunted Poland: Łysa Góra
Łysa Góra in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains is part of the Łysogóry range in Nowa Słupia. The peak measures 594 m a.s.l. According to historical data, it was once a place of pagan Slavic cults. And what do they say unofficially?
Legend has it that Łysa Góra was once a meeting place for witches who flew there for the Sabbath. It was there, at the top of the mountain, that they would light their bonfires and brew their poisons. And when the rooster crowed at midnight, the witches would sit on their brooms and fly down from the mountain, carried by the breeze.
The beliefs about the witches' Sabbath were probably related to the Slavic rite of burning the June fires, which took place on Łysa Góra (but not only there – another place of worship for Slavic pagans was also Babia Góra in the Beskids). The Catholic Church actively suppressed these customs, seeing them as a threat to the development of the Christian faith.
Trivia: To this day, scholars studying demonology cannot reach a consensus as to the days the witches' Sabbaths were allegedly held on. According to some, these unusual meetings only took place on Saturdays, while others think that the Sabbaths were held as often as three days a week. The Sabbaths themselves in fact could be simply celebrations of pagan holidays, such as Kupala Night.
Location: Łysa Góra is located in Nowa Słupia in the Świętokrzyskie Province, approx. 2 hours away from the city of Kielce.
Wieliczka Salt Mine: Treasurer Chamber
The "Wieliczka" Salt Mine is often frequented by tourists – and to no surprise, because the mine is impressive with its history and beauty (the place is entered on the UNESCO World Heritage List). However, not all tourists know the story of the legendary Treasurer.
Of the haunted places and haunted houses in Krakow, the Treasurer Chamber in the Wieliczka Salt Mine is one particularly worth seeing. Although reaching Wieliczka requires going a little outside of Krakow, it's really worth spending a day on an unforgettable trip to the mine.
The legendary figure of the Treasurer is associated with a story of a ghost that guarded the underground treasure – salt. This figure appears in the stories of many miners. The Treasurer's figure is associated with a legend about a boy who wanted to get work in the mine to financially support his poor family. Unfortunately, the foreman decided that the boy would not be able to cope with hard work in the mine – nevertheless, he gave him a week to prove that he is able to excavate as much salt as his older colleagues.
One of the miners decided to help the boy but on the condition that he would give him part of his wage. The boy coped with the challenge and when the foreman paid him his first salary, he wanted to share it with the friend as agreed. The man then appeared to him as the Treasurer and with a laugh praised the young man for his the honesty – without accepting any payment, of course.
The Treasurer Chamber is located on the Tourist Route at the Wieliczka Mine. Perhaps the story of the Treasurer's spirit is not as terrible as your typical Krakow horror house, but if you are visiting the mine with children – be sure to go to this chamber and listen to the famous legend. You can easily reach Wieliczka from Krakow, where you will also find many attractions.
Trivia: The Treasurer was not considered a bad spirit. His appearance, however, heralded a disaster – a fire, a gas explosion, a cave in or flooding.
Location: The "Wieliczka" Salt Mine is located around 16 km southeast of Krakow.
Horror house: Krakow, Wola Justowska
When passing by this mysterious building you will immediately feel a breath of terror on your neck. You can recognize the abandoned house in the Wola Justowska district by the fact that... a tree is growing through its roof. The building's surroundings also do not raise positive associations: the plot is infested with weeds, the fence is tangled with barbed wire, windows and doors are boarded, and the gate is wrapped with chains.
The story of this haunted house in Krakow dates back to the 1990s when a man supposedly hanged himself there. Shortly afterwards, a series of bizarre events occurred in this place. First, a married couple lived in the house, but they only lasted a month – the young couple moved out immediately after their car started by itself and drove forward in the garage.
The next daredevils were the owners of a jewellery company who opened their shop in that house. After some time, they noticed that for some inexplicable reason, the gems in their drawers were crushed time and time again. Then there was an IT company, which also did not stay too long – something constantly burned their computers and threw monitors on the floor.
Today, this haunted house in Krakow is locked up tight. However, pedestrians occasionally notice lights and dancing shadows in the windows. If you have the courage, you can stroll the nearby streets after dark to see if these legends are true.
Trivia: Supposedly, there was once a daredevil who wanted to see for himself whether the house in Wola Justowska is indeed haunted. For research purposes, he left a dog there overnight. When he came back for it in the morning, he found the animal dead – and skinned.
Location: You can find the abandoned house in Krakow's Wola Justowska district, at the intersection of Królowej Jadwigi and Chełmska streets.
The forest in Witkowice near Krakow
If you are going to Krakow to visit the Main Square, Kazimierz and the Wawel Cathedral, you will definitely experience an unforgettable time and learn lots of historical trivia. No guide, however, will probably mention to you what had happened several decades ago in a town near Krakow.
In 2001, a group of 9 students went to the forest in Witkowice to celebrate the beginning of the academic year. We know what such student trips look like: a bonfire, alcohol and singing are inherent to every party. This one did not end well, however.
Around 8:30 p.m. the group of students came across a man who, as he later reported, had warned them not to approach the forest, because it is not safe there. Unfortunately, the young people refused to listen to the old man and eagerly delved into the woods. They haven't been heard from since.
The police and detective companies have never been able to find the group of students and their names have not been made public. According to other sources, the police reluctantly proceeded with the search only on the 4th day after the young people's disappearance.
Legend has it that, having noticed the sluggishness of the services, the students' appalled friends set themselves to go to the forest for the search. Apparently, they managed to find a camera – after developing the pictures they saw the forest shrouded in strange fog and the blurred figures of their friends. Is the camera story real? Here we can only speculate.
According to some sources, having found the camera, the group of friends started an investigation among the inhabitants of Witkowice. They managed to find out that these areas were once the location of the village of Mirena, which was burned down in the 18th century. At that time, the inhabitants were dying in mysterious circumstances in the nearby woods, where satanic and magical rites were supposedly taking place. During the worship of an unknown deity, an unusual green fog would rise between the trees.
Trivia: The story of the 9 students' disappearance is compared to the movie Blair Witch Project. Its heroes, who were also students, went to the forest in search of a witch, and then disappeared without a trace.
Location: Witkowice is located north of the centre of Krakow. You can reach this place by heading for the Prądnik Biały district, and then leaving the city along Siewna Street and turning into Wądół Street.
Did we manage to encourage you to get off the beaten track and visit the most haunted places in Poland? If so, don't wait any longer and book a spooky tour!
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