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Corvin’s Castle – Transylvania
Built in 1307 by King Carol Robert of Anjou, it was reportedly the prison of Vlad the Impaler (Dracula) who was locked up in its dungeon for seven years after he was deposed in 1462. So, he just might be one of the many spirits who still resides there. There are many others, as well. […]
Absinthe – La Fée Verte (The Green Fairy)
Nothing typifies the milieu of La Belle Epoque more than Absinthe, the notorious drink of choice of artists and Bohemians in fin de siecle London and Paris. While little of the alleged psychoactive or hallucinatory aspects of absinthe have been explained by science, what we do know is that the drink touched the lives and […]
Alchemists and Magicians of old Prague
Terrifying Tales of Alchemists, Magicians, Madness, Murder and Macabre Mysteries Alchemists and Magicians of old Prague – The capital of alchemy in the 16th century, the birthplace of the Golem, home to the still undeciphered Voynich manuscript and the Codex Gigas, otherwise known as the Devil’s Bible, Prague is said to be part of a […]
The Bone Chapel (Sedlec Ossuary)
Famous castles, churches, chapels and cemetaries of Europe – The Bone Chapel (Ossuary), Kutna Hora, Czech Republic. The Sedlec Ossuary (Czech: Kostnice v Sedlci) is a small Roman Catholic chapel, located beneath the Cemetery Church of All Saints (Czech: Hřbitovní kostel Všech Svatých) in Sedlec, a suburb of Kutná Hora in the Czech Republic. The […]
Prague, Capital of the Czech Republic
Prague, mother of cities and the city of more dreaming spires than Oxford is a city both modern and ancient. The capital of the Czech Republic with a population of about 0.9 million is the powerhouse of a booming Czech economy. Even in the current global world recession Prague is doing very well. Over the […]
The Golem of Prague – Esoteric Prague
In the Old Town area of Prague in the heart of Josefov, the Jewish quarter, stands an unprepossessing building that hides within its walls a secret: The Golem of Prague. In the attic of the Old New Synagogue there is a genizah, a room or depository in a synagogue or cemetery, usually specifically for worn-out […]
House at the Black Madonna – Grand Cafe Orient Prague
Carrot cake, the Black Madonna & the Order of the Knights Templar – Grand Cafe Orient at the House of the Black Madonna (Prague, Czech Republic) by Steven Dark Designed by Josef Gocár, The House of the Black Madonna ((U Cerné Matky Boí)) is a cubist building in the “Old Town” area of Prague, Czech […]
The Devil´s Bible (Codex Gigas)
The Codex Gigas (or Devil´s Bible) is a large 13th-century manuscript from Bohemia, one of the historical Czech lands. Renowned for its size and its striking full-page rendition of the devil (found on page 577), it contains a number of parts: the Old and New testaments, two works of Josephus Flavius, Isidore of Seville´s Etymologies, […]
Is Hrad Houska a Gateway to Hell?
Houska Castle: According to folklore, Houska Castle, located in Blatce, north of Prague in the Czech Republic, is built over a “bottomless” hole that leads to Hell. One legend claims that in the 13th century, King Ottokar II of Bohemia (or else a nobleman of the Dubá clan) offered a pardon to any condemned prisoner […]