Every year, there are more discoveries that change the way we see history, and some of these are in places that were long considered to be fully documented. Whether it was a lack of knowledge or a finding completely out of the blue, our most well-known sites still yield discoveries that would have never been found if we hadn’t investigated further.

10 Acres Of Clothing In A Forest Outside A Concentration Camp

For 60 years, an enormous trove of concentration camp history remained missing. In 2015, a group of hikers in Poland made a shocking discovery: acres of discarded prison clothing and other articles related to a tragic location nearby. Near the forest where the unsuspecting tourists made their discovery was an infamous Nazi prison camp: Stutthof.

The most surprising part of the discovery was that most of the clothes were found in plain sight. The Stutthof death camp is now a museum and has a fairly large number of visitors and researchers who all overlooked the artifacts. No real sleuthing was needed; apparently, the forest was not explored since it became the sight of genocide during the Nazi reign.

All sorts of clothing articles were found: shoes, belts, pants, shirts, etc. Stutthof housed 110,000 prisoners throughout history, 85,000 of whom died there. Experiments on their body fat were used for soap production, which adds an ever more gruesome angle.

Apparently, their clothes weren’t worth keeping since they were dumped into the forest surrounding the camp, a fact many historians were not aware of. One fact was quite surprising: the prisoners’ shoes were leather, not wooden clogs as at most prison camps. No one who worked around the camp ever noticed the clothes, and there had been no rumors about them before their discovery.

9 Elaborate Man-Made Elevators At The Colosseum

For centuries, archaeologists have been puzzled as to the purpose of a series of tunnels creating a confusing labyrinth beneath the Roman Colosseum. Apparently, the tunnels were all carefully built to lead to more chambers in various ways. Ultimately, they led beneath the arena where trapdoors went into the fighting area. It is clear that they were built like this intentionally, and in 2011, after 14 years of research, their purpose was finally discovered.

According to German archaeologist Heinz-Jurgen Beste, the hypogeum (Greek for “underground”) served as an elaborate way for animals and warriors to appear from beneath the floor without being noticed by those in the audience. To put in perspective how effective the system was, during a spectacle by Emperor Trajan, 11,000 animals were put through the hypogeum and killed. It was a form of theatrical trickery that would be unmatched for centuries.

It had been there since the Colosseum was first completed in AD 80, but its original purpose was forgotten after the Roman Empire fell. Over the centuries, the hypogeum has seen various uses: a place to store hay, underground gardens, and stalls for businesspeople. Throughout this time, it slowly crumbled until Mussolini took power and had the tunnels cleared.

In 1996, archaeologists started to restore the tunnels. We now know just how intricate they were. They were operated by a series of levers, ropes, and pulleys that created almost impossible spectacles. Even today, many theaters are not as elaborate or creative as the Colosseum was with the hypogeum, which just goes to show how intelligent and clever our ancient ancestors really were.

8 A Cannibalized Body At Jamestown

Jamestown, Virginia, is known as the first permanent English colony in America. It is now one of the most revered historic spots in the United States, and many researchers still go there to unlock more secrets from that time.

However, in summer 2012, historians made a disturbing discovery in a hole that contained butchered horse and dog skeletons. They knew immediately that this hole had probably been dug during a severe famine, but what they found when they dug deeper only shocked them further.

The body was that of a 14-year-old English girl who had undoubtedly died in winter 1609. The winter was so harsh and the food supplies so low that it became known as the “starving time”. It was well-documented how far the colonists of Jamestown went. In 1625, George Percy, governor of Jamestown during the starving time, wrote a letter describing how colonists ate their horses, vermin, and even leather boots. He then went on to say that some had even dug up the dead in desperation.

The young girl found in 2012 was the victim of this starvation. There had been strikes to the back of her head to get to her brain, which would be the most desired tissue. The attempts were clumsy by whoever was trying to harvest her flesh. It was clear that the person had never done this before.

The details of her death are unknown. Was she murdered by another desperate colonist, or had she died of natural causes and been disturbed from the grave? We will probably never know.

7 A Mass Graveyard At Bedlam Asylum

“Bedlam” is now an offhand way of referring to insanity, but at one time, Bedlam was one of the most important mental asylums in the world. In centuries past, mental illness was virtually untreatable and those who were considered harmful were locked up at Bedlam.

It still has its infamous reputation due to the archaic treatments that took place there and the extremely poor conditions. But many have never thought about where the patients were later buried. In 2015, the answer was uncovered.

While digging near Bedlam Asylum at a location that would become the Crossrail’s Liverpool Street station, workers came upon a horrific sight: a mass grave filled with 30 skeletons. A headstone read only “1665,” and it became clear that this was a repository for victims of the Black Plague who had been isolated at Bedlam.

Since excavation first started, an estimated 3,500 corpses have been dug up, although historians estimate that a staggering 30,000 might be waiting to be discovered. This cemetery was in use for almost 200 years—from 1569 to 1738. It was unlike other cemeteries near Bedlam because it was mostly one body on top of another rather than individual graves.

It served as a burial place for the outcasts of English society: those without a religion, family members, or the financial means for a private burial. In 1665, during a particularly infamous outbreak of the plague, it served as a dumping ground for victims of the plague because other cemeteries were simply overflowing.

6 Buried Gas Chambers In Poland

While digging up a road near Sobibor concentration camp, archaeologists made a shocking discovery: a series of gas chambers that had been hidden since the end of World War II. The chambers have a sad history: They were the place of death for an estimated 250,000 Jews who were imprisoned at Sobibor. The archaeologists also found personal items of the victims.

Although the chambers had been buried under an asphalt road, archaeologists used the remaining outline to estimate the size of the chambers and the number of victims that could have been inside. Personal items like a wedding ring were found nearby—even more evidence that the Nazis had tried to cover up before they were defeated.

As Sobibor was efficiently destroyed and few prisoners survived there, we have little information about the camp when compared to others. Eight gas chambers have been discovered, and it took just 15 minutes to kill the victims inside when the chambers were operating. Supposedly, the Germans bred geese to drown out the screams of the victims. The entire concentration camp was demolished after a prisoner uprising in 1943, so the gas chambers are all that remain.

5 Baby Remains At The Yewden Villa

Almost 100 years ago, archaeologists discovered Yewden Villa, a massive Roman villa underneath the English town of Buckinghamshire. For whatever reason, the old archaeologists covered up the villa’s most gruesome relics along with the ruins. They soon forgot about the find, and it took a century for its possessions to be rediscovered.

When Dr. Jill Eyers was going through a museum storeroom in 2008, she unexpectedly rediscovered the remains of 97 infants that had been found at Yewden Villa. There have been many theories about why the infants were found there. From testing on the remains, the infants probably died between a 50-year period from AD 150 to AD 200. Eyers’s theory is that the villa was used as a brothel and that the children, as sickening as it sounds, were simply abandoned by their mothers.

Another theory is that the villa was used in rituals performed by a mother goddess cult and that the infants were a part of it. They were probably stillborn, and their mothers took them to beg the goddess of fertility for healthy children.

Cut marks discovered on the bones could indicate many things: human sacrifice, defleshing before burial, or even dismemberment of the fetus to save the life of the mother. As the Yewden Villa is now buried beneath a field, we won’t know the reason for the infants’ burial there until the site is excavated again.

4 An Aristocratic Burial Ground At Stonehenge

Stonehenge has long mystified the world. A prehistoric monument in England, it is one of the most iconic historical sites in the world. Despite its prominence, we are still mostly in the dark as to its true purpose. Why was it built? Who built it? How was it built? All these questions have multiple different answers, but a discovery this year might shed some light.

During an excavation of a chalk pit near Stonehenge known as Aubrey Hole 7 (there are 56 such pits around Stonehenge), archaeologists discovered a burial ground that held the bodies of 14 females and 9 males, all of whom were at least young adults. It has long been theorized that Stonehenge might be some sort of cemetery for highly respected, aristocratic individuals of the time.

Finding prehistoric cemeteries is extremely rare. Only the most powerful people of the time would have been buried with such respect. The discovery at Aubrey Hole 7 has been dated as far back as 3000 BC, and the fact that women were buried in the same place as men has changed historians’ perspective of gender roles of the time. It shows that women were treated with the same respect as men, something not seen by most cultures of the time. Along with this revelation, it also proves the theory that Stonehenge served as a sort of monument for the dead.

3 Proof Of A Mythical War At An Incan Fortress

In the mountains of Ecuador, the 500-year-old Incan fortress Quitoloma stands as the only survivor of a 17-year war that was long forgotten by historians. The fortress is well-equipped for battle: It contains areas for weapons storage along with 100 structures for occupation. It is sturdy and built from solid stone. From this fortress, historians have pieced together 19 others belonging to the Inca that were used against their adversaries the Cayambe.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish conquistadors spoke of a war between the Incas and their neighbors which has been regarded by most as nothing but folklore. However, with the discovery of the multiple fortresses, many are reconsidering their opinions on the matter.

The Incan fortresses tower 3,000 meters (10,000 ft) in the air and were built from stone while the Cayambe fortresses were built from a strong volcanic rock known as cangahua. The fortresses were long forgotten, but their proximity fits the Spanish descriptions of a war that was particularly brutal and lasted an incredible 17 years.

The fortresses were only recently discovered, so more excavation and study is needed. But as it stands, it is clear that the mythical war did indeed happen. However, within a few decades, both of the enemies would face the far superior Spanish forces who easily put them both into submission.

2 Decapitated Gladiators In Ancient London

In 1988, 39 human skulls were discovered at the London Wall—just a short distance from their future home, the Museum of London. They remained a mystery for 25 years while historians tried to determine in which year the skulls were buried and why these people were executed at all. It was found that they were Roman-era fossils, which puts them around the time of Britain’s Roman occupation.

The skulls have been dated from AD 120 to AD 160, and these people most certainly had gruesome deaths. For example, one skull showed signs of a brutal attack by dogs. Due to forensic advances over the years, it was found that all of the skulls displayed some kind of damage from a violent conflict.

Since decapitation was the most common form of execution for defeated gladiators, researchers determined that they were most likely just that. Near the area where the skulls were discovered, an amphitheater stood, which gives even more credence to the gladiator theory.

Disturbingly, the executed gladiators had their heads dumped into open pits, which explains why they were concentrated in single areas. They were left to rot, which explains why animals like dogs would eat their remains. The second century AD was one of the most peaceful times for Roman-era London, but it quite clearly wasn’t so peaceful for everyone.

1 2,000 Bones Beneath Oxford’s Museum Of The History Of Science

The Museum of the History of Science at Oxford does have bones, but they’re on exhibit, not buried beneath the museum. In 1999, the restoration of the museum led to an excavation of the basement, which was built in the 17th century. A stone well and two concrete pits were found, which museum historians had been unaware of. In the concrete pits, old artifacts were found, including chemical vessels and 2,000 bones.

Among the 2,000 bones, 15 humans were found, including three fetuses. Meanwhile, 800 animal bones identified as canine were also discovered. Why were these bones in the basement of the museum? The reason is actually very simple: They were needed for dissection.

In 1710, a German man named Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach recorded a dissection that he had attended in the basement of the Oxford museum. Known originally as Solomon’s House, it was built in 1683 and was supposed to be for experimental natural philosophy, of which dissection was a key part.

At the time, the only legitimate source of human bodies was executed criminals from the gallows. However, seeing the variety of ages among the bones (ranging from fetus to elderly), it seems that they may have been obtained illegally.

When bodies couldn’t be found, dogs or badgers were used. Interestingly, an African manatee was found and may have been put on display as a mermaid. Once the dissections were complete, the bodies were apparently dumped into pits beneath the museum and covered up.

We’ve told you before about the many important items our species has managed to somehow lose over the years. But a few mislaid books don’t even begin to compare to the entire locations we’ve somehow destroyed. Through war, vandalism, or just stupidity, we humans have proved time and again that we’re the last people in the universe you should trust with anything valuable.

10The Singapore Stone

You’ve probably heard of the Rosetta Stone. The Singapore Stone was like its powerlifting big brother. The colossal boulder, 3 meters (10 ft) high and 3 meters wide, stood at the entrance to the Singapore River, inscribed with an ancient script no one could decipher. Today, we’re fairly confident it was a variation on Old Sumatran from the 10th–14th centuries, but for the people who discovered it in 1819, it was like an alien language. The stone and the surrounding area, considered holy, were clearly an important find.

So we blew it up.

In 1843, the British army requisitioned the land the stone was standing on to build a fort. Rather than cart the stone away to the British Museum or anything silly like that, they instead blew it to pieces and used the remains as building material, road surface, and a bench. Although a few fragments were saved and now reside in the National Museum of Singapore, the sacred site was utterly annihilated, with the majority of the stone’s text erased forever. Did it record an ancient victory, a local legend, or just an account of daily life? We’ll never know.

9The Senator Tree

At some unknown point 3,500 years ago, the seed of a cypress tree fell to the ground in modern-day Florida and took root. Over the next three and a half millennia, it grew to a height of 36 meters (118 ft). It saw the birth of Jesus Christ, the coming of Columbus, the Wall Street Crash, and the fall of the Berlin Wall, outliving all but four other trees on the planet. The Senator, as it became known, was even honored by President Coolidge in 1929.

In 2012, local meth addict Sara Barnes climbed into the Senator to get high. At some point, it grew dark, and Barnes lit a fire to help her see. The fire instantly did what any fire lit inside a lump of wood would do and went completely out of control.

According to emergency services personnel, the Senator burned “like a chimney” for a couple of hours before collapsing into a pile of ash. Barnes was arrested and thrown in jail, reportedly telling friends she couldn’t believe she “burned down a tree older than Jesus.”

8The Paradise Of Nauru

The tiny island nation of Nauru is today best known for housing one of Australia’s grim offshore detention centers. Only a century or so ago, though, it was better known as paradise. When Europeans first discovered it in the 18th century, it was covered with tropical vegetation so lush and dense they officially named it Pleasant Island. Even today, pictures of its beaches are so impossibly perfect that you’d be forgiven for thinking they were Photoshopped.

The above photo shows the whole of Nauru as it looks today, a blasted heap of stone devoid of any life whatsoever. Unfortunately for the inhabitants of Pleasant Island, their country was lying directly on top of one of the biggest deposits of phosphate on Earth. Starting in 1900, various colonial powers stripped the island bare. When Nauru declared independence in the 1960s, the new government continued to mine the island, leaving behind a wasteland in which nothing can grow. Although Nauru itself technically still exists, everything that made those first sailors fall in love with the place is now gone forever.

7The Atacama Desert’s Archaeological Sites

The Atacama Desert is the driest place on Earth. Thanks to its lack of moisture, delicate pre-Columbian drawings and artifacts have been perfectly preserved there for millennia. Some sand dunes even record the traces of the wind patterns that helped shape them 18,000 years ago. The last thing you’d want to do with these fragile sites is drive a car straight through them, yet that’s exactly what challengers in the Dakar Rally did in 2009.

Although previously held in Africa, the rally was changed to South America following terrorist threats in 2008. Unfortunately, the organizers neglected to check the route properly, resulting in six irreplaceable sites in the Atacama being utterly destroyed. Ancient geoglyphs that can only be deciphered from the air were left with tire tracks running through them. A pre-Columbian hunter-gatherer camp was crushed and ground into the dust, and plenty of other important sites were left with irreparable damage.

Bad as this is, later races were even worse. According to the Santiago Times, the 2011 edition of the race irreversibly damaged 44 percent of all sampled sites, leaving the Atacama’s cultural heritage in tatters.

6Jonah’s Tomb

Marking the final resting place of the Old Testament prophet most of us remember for getting swallowed by a whale, Jonah’s Tomb in Mosul was a pilgrimage site for Muslims and Christians alike. It was also a favorite place of archaeologists, with the oldest parts of the tomb complex being dated to the eighth century B.C. None of this cut any mustard with the leaders of ISIS, who took one look at this invaluable site and decided to blow it up.

In July 2014, ISIS troops entered the mosque above the tomb during prayers and ordered everyone out. Then they set explosives and completely destroyed the site and several nearby houses. By their ultra-strict interpretation of Islam, they were saving those present from worshiping a false idol. By everyone else’s interpretation, they were robbing us of an invaluable cultural treasure.

It seems ISIS have a thing for destroying cultural sites. In February 2015, they blew up a 2,700-year-old wall at ancient Nineveh, consigning yet more Iraqi history (and more of Jonah’s story, coincidentally) to the flames.

5Benin City

Until the 19th century, Benin City was one of the grandest sites on Earth. Portuguese traders recorded a city larger than Lisbon, with large, ornate houses and streets that ran “straight and far as the eye can see.” The Oba’s Palace at the center of the city was so beautiful that Dutch engravers portrayed it with the same fidelity they did Florence, rendering the turrets and cityscape in meticulous detail. Many Europeans admired it as much as their home cities. Then the British came along and burned it to the ground.

In 1892, the British signed a treaty with the rulers of Benin, giving them the right to exploit the land. When the government refuse to cooperate with the UK’s trading demands, London sent a force of 10 soldiers to make them. All 10 died. The British responded by raising an army, arming them to the teeth, and ransacking Benin City. In the course of 17 days’ fierce fighting, the Oba’s Palace was destroyed, the city was looted, and a fire left virtually nothing standing. It was as if Paris or Athens had gone up in flames but even worse because nobody seemed to care.

4Lake Urmia

As late as the 1990s, Lake Urmia in Iran was a tourist paradise. Famed for its azure blue waters and 100 islands hiding all manner of exotic animals, it drew crowds in from around the globe. People would bathe in its supposedly healing mud; others would marvel at the flocks of flamingos the waters drew. The size of Luxembourg, the lake was known as one of the natural wonders of the world. Today, it’s a desolate wasteland.

Thanks to some highly questionable government policies comparable to those that destroyed the Aral Sea, Lake Urmia is on the verge of disappearing. Already, the waters have receded so far back that rusted boats are left abandoned on parched dry land and all the wildlife that can has left. In its place now swirl toxic salt storms that ravage the landscape, spreading death in their wake. Although the Iranian government has pledged billions of dollars to restoring Lake Urmia, no one seriously expects them to do anything.

3The Mayrieres Cave

A group of cavemen living in the southwest of modern-day France 15,000 years ago decided to get artistic in the Cave of Mayrieres superieure. The results were two cave paintings of bison executed with incredible skill and an eye for beauty. Although nowhere near as vast or impressive as the Chauvet Cave, the artworks were still in startlingly good condition and considered invaluable. Until, that is, they caught the attention of some local do-gooders.

In spring 1992, a local Protestant youth club decided to do a good deed by cleaning some nearby caves of graffiti. Armed with wire brushes and plenty of ignorance, the 70 teens descended into the Cave of Mayrieres superieure and proceeded to scrub away much of the prehistoric art. Although they ultimately realized their mistake, the damage was more or less total. The paintings were ruined, French cultural officials were up in arms, and the youth group wound up being awarded an Ig Nobel Prize for their contribution to destroying our past.

2Syria’s Ancient Sites

Currently in the grip of one of the worst wars in living memory, Syria has been ground zero for historical destruction for some time now. Along with the horrendous loss of human life, the war has cost the world more treasures than perhaps any other conflict of the modern era.

Almost since the fighting started, the historic cities of both Damascus and Aleppo have sustained such continuous damage that they’re now in ruins. In 2012, a fire ripped through the ancient Aleppo souk, utterly destroying one of the most important trading points on the historic Silk Road. One year later, the UNESCO-listed crusader castle Krak des Chevaliers was hit by an airstrike, while the ancient minaret on Aleppo’s grand mosque was finally leveled after standing for nearly 1,000 years. The fighting has also provided cover for professional tomb robbers, who have looted invaluable sites like Palmyra so thoroughly that almost nothing is left.

In December 2014, the UN declared that 300 heritage sites had been either damaged or utterly destroyed across the country. With ISIS now bombing cultural sites in the north, it looks like this figure will only increase.

1Everything In Saudi Arabia

We’ve told you before about Saudi Arabia’s bizarre fixation with transforming Mecca into a kind of Las Vegas of the Middle East. But this barely touches on the full insanity of the Wahhabi kingdom. Since 1985, Saudi Arabia’s ruling family has voluntarily destroyed over 98 percent of the kingdom’s Islamic heritage.

We don’t just mean they’ve knocked down some old buildings to put up new hotels, either. All evidence points to a deliberate attempt to demolish as many cultural sites as possible. A mosque belonging to Islam’s very first caliph, Abu Bakr, was recently razed to the ground and replaced with an ATM. At Mount Uhud in Medina, a famous fissure to which Muhammad himself supposedly retreated after a battle was filled in with concrete and fenced off from pilgrims. Nothing was built in its place.

Perhaps craziest of all is the Orwellian way the Saudi government tries to rewrite history. After plans for a new palace built over Muhammad’s birthplace were announced, signs instantly sprang up around the site, warning people that there was no evidence Muhammad had been born there. After Mount Uhud was filled in, another sign appeared declaring there was nothing special about this mountain and never had been. It’s said that when sites are marked for destruction, the bulldozers pull them down in the night and leave no evidence by morning that anything was ever there.

Because Wahhabism proscribes worshiping false idols, clerics in the kingdom have encouraged the destruction of monuments and artifacts that might distract people from worshiping Allah. In doing so, they’ve effectively annihilated many traces of Islam’s ancient past.

This list uncovers some amazing feats in architecture and technology, one of which has taken at least a decade to create. The building of all these structures was a major undertaking which is still taking a toll on some property developers and investors. Some of these sites are stunning and remarkable while others are slightly humorous.

It’s beyond amazing to see the painstaking efforts some individuals have taken to recreate history. We’re talking about history buffs who are so aroused by creating replicas that they will spend their family’s fortune to recreate the history of another country inside their own.

10 Paris In Tianducheng, China

If you’re in China but love Paris and luxury, you should visit Tianducheng. You’ll have the ability to have it all to yourself because the area is largely abandoned. The area impressively replicates Paris—from the buildings surrounding the 108-meter (354 ft) replica of the Eiffel Tower to the Champs-Elysees’ fountain.

The replica is a sight to behold even though it’s less than half of the real size, actually closer to a third. Paris in Tianducheng has a residential neighborhood around the Eiffel Tower, a gated community that protects practically no one.

It is built to accommodate 10,000 people, but far fewer people than that live there. Travel time to get there by public transportation takes at least an hour. Perhaps this is the reason for the lack of incoming traffic in the area despite its allure to investors.

9 London’s Tower Bridge In Suzhou, China

If an English person finds their trip to China culturally shocking, they can take solace in the faux English replicas. Those with an eye for authenticity will notice that the Tower Bridge in Suzhou does not have a raising mechanism.

The original has two towers while the replica has four towers connected through skywalks and elevators. You’ll find Tower Bridge Coffee located in one of the towers. Humorously enough, it has an English cafe with a Chinese menu.

The Chinese are proud of the £9.4 million monument, which stands 40 meters (131 ft) tall, across Huayuan Road. A Chinese publication stated that the Chinese structure was more magnificent than the original. The replica is wider at the base and has space for pedestrians and non–motor vehicles on either side.

The bridge is still discussed as part of the controversial urban planning in Suzhou that focuses on erecting foreign structures. The president of an architecture firm in Beijing called the bridge plagiarism in a city that already has its own rich culture.

8 Florence, Italy, In Tianjin, China

Florentia Village is a great place to visit if you have a taste for pricey Italian dining and shopping in Tianjin. This shopping center is definitely an Italian knockoff. But no matter how fake it might be, shoppers should be strapped with real, cold, hard cash.

This $220 million investment is nothing to be scoffed at. No need to take an 18-hour flight to shell out dollars the Italian way. When most people think of picking a gondola and riding down the canal, China is probably not the first place that comes to mind.

It’s fascinating that expensive brands such as Armani, Prada, Versace, and more have placed their shops in a replica shopping center. Wouldn’t one think that the world’s most successful retail brands would want to be associated with authenticity instead of a fictitious area of “Italy”?

Guess not. If a picture is taken at just the right angle, who is to say it’s not authentic? Italian mall operator RDM is expecting a lot of mainlander and international business. Faux Italy is located near the Kwai Hing subway station. Since it’s close to immigration checkpoints, the airport, and the subway, approximately half a million visitors are expected to travel to Florentia Village.

7 The Giza Pyramids In 3-D

Great minds at Harvard University, Dassault Systemes, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston have collaborated to make an impressive replica of an Egyptian 3-D world.

Professor Peter Der Manuelian has used 3-D immersion in his teaching for the last 10 years. Recreations include 3-D tours of major monuments of Giza—three pyramids, the sphinx, 15 tombs, and the throne of the mother of King Khufu.

Dassault Systemes and the Harvard Semitic Museum have been collaborating for six years to create tombs and pyramids. The duo worked to provide 3-D, immersive classrooms for students to learn about the Giza area. High-performance projectors and a wide, curved screen provide a fully immersive experience for students learning about the structures of ancient Egypt.

The project is focused on archaeological truths to ensure historical accuracy. It brings together the findings of 11 different universities located in the US, Egypt, Austria, Germany, and Italy.

The Giza Pyramids in 3-D contains 150,000 files with information dating back to the 1800s. 3-D technology allows the Giza plateau to be shown at three different periods in time simultaneously. This includes the pyramids in 2400 BC, the conditions in 1912, and the structures as they are today.

6 The Greek Parthenon In Nashville, Tennessee

Witnessing the replica of Greece’s Parthenon in Tennessee isn’t free. Even though this historic building is fake and completely out of place, the original casts for the marble sculptures are authentic and date back to 438 BC. Other than being made of plaster, these full-scale replicas are remarkable.

The Centennial Exposition of 1897 brought about the creation of the Parthenon replica. However, the whole point of the Centennial Exposition was to display Native Americans, the original inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless, the choice was made to honor the original Native American tribes with something that has nothing to do with their culture or history.

The 13-meter (42 ft) statue of Athena Parthenos (“Athena the Virgin”) also serves as a museum of art. The Parthenon was made for temporary display in 1895 for the Tennessee Centennial Exposition in 1897, although the state decided to make the structure permanent in 1920.

The statue of Athena Parthenos is the largest indoor statue in the Western world. The statue remained completely white for 12 years before it underwent a four-month gilding process.

Pheidias, the original Greek sculptor of Athena, was also the creator of the statue of Zeus at Olympia, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Alan LeQuire won the commission to recreate Athena Parthenos in 1982, and the work was finally unveiled in 1990.

5 The Leaning Tower Of Niles In Niles, Illinois

In the 1920s, Robert Ilg got an idea that he wanted to construct a 22-acre park in Illinois with two swimming pools. But he was confronted with the issue of unsightly water towers which provided water for the pools.

Then an ingenious idea popped into his mind to develop a replica of the “Leaning Tower of Pisa” to hide the water tanks. Size apparently doesn’t matter. At 29 meters (94 ft) tall, this replica is half the size of the original in Pisa, Italy.

Ilg required the local YMCA (which inherited the building) to maintain the site for $500 per year until 2059. The structure needs repairs, so hopefully, there are enough funds to complete the job.

4 Statue Of Liberty In Japan

These days, you just can’t count on landmarks to tell you where you are. Seeing the Statue of Liberty no longer means you’re in New York. In fact, there are three replicas of this well-known monument in Japan—one each in Odaiba, Shimoda, and Osaka.

The figure was provided on loan from France and temporarily put in place for a year in 1998 to celebrate ties between Japan and France. The following year, France took back the statue.

What better way to replace something missed than to just make a fake one? In 2000, a replica was erected in Japan and remains to this day.

3 Falconcity Of Wonders In Dubai

The Seven Wonders of the World are set to be recreated in Falconcity of Wonders in Dubai. The city is host to replicas of the pyramids, Taj Arabia, Tower of Pisa, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Eiffel Tower, and the Great Wall of China.

Taj Arabia is a replica of the Taj Mahal. The construction places heavy emphasis on modern amenities. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon in Dubai offer eco-friendly luxury flats, open-air restaurants, and of course, the garden.

Despite the immense efforts to recreate these structures, the focus is not on historical accuracy as much as aesthetic appeal. Many of the replicas have features that cannot be found on the originals, such as parks, cafes, and fountains. The luxury community is still in the process of being built after many years of delays.

2 Fred Flintstone’s House

Who would have known that it’s such a popular idea to live in a house that’s modeled after the Flintstones’ home? A theme park spanning six acres is dedicated to Fred and his lifestyle. It sits 48 kilometers (30 mi) outside of the Grand Canyon’s south rim.

The park is one of a few different Flintstones-themed parks in the US. The Flintstones’ Bedrock City Park and Campground is a theme park with quirky features, like a cafe with coffee for five cents and a fake volcano named after Wilma.

The town is complete with all the buildings—a dentist’s office, post office, jail, police station, and gift shop. Visit Fred’s Diner and chow down on the cartoon character’s favorite meals, like the Fishasaurus sandwich, Chickasaurus dinner, Bronto burgers, and Gravelberry pie.

For many years, the park was home to Linda Speckels, her five daughters, and her late husband, Francis. She is now looking for someone to take over the park’s operations as she’s raised all her children at the park and is ready to move on.

Speckels hopes that the new owner of the property will continue the Flintstones theme, but she is okay if they decide not to. Unfortunately for the new owner, the Hanna-Barbera licensing rights don’t transfer with the sale, but the conditional use permit does.

The new owner will have options to convert the property into a mall or casino. Anyone who opposes destruction of the park can slide down the back of their own brontosaurus every day for $2 million.

1 Titanic Replica

The Titanic II is being created by billionaire Clive Palmer. The design and decor of Titanic II will match the era of its predecessor. The replica of the iconic ship will even contain replicas of the original lifeboats.

The hull has finally been completed on this functioning replica of the Titanic after two years of delays. Plans were developed in 2012, and the ship was scheduled to have its maiden voyage in 2016. But that has been delayed until 2018.

Made for 2,435 passengers, the new ship will be equipped with lifeboats and modern marine applications. Even though Titanic II is slated to have 840 rooms and nine decks, it is actually going to be smaller than modern-day cruise ships.

The cost to build it is estimated at $435 million, roughly 10 times the cost of the original. It will be permanently docked at a luxury resort, set to open at the end of 2017. Titanic II will not be taking its old route. Instead, it will travel from Jiangsu, China, to Dubai.

Katana Haley is an entrepreneur and woman of many hats. When she’s not performing hard rock or songwriting, you’ll find her in a book. She has an extensive content marketing, copywriting, and musical background. Katana’s experience includes being a singer, content marketer, and web developer.

It’s getting pretty close to Halloween, isn’t it? Then (and I whole-heartedly agree with this), it’s the perfect time to sit down and creep yourself out. And what better way to do it than to read about horrible things done in the past to our fellow man.

Here, you will find the stories of some disturbing burial sites from days gone by. There are sites for vampires, witches, gladiators, and one just for heads.

Enjoy your journey six feet under the ground with the buried bones of history!

Related: Top 10 Shocking Shallow Grave Discoveries

10 Mass Grave of Shackled Young Men

The upsetting sight of 80 skeletons, a significant number of them shackled, were uncovered by archeologists in an ancient Greek graveyard called the Falyron Delta Necropolis in 2016. However, what was most disturbing about the corpses was that their jaws were left hanging open, almost as though they were screaming as they were slaughtered.

A great deal of uncertainty surrounds their demise, but one plausible theory for their execution is that the skeletons were once supporters of the Athenian noble Cylon. Cylon endeavored to overthrow the government or the Archons of Athens with his followers in 632 BC but failed wretchedly. Although he got away, verifiable records disclose that every one of Cylon’s supporters was sure to be executed, and these remains seem to give the evidence needed to solidify that theory.

Archaeologists later determined that the bodies had died from blows to the back of their heads. They were also dated back to sometime between 650 and 625 BC. The skeletons were deemed to have died young and healthy before being buried. The way they were buried in an orderly fashion suggests that they were buried with respect, even though they had supposedly revolted against their king. ^[1]

9 Vampire Burials in Bulgaria

Archeological unearthings have found that Bulgaria is home to about 100 vampire burial sites. In the Balkans during the Middle Ages, vampire superstitions were spread far and wide and were widely feared. On account of these convictions, individuals sometimes took safeguards to protect themselves, even after someone’s death. For the bodies of individuals who endured unusual and disturbing deaths, especially when it was by suicide, certain precautions were taken to ensure that their bodies would remain dead.

In Perperikon, one man in his 40s was found to have an iron pole pounded into his chest to keep him from moving. In addition, his leg had been cut off and placed beside this body to immobilize him. The placement of the iron poles was done by pounding the plowshare into a broken shoulder, popping off one’s collarbone in the process, as was done to this mystery man. However, different skeletons have been found with metal items lodged in their ribcages close to where their hearts ought to be or even through the solar plexus as another method to keep the dead, well, dead.

Of course, the most famous vampire execution was to have a stake pounded through their chest and perhaps a clove of garlic around the gravesite. This method was a superstitious way of restraining the dead from reemerging as a demonic vampire intent on terrorizing the town.

Another man who was deemed a vampire was Krivich, the savage leader of the Sozopol Fortress, who was found with an iron bar puncturing his chest to keep him from threatening the town after his passing. Basically, if there were any place to find a real vampire in the world, this would be the place to go. But don’t start packing yet—at least not until you finish the rest of this list, of course!^[2]

8 Remains of 100 Dead Babies

One of the more disturbing findings was a pit filled with infant skeletons. Around 100 of them were found by archeologists in a sewer in 1988.

The sewer was under a Roman bathhouse in Ashkelon, an old seaport on Israel’s Mediterranean coast. A mass infant grave is something you ought to never need to find out about, but unfortunately, life is sometimes quite cruel. Tragically, this unnerving archeological find was the biggest uncovering of dead babies in one location.

The newborns’ bones were forensically tested, and it was discovered that these infants all died when they were under one week old yet had been healthy when they were thrown into the sewer, meaning that it was most likely right after the child was born. Simply thrown into the sewer without a second glance. DNA testing revealed that most were males, an unusual finding, as generally male babies are preferred over girls.

It is theorized that these were the unwanted children born to prostitutes who worked at the bathhouse; however, this is not definitive. Were these courtesans forced to get rid of their child or did they believe they would not be able to take care of them properly? This seems an extreme practice with the prevalence and knowledge of birth control, even in its more primitive forms. And why mostly boys? Were the girls kept to be raised to work at the bathhouse? Horrifically, babies were not seen as totally human in Roman times until a naming ceremony about eight or nine days after birth, leading to the babies being thrown carelessly into the sewers without any consequences.^[3]

7 Slaughter Pit at Sacred Ridge

At a Native American settlement called Sacred Ridge in Colorado, archeologists were studying the ancient artifacts when they suddenly realized that the 22 pit homes were shrouded in bits of scattered, ravaged human bodies. Piles of crushed bones lay around the site, and human limbs were found tossed into the ripped-off roofs of the pit homes. The causes of these deaths were quickly attributed to the pile of bloodied double-headed axes found nearby.

Around 1200 years ago, the residents—estimated at 35 people—had been hobbled and beaten, had their faces crushed, were scalped, and then slashed into pieces and burned. This unexpected slaughter was suspected to be carried out by the village’s neighbors due to their lower position and lack of resources.

There is also a large belief that the residents of Sacred Ridge were practicing witchcraft and that, by absolutely pulverizing the victims’ bodies, they could drive away the evil spirits. Through further examination of the crushed remains, it was found that the attackers had purposely crushed the heels and toes of the victims’ feet in order to hobble them and prevent them from escaping the massacre, disregarding gender or age, as it was thought children were more susceptible to evil spirits.^[4]

6 Human Petrifaction

Italian Girolamo Segato traveled to Egypt around 1820, where he became fascinated with mummification. He was fixated on techniques for saving the human body. He even came up with his own strategy, which was never recorded. His work in the artificial petrifaction of bodies—mineralization of human remains leaving their original color and elasticity—was effective to the point that the skin and bones he chipped away at seemed to have turned to stone. Perhaps he could be considered a real-life Medusa?

Unfortunately, he got his bodies through grave-robbing. To do his petrifaction process, he secretly went out with a shovel and a lot of upper body strength to obtain the corpses without the family’s consent.
Segato’s nearly perfectly preserved works can be seen the University of Florence. An exception is a scagliola table he gifted to the Grand Duke Ferdinand III made out of petrified human remains—liver, heart, uterus, tongue, various cancers, all preserved and arranged in attractive patterns.

On his own burial chamber in Florence is recorded: “Here lies decayed Girolamo Segato from Belluno, who could have been totally petrified if his art had not died with him.”^[5]

5 The Underground Labyrinth of Death

Labyrinths can take years to discover all the twists and turns and, in this case, the bodies that lay inside of them.

In Peru, archeologists working at Chavin de Huantar used tiny remote-operated robots to find 36 underground passages resting underneath a 3,000-year-old temple. The dark tunnels contained the still intact remains of three people that may have been sacrificed in “rituals [involving] drugs, noise, and light manipulation.” These rituals seemed to have been performed in the New Temple found nearby that had a U-shaped ceremonial design center found nearby.

The bodies were deemed of lower social status based on being buried face down among the rocks. This position was not considered an honorable position and left a dark and ominous feeling in the air. Not only this, but the burials were quite simplistic, with the bodies being buried in simple cotton clothes and placed in shallow pits.

The tombs also contained precious metals, colorful textiles, and other valuable historical artifacts, including pottery, scrolls, and drawn images of animals on the walls.^[6]

4 Pits Full of Heads

Archeologists working along the Great Wall of China published new discoveries that depict a formerly obscure early society, the Shimao nation. While the archeologists found beautiful artifacts made of jade, among other items, specialists also made the grisly discovery that human sacrifice was a significant component of early society. Six pits had been filled with beheaded young women who were uncovered at the site. It is thought that they were sacrificed to the gods.

These heads were found in a massive pyramid and were used to create an offering to the gods for good fortune in building their site. When first discovered, the pyramid was thought to be a part of the Great Wall of China but was later deemed to have been built earlier.

The Shimao site is found along the Yellow River in an area called the “Northern Zone.” The pyramid was 70 meters tall and housed the Shimao rulers and the “elite.” It could be seen throughout the entire local area and was thought to be a reminder and representation of the “social pyramid” of the time.^[7]

While the pyramid is a massive achievement in early Chinese history, this discovery may persuade you to not visit the location. Or perhaps it will tempt you even more?

3 Beheaded Gladiators

These beheaded corpses found in York belonged to men who may have been Retiarii, warriors who battled with a net and lance or pike.

A large number of skeletons found in York, England, were described as tall men who died before the age of 45. What makes them grislier is that every one of them had been decapitated. Their bodies were buried with their heads—sometimes, they were placed on their chests, between their legs, or even between their feet.

While not much more is known about them, the bodies have been dated to between the second and fourth centuries A.D, when the territory was very important for the northern Roman Empire. Since the vast majority of the skeletons were especially tall and gave indications of trauma, they might be the bones of numerous gladiators. It is also possible that they may likewise have been military men or criminals used to fight for sport. The origin of the bodies remains unknown even to this day.^[8]

2 Toothy Tumor

The 1,600-year-old skeleton of a Roman woman was discovered by Spanish archaeologists, who, looking at her hips, noticed a calcified ball of bone containing four twisted teeth sticking out.

This disturbing discovery was an ovarian teratoma, a sort of tumor that emerges from germ cells. Germ cells are the antecedents of human egg cells, so they can shape body parts like teeth and bones. It is the first time that such a medical condition has been found in ancient remains. The woman was described as being of low social class, found in a simple grave under tile called tegulae, a common practice at the time.

The tumor measured 1.7 inches at its longest length, and, probably, the tumor might have never resulted in any discomfort or symptoms. However, it is possible that the tumor could have caused the woman’s death by displacing her organs as it grew, later causing an infection, hemolytic anemia, or pregnancy complications. It is seemingly impossible to truly know how the woman died, but the toothy discovery most definitely shocked archaeologists. It was almost like a scene straight out of the movie Alien.^[9]

1 Remnants of a Witch Chase

While no remains were found here, this fifteenth-century church in Aberdeen, Scotland, horrifies viewers because of what it represents and the scenario that you may imagine in your mind. The house of prayer contained a stone column set with an iron ring, which may have been utilized to restrain accused witches in 1597 and keep them from escaping.

Aberdeen facilitated witch trials in that year known as the “Great Witch Hunt.” Around 400 individuals were tried, and roughly 200 were executed in an eight-month time frame. The executions were absolutely despicable. Executions included drownings, burnings, beheadings, among other atrocities.

Quite possibly, the most acclaimed case is of Jane Wishart, who was sentenced alongside her child Thomas Leyis. Jane Wishart was accused of 18 points of witchcraft, and 30 charges were brought against her. The earliest being attributed to when five men had seen her leave her house unpermitted at two in the morning and went to tell someone, resulting in two of the men drowning later that day.

The second major charge was attributed to the fact that her husband had hit her, and every day after that, a brown dog came into their bedroom and attacked the husband but never the wife. Her son was accused of three points of witchcraft and was thought to be the leader of several witches in the area. Both were strangled and then burned.^[10]

In addition to the previous list on 10 Mysterious Prehistoric Sites in the British Isles, there hundreds of mysterious locations spanning the entire globe.  Some are similar to the ones we’ve mentioned already, featuring stone circles and other megalithic structures—and others are entirely unique.  All of them are ancient—and they hint at the strong possibility that we don’t know anywhere near as much about our distant past as we think we do.

The Carnac stones are a dense collection of more than three thousand standing stones around the French village of Carnac—the largest such collection in the world.  The stones were erected between 4500 and 3300 B.C.

There is a variety of theories as to the purpose of the stones. Some claim that the stones are aligned astronomically, with the intention of creating an observatory or a calendar system.  Others believe that they were actually used as primitive seismic instruments, with the balanced stones acting as earthquake detectors.  The Carnac site is also thought to support the controversial idea of the “megalithic yard”, a theoretical common unit of measurement that was used to build most megalithic sites.

In the ancient quarries near Aswan, Egypt, lies a gigantic piece of stone which was intended to be erected as an obelisk.  The obelisk was never finished, likely due to cracks which formed in the stone during the quarrying (although some believe the builders may have been violently interrupted).  

The sheer size of this object is what makes it remarkable. It would have been a full third larger than any other ancient obelisk known to us.  Standing 137 feet (42m) tall and weighing 1200 tons, this single piece of rock would have been taller than a ten-storey building.  There are very few modern cranes that could move such a massive object—so how exactly did the ancient Egyptians plan on transporting and erecting it?

The three most important dolmens (or passage mounds) in Spain—Cueva de Menga, Cueva de Viera, and the Tholos of El Romeral—are some of the largest in the world.  The largest stones used in their construction weigh one hundred and eighty tons, and were transported from at least a mile away.  The sites, which are located near the town of Antequera, are believed to have been established around 3700 B.C.—making them a contemporary of many famous megalithic sites such as Stonehenge.

Many of the walls feature anthropomorphic illustrations.  Menga is aligned with the summer solstice, and El Romeral shares several traits and characteristics with tholos dolmens discovered on Crete, which suggests contact with the Minoan civilization.

Ggantija is a complex of two megalithic temples on the Maltese island of Gozo.  The stone temples were constructed around 3600 B.C., making them the second-oldest religious structures ever found, just behind Gobekli Tepe.  For a little context, it’s worth remembering that this was a time when metal tools were not available to the natives of the Maltese islands, and the wheel had not yet been invented.  

It is believed that Ggantija may have been the site of a fertility cult, as figurines and statuettes associated with fertility have been discovered there.  Small spherical stones have also been discovered, which archeologists believe may have been used as ball bearings in the transport of the massive stone blocks which make up the temples.  All that being said, we still don’t know how or why the temples were built.

Ranging in size from a few centimeters to more than two meters in diameter, and weighing fifteen tons, a collection of over two hundred stone spheres has been found in Costa Rica. The spheres are believed to have been carved between 1500 and 500 B.C. by a civilization long since disappeared, although exact dating is impossible.  

There are numerous myths and legends relating to the spheres, with some claiming that they are relics of Atlantis, and others claiming that the builders possessed a potion which softened rock.  Although the stones have been weathered, damaged, and eroded over the centuries, some believe they were originally carved into perfect spheres. Once again, we still don’t know what purpose was served by these stones.

The Olmec heads are a collection of seventeen colossal heads, carved from stone.  The heads date from 1500–1000 B.C., and weigh between six and fifty tons.  Each head is carved with a unique headdress, leading some to believe that they were meant to be representations of powerful Olmec rulers.  Others claim that the face structure featured on the heads resembles that of an African male, suggesting that this might be evidence of an advanced African civilization visiting the Americas in prehistoric times.

In 1987, a group of strange formations was found underwater off the coast of Yonaguni Island.  These formations feature flat parallel edges, right angles, sharp edges, pillars, and columns—leading many to believe that the site could be man-made.  

The last time this area would have been dry land was eight to ten thousand years ago, during the most recent ice age—and so if Yonaguni really was constructed by humans, it would be one of the oldest structures on Earth, and would drastically change what we think we know of prehistory.

In 2001, evidence of a sunken city was found off the coast of India, in the Gulf of Cambay.  Several manmade structures have been identified using sonar, including large buildings and canals.  Artifacts such as pottery shards and hearth materials have been dredged up from the bottom.

The scale of the city is quite large, especially considering the fact that one piece of wood has been dated from as early as 9500 BC.  If it really existed back then, the city would be thousands of years older than the previous oldest city found in India, and would have existed thousands of years before humans were thought to be building cities of this size.  

There are some people who scoff at the suggested date, saying that the carbon-dated wood proves nothing—but all the same, there is enough evidence to make this site one of the most intriguing in the world.

On Easter Island—one of the most remote inhabited islands on Earth—lies one of the world’s most famous mysteries.  The giant stone statues (Moai) of Easter Island are a favorite of tourists—but little is actually known about them.  Although it was thought at first that the statues were merely heads, excavation has shown almost all of them to have bodies.   Very few of the statues were ever actually erected; most were left in quarries, or abandoned during transport.  

Archeologists don’t know why the statues were built, what they signified, how they were transported and erected, or why they were abandoned unfinished.  There is a form of hieroglyphic writing on some of the statues, which nobody has been able to translate.  The people of Easter Island themselves are something of a mystery; it remains unclear where they originally came from.  

One of the wildest theories about Easter Island has it that the island is actually the peak of an underwater mountain—and all that remains of the lost civilization of Mu.

Gobekli Tepe is generally considered to be the oldest religious structure ever found.  Radiocarbon dating puts the site at between 10,000 and 9000 B.C. To put this age in perspective, more time passed between the building of Gobekli Tepe and the building of Stonehenge than between the building of Stonehenge and present day.

The site contains stone structures and stone pillars which feature carvings of various predatory animals. The stone pillars—some of them reaching nearly twenty tons in weight—date to a time when humans were thought to be simple hunter-gatherers. Gobekli Tepe seems to have been built before the advent of agriculture, religion, written language, the wheel, pottery, the domestication of animals, and the use of anything other than simple stone tools.  

How were these structures built at a time when humans are basically thought have been cavemen?  How did they quarry huge pieces of stone, and cut them to size with no metal tools?  What was the purpose of such a site, before religion was thought to have been established?  The discovery and ongoing excavation of Gobekli Tepe could eventually change our conception of prehistory forever.

Mark Thompson is an animal lover from Canada who wishes he was an animal lover from somewhere warmer.

Witches, or those accused of being witches, were a common enemy in the vast swathes of Europe between 1500 and 1700. The last-recorded woman accused of being a witch, Anna Goldï, was beheaded in 1782. Her supposed crime was infant murder, as it’s highly likely that her child died of natural means. She was a domestic servant and had been romantically involved with her employer—who later accused her of witchcraft to conveniently bury the incident.

Witchcraft was a blanket accusation made of anyone who stirred discomfort in a deeply religious, misguided society. Whether you worked with medicinal herbs, stayed unmarried, refused the advances of a powerful man, or your baby died—you had better be afraid. You might be next.

Both Protestant and Catholic countries put “witches” on trial with great fervor. Germany had the highest amount of executions, perhaps due to the popularity of the book Malleus Maleficarum by two German scholars. It proclaimed the need to inform readers how to spot, torture, and bring down witches—a terrifying read indeed.

Now, we’ll look at 10 places where you can revisit this chilling history across Europe, paying homage to the ill-fated people accused of witchcraft during a particularly dark period.

10 Castlehill in Edinburgh, Scotland

Agnes Sampson was a well-respected midwife and healer within her community in the late 1500s. King James VI of Scotland (later King James I of England), the ruler at that time, led a brutal crusade against women, labeling many as witches. His fear and obsession were sparked when his ship was ravaged by storms during a voyage to marry his new queen. He became utterly convinced that this was the work of witches and dark spirits. Many women were accused of orchestrating this storm through supernatural means, and Agnes was one of them.

During brutal torture, Agnes confessed to the accusations leveled against her. She was then burned at the stake in Castlehill. Today, you can see a memorial to her and many other murdered women at the Witch’s Fountain in Edinburgh.^[1]

9 Würzberg, Germany

Thought to be home to the most brutal witch-hunt in Europe, this city in Bavaria is the site of hundreds of executions. In 1626, that year’s grape harvest was wiped out by an unexpected frost. Of course, these days, you’d simply begrudge unpredictable weather patterns of climate change, but then, it had to be the witches!

Through a series of trials led by the hurriedly formed Witches Committee, hundreds of men, women, and children were murdered. Due to the merciless torture techniques, many victims offered up names of other “witches” indiscriminately, causing the accusations to spread like wildfire.

Nowadays, Würzberg is a charming city with little evidence of such a damning past. You have to scratch below the surface to find any hints to this time of history as there aren’t any overt monuments or plaques.^[2]

8 Colchester, England

A well-known and terrifying figure from the witch-trial period in England was Matthew Hopkins, dubbed the Witchfinder General. He was personally responsible for around 300 trials and 100 executions—usually seeking out easily demonized targets such as people from lower social classes. He was financially rewarded for his efforts which, undeniably, fueled his crusade.

Witchfinder General Hopkins tortured many of his victims in the Castle of Colchester. This well-preserved Norman castle stands today, and in recent times, they unveiled a plaque in memory of the numerous victims. Visitors can tour the castle and its dank dungeons to see the windowless cells where these poor souls were held and tortured.^[3]

7 Prąmnik, Poland

While Poland was not one of the countries with the highest rate of witch trials and executions, it had many incidents where people were accused and killed. Although it was one of the first countries to outlaw the persecution of people for “sorcery,” many districts overtly ignored this law.

Close to Kraków in Poland, you will find the small village of Prąmnik. Here stands a well-preserved medieval watermill in which a haunting tale occurred. Zofia Konstancja and Agnieszka Michałowska were two very unlucky village women who were accused of employing witchcraft to damage the farmland which formed part of the mill. Several monks also reported that the women harmed them, although records from this time are few and far between. The Kasina Wielka witch trial for the accused occurred in September 1634.

The Pramnik Mill still stands in Prądnik Czerwony in Kraków on Dominikana Street. You can sense the dark history if you visit this mill, the building giving off an eerie feeling as it towers high above you.^[4]

6 Pendle, England

Lancashire in England is home to what were some of the most notorious witch trials in the UK. Prejudices at the time considered the people of this Northern region to be wild and untamed, perhaps lending the persecutors extra fuel when condemning its people to death.

Of the 10 women accused, seven came from two local families who were headed by matriarchs. Also well-known herbal healers, they had a business selling remedies and tinctures. The infamous trial went ahead in August 1612, and not one of the accused was permitted a defense or any witnesses to speak on their behalf.

Tourists will find a plethora of homages to these accused women, including a walking trail dedicated to them, complete with statues, and a museum that dives deep into the well-recorded history of witch trials in the area.^[5]

5 Vardø, Norway

A historic fishing village in the far northeast of Norway is the setting where over 90 people accused of witchcraft were executed in cold blood. Many of the accused were indigenous Sami people, mostly women, and many were condemned by their neighbors or husbands. While recorded history during this time was vague, reported accusations included poisoning cattle, causing storms, and communing directly with Satan.

The town of Vardø has marked this awful period of history by commissioning world-famous artist Louise Bourgeois and renowned architect Peter Zumthor to create The Steilneset Memorial. The breathtaking memorial building and sculpture are both visually arresting and thought-provoking as they commemorate those killed and offer a moment of reflection.^[6]

4 Zugarramurdi, Spain

While witch trials were not top of the agenda during the Spanish Inquisition, this didn’t mean that the people of Spain escaped unscathed. The Basque witch trials attempted to stifle the pagan roots of the Basque country, led by Pierre de Lancre, a judge in French Basque territory who had 80 people burned at the stake.

The Cave of the Witches of Zugarramurdi is a natural tunnel where the Inquisition believed witches met to commune with nature and its spirits. These days you can visit this impressive natural wonder and marvel at the dark period in its history. The Museum of Witchcraft in this area of Xareta reframes the idea of witchcraft and looks at many Basque myths and legends.^[7]

3 Triora, Italy

Located on the Piedmonte border, Triora is a picturesque village that boasts five fortresses. Known as The City of Bread, it was once a hugely important place due to the production of grains. One year, during the 17th century, crops were blighted due to extreme heat. Now, knowing the trend of witch trials at the time, it’s easy to see where this is going…

A priest from the Inquisition visited Triora during this time of plight, speaking of witchcraft and sorcery. After being whipped up into a state of frenzy, villagers turned on each other, and it was the poorest women whose fate was decided. To learn more and pay their respect to the victims, visitors can peruse the local museum, where fascinating original documents can be seen.^[8]

2 Torsåker, Sweden

Home to the biggest witch trial in Swedish recorded history, Torsåker saw 71 accused beheaded and burned over the course of one day. This frenzied bloodshed started when the local minister was told by his superiors to weed out witches in his parish.

His method was to have two young boys from the church stand by the door as church members streamed by, looking for an invisible devil’s mark on their foreheads. While it sounds like a myth, this was later recounted and recorded by the grandson of one of the accused. Nowadays, a big memorial stone marks the site of this macabre piece of human history.^[9]

1 Fulda, Germany

Abbot of the Fulda monastery, Balthasar von Dernbach, staunchly supported the thorough investigation of witchcraft within the town. He claimed to be cleansing the area of improper things, using violent force to extract “confessions.” A famous case is of a pregnant woman, Merga Bien, who was burned at the stake while pregnant, after being accused of murdering her second husband. Finally, this dreadful era of witch hunts ended when Dernbach died.

In the town today, a tasteful stone monument mourns the murders of those innocent people accused of witchcraft and sorcery.^[10]