Project IS THIS CASTLE HAUNTED? In this book we collected the most popular legends associated with castles located in our countries. Legends tell about ghosts, white ladies, and other monsters appearing in our palaces and castles.
In this project participated students from following schools:
France: Ecole Primaire Publique, SAULT LES RETHEL Greece: 3ο Δημοτικό Σχολείο Αλίμου, Αλιμος Italy: Scuola Secondaria di I Grado, Ponte San Pietro Poland: Szkoła Podstawowa nr 1 w Bolesławcu Spain: Colegio Parroquial La Encarnación, Cartagena Ukraine: Specialized school #10 of Odesa
Carini is a city in Sicily which is an island located below the Italian peninsula. The largest must see site in Carini is the Castle of Carini. The Castle was started in 1075 and finished in 1090. Built as a fortress in the Norman epoch, it was extensively remodelled, mainly by the La GruaTalamanca family.
The town’s castle was the setting of a tragic episode involving the Baronessa di Carini, killed by his father in 1563 for having a secret affair while already betrothed to another man.
The legend tells about Donna Laura Lanza’s death, who married baron Carini when she was 14. As she was unhappy with her married life and the absence of her husband, she felt in love with Ludovico Vernagallo and she became her lover.
When her husband and her father discovered it, she was killed with Ludovico. The room of the killer was in the west part of the castle and it has been destroyed.
However people said that in the past, there was the baroness’ bloody sign. At present what you can find about the legend, Laura’s ghost, who walks restlessly around the castle and a special sign: a little sculpted hand on the west tower.
Source: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castello_di_Carini http://wikitravel.org/en/Carini http://www.palermo-sicilia.it/english/carini.htm
The castle of Lagopesole together with the town of the same name, it’s an area of Avigliano in province of Potenza, southern Italy. At the top of Lagopesole is located a castle, attributed to Frederick II that was probably built between 1242 and 1250. A distinguishing feature is the presence within it of a real church in an austere Romanesque style.
THE MONUMENT OF MANFREDI As any real castle, Lagopesole is surrounded by ghostly legends: a girl is said to walk its corridors at night, crying desperately. It is Elena, wife of Manfred of Swabia, once emperor of Sicily and son of Frederick II. He died in the Battle of Benevento, at the hand of the Anjou. Elena, inconsolable, returns to the castle where the young couple had been happier and cries the loss of her lover eternally. Manfred himself is said to wander through the castle's lands, riding his white horse.
Sources:  http://www.lifeinitaly.com/most-famous-castles-basilicata  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castel_Lagopesole
Trezzo sull'Adda is a comune in the Province of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy. Trezzo's main attraction is the massive castle which belonged to the powerful Visconti family in the 14th century. Protected by the Adda on two sides, it had a 42-metre high square tower on the third one. Its fortified bridge was 72 metres long, the longest bridge span for several centuries, built on three different levels, passing 25 metres over the waters.
The castle Visconteo of Trezzo in Adda of Milano has been subjected to paranormal investigation. On 2004 the association c.r.o.p used a camera and they discovered a ghost in the castle. The ghost was Bernabò Visconti, the lord of Milano. Visconti died in the castle after being poisoned a few months later. How ever there are many ghosts in the castle, not only Visconti. In 1973, four German tourists saw a group of ghosts.
The tourists told that they woke up the next morning in the castle grounds. The ghosts were dressed like soldiers. The ghosts invited the tourists to follow them into the castle where there was a party.
Sources:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trezzo_sull'Adda  http://www.italiadiscovery.it/news/lombardia/milano/trezzo_sull_add a/il_castello_di_trezzo_d_adda/1003.php
Legends of ghosts in Polish castles
The Bobolice Castle
The Bobolice Castle – a royal castle built by King Casimir III the Great in the middle of the 14th century. The castle was a part of the defence system of royal strongholds protecting the western border of Poland on the side of Silesia.
Ghosts of Castle Bobolice According to 15th century chronicles, a representative of the Krezowie family captured and imprisoned his niece in the Bobolice Castle. She is still said to haunt the stronghold as a lady in white. There is also a tale about two twin brothers, owners of castles in Mirów and Bobolice. Legend has it that they dug a tunnel between the two strongholds. One day they came into possession of a big treasure – they
hid it in the tunnel and put an witch on guard. The brothers understood each other perfectly and could go through fire and water for each other. However, their friendship was put to a difficult test, when one brother brought a beautiful girl from his war expedition. Suspecting that his twin brother may have fallen in love with the girl, he locked her in the cellar near the treasure. One day, during the absence of the witch, he caught the pair of lovers in the vault. He got angry, murdered his brother and bricked up the girl in the castle dungeons. The ghost of the girl is still said to haunt the castle tower.
Sources:
http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamek_Bobolice http://zamekbobolice.pl/ http://podrozniccy.com/pl/polska/zamek-bobolice http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobolice_Castle
Chojnik Castle Chojnik Castle is a castle located above the town of Sobiesz贸w, today part of Jelenia G贸ra in southwestern Poland. Its remains stand on top of the Chojnik hill within the Karkonosze National Park. This Silesian Piasts' fortress was erected in 1292 by Bolko I the Strict.
Legend about Kunegunda The ruins of Chojnik are tied to the myth of Kunegunda, a castle lord's daughter desired by many knights. As she had no intention to enter into marriage she promised to espouse the bold man who would complete a
circuit along the castle's walls on a horseback, knowing that on the steep slopes horse and rider must fall into the chasm. Many tried and perished until a proud nobleman came along, who appealed to Kunegunda's eyes. Though she declared to abandon the precondition and to marry him right away, the knight insisted to take the risk and he succeeded. Instead of accepting her proposal he scolded her for her cruelty and departed. Kunegunda however, deeply humiliated, lunged into the abyss herself.
Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chojnik_Castle
Czocha Castle
The defensive castle, built in the middle of 13th century, is located on the Lake Leśnia, near the Kwisa river (southwestern Poland). Each year, in the second half of August, there is a knight's tournament organised in the castle. Czocha castle was built on gneiss rock, and its oldest part is the keep, to which housing structures were later added.
Haunted castle According to the legend, any wife that was unfaithful to her husband was thrown to her death into the well called "the well of the disloyal woman" which is outside the castle. Some people say that the castle is haunted. Sometimes at night you can see the white lady in the bailey. It is the ghost of the wife who was falsely accused.
Sources: http://thelittlethingsare.com/uncategorized/czocha-castle/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czocha_Castle http://www.turystyka.dolnyslask.pl/content/view/68/63/lang,english/
Golub-Dobrzyń Castle
The castle in Golub-Dobrzyń was built in the beginning of the 14th century as a defensive fortress. It was many times attacked, destroyed, rebuilt and finally converted in the Renaissance style as a palace of the princess Anna Vasa. Erected on a hill overlooking the town, the castle belongs to the most interesting edifices of Europe.
White Lady - Anna Vasa
Princess Anna was known to take exceptionally good care of her people, animals, plants and the castle itself. It’s not surprising then that she did not want to leave all this behind when she died. She still lives in her castle as a ghost – or the White Lady of Golub. She has often been seen wearing a long white dress decorated with pearls, walking along the corridors or strolling in the gardens.
Sources: http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamek_w_Golubiu http://www.zamekgolub.pl/ http://polishcastle.eu/menu.htm
Grodno Castle
Grodno Castle is situated on the peak of Choina in the north颅ern part of the Sowie Mountains. The castle dates back to 1198. As a result of later armed conflicts it was destroyed several times and fell into ruin.
White Lady in the Grodno Since time immemorial, in the castle Grodno White Lady appears . Nobody knows exactly what the mysterious apparition is . Some say that this is the spirit of the necrosed for centuries women from Zag贸rz that bad margrave broke into the prison dungeon. Others say that the ghost of the old lady of the castle , which with grief after losing her husband
rushed to the moonlight into the well , and still others maintain that it is eternally repentant spirit princess Margaret. In one of the dungeons of the castle you can see the skeleton to be the remains of a beautiful chatelaine Margaret . Her father, Castellan wished well to spend a comely daughter, but she loved it to death the poor squire . One day my father brought to the castle but rich old nobleman. He liked the young Maggie and her father , despite requests nobleman 's daughter gave permission to marry her. The day after the wedding young couple went to the castle walls to admire the views. Then castellan pushed the old man into the abyss , and she returned to the castle in mock despair and informed his father about the " unfortunate accident ." This , however, everything seen and daughter sentenced to death by starvation, by walling in the dungeon.
Sources:  http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamek_Grodno  http://lowersilesia.info.pl/dokumenty,grodno-castle,doc4-424.html
Gryf Castle
The Gryf Castle was built on a steep basaltic hill by the Kwisa River. It was one of the largest castle in the Izerskie Highlands. It was the part of the defensive system of the Kwisa District.
White Lady from Gryf Castle White Lady has been appearing in the Gryf Castle for centuries. It is a phantom floating in rooms of upper castle, vanishing in the Blue Chamber. From time to time she has been seen wringing her hands, sometimes she roams through corridors sighing. That's the time, when castle or it's owner is in some kind of danger. Mainly she has been protecting children and defenceless people. When maids called her in their dark hours, they could always rely on her.
The White Lady was Adelajda, daughter of one of first castle's owners. She was happily in love with young noble, son of her father's sworn enemy. As the boy asked her to marry him, he was viciously exiled from the castle. After some time, though, father agreed to the marriage. It was a cruel deception. During the wedding he caught the groom and ordered to decapitate him. He also locked his daughter in dungeon and foreshadowed, that she will be roaming through the castle as a phantom until it turns into rubble. Sources: http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamek_Gryf Ewa Jędrasiak – Woźniak, Zygmunt Jędrasiak, Urszula i Aleksander Wiąckowie: Opowieści o Lwówku Śląskim. Lwówek Śląski, 1985.
Kórnik Castle
Kórnik Castle was constructed in the 14th century. The current neogothic design and remodeling was done by the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel for Tytus Działyński and the son Jan Kanty Działyński.
The White Lady of Kórnik
The white lady of the Kórnik castle is Teofila Działyńska SzołdrskaPotulicka, whose portrait is hanging in the Knight Room. Every night, after midnight, she leaves the painting and goes for a ride with a knight who comes on a black horse.
Sources:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Kórnik_Castle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kórnik_Castle http://en.polska.pl/Kornik,12009.html http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teofila_Działyńska_(SzołdrskaPotulicka)
Krzyżtopór Castle
Krzyżtopór is a castle located in the village of Ujazd, in southern Poland. It was originally built by a Polish nobleman and Voivode of Sandomierz, Krzysztof Ossoliński in the 17th century.
Ghost of the black knight in the castle Krzyżtopór According to legend under the ruins there is a hidden treasury of the Ossoliński family, guarded by the ghost of Krzysztof Baldwin Ossoliński.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krzyżtopór http://www.krzyztopor.org.pl/ http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krzyżtopór http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Krzyżtopór_Castle
Niedzica Castle
Niedzica Castle also known as Dunajec Castle is located in the southernmost part of Poland in Niedzica. It was erected between the years 1320 and 1326.
White Lady of Niedzica Castle The ghostly legends at the castle originate from one of the first owners of the castle, Sebastian Brezevichy. He traveled to Peru in South America, and he went on to marry a woman named Umina, who was an Inca royal. When war broke out between Spain and Peru in the 1860s, the
Brezevichy family moved back to Niedzica, Poland. They brought along with them the Inca treasure of the family so the Spanish would not be able to take it.
The legend says that Umina was murdered in front of the castle by a treasure hunting thief, and the ghost of Umina appears every night to scare away anyone who comes close to the castle in order to protect her gold. Umina's father hid the treasure and he created a cryptic document so the treasure can be found again one day. However, no one has been able to break the code of the document up until this point. Umina is referred to as the "White Lady" of Niedzica Castle.
Sources: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Niedzica_Castle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niedzica_Castle http://www.poland.travel/en/castles-palaces/niedzica-castle
Ogrodzieniec Castle
The ruins of the medieval castle built in the 14th-15th century. It is situated on the Castle Mountain - the highest hill of the KrakówCzęstochowa Upland, on the trail of the Eagles' Nests.
Black Dog of Ogrodzieniec
The Ogrodzieniec Castle is a place haunted by mighty dark powers. There have been locally famous reports of the "Black Dog of Ogrodzieniec" being seen prowling the ruins in the night-time. Witnesses have claimed that the spectre is a black dog much larger than an ordinary dog, and is supposed to have burning eyes and pull away a heavy chain. The dog is believed to be the soul of the Castellan of Cracow, Stanisław Warszycki.
Source: http://travelinos.com/castles/n22-19667-Ogrodzieniec_Castle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogrodzieniec_Castle
Rydzyna castle
Rydzyna castle, "the gem of Polish baroque" is located between the historic town of Rydzyna and a 12-hectare park. The castle in Rydzyna was built at the beginning of 15th. For centuries it was the family residence of King Stanislaw Leszczynski.
The White Lady from Rydzyna Castle
Once upon a time a woman with two children was living in the castle. Her husband was killed in a war. She wanted to get married again but the children made it impossible. That is why she killed them and immured in the castle. For that act she was punished and has been still serving the sentence. As the legend says every year, on the eve of All Saints Day, it is possible to meet the White Lady in an old chapel at midnight. A ghost of a woman in white shroud can be seen kneeling on the steps of the altar. The priest- skeleton starts saying the mass. There are also two skeleton altar boys. During the mass the White Lady prays and goes to confession. She mentions all her sins and asks for absolution. The priest replies that the time has not come not in this year. The candles extinguish suddenly and the whole apparition disappears. Only in the castle halls and in the surroundings one can hear cries and quiet footsteps.
Sources:  http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamek_w_Rydzynie  http://zamek-rydzyna.com.pl/historia
Sucha Beskidzka Castle
Sucha Beskidzka is a historic town in Western Beskids in southern Poland south east of Krak贸w. There is a beautiful renaissance castle (16th century). The historical building is surrounded by a park with a neogothic orangery.
The Black Lady The local inhabitants say, at times an apparition of a woman dressed in the black crinoline appears wandering around galleries during dark
nights. It is a ghost of Anna Konstancja Wielopolska who was an unusually strict woman both for local robbers and her subjects. The rumours have it that in one of the castle towers built by her, there was a secret chamber of tortures with a trapdoor, by which the unlucky ones were thrown down. There were gossips that both her husbands died in strange circumstances. After Anna’s death an apparition turned up in the castle and was being met also when Sucha Beskidzka was passed to other owners.
Sources: http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamek_w_Suchej_Beskidzkiej http://muzeum.sucha-beskidzka.pl/zamek_suski.html http://www.malopolska24.pl/index.php/tag/czarna-dama/
Tuczno Castle
Tuczno Castle, dating back to the 13th century, is very nicely and picturesquely nestled in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, northwestern Poland. Situated on top of the steep hill, surrounded by the waters of two lakes and swampy ground, the Castle dominating the village Tuczno used to be a well protected fortress, ideal for defence.
White Lady of Tuczno Castle At the beginning of the 15th century, one of the owners of the Tuczno Castle married a beautiful noble girl coming from a Great-Poland family. The marriage did not prove successful and the family conflicts began to prevail. When her husband, the owner of the castle, left for Cracow on the King’s request, the lady had a secret love-affair with a young falconer. The lovers had their meeting point in one of the rooms in The
East Tower where the lady had placed her tambour and a spinningwheel in order to avoid recognition..
The time passed quickly and a few months later the owner came back. One day, a water bird hunting was organized for the whole court. However, a fatal accident happened during the hunting. The lady shot the falconer when she aimed her bow at a flock of garganeys hidden in the rushes. The young man died on the same day. Unable to endure her suffering, she decided to lock herself in the tower room. Since then the castle has been haunted. From behind the door of the tower room, the sounds of the spinning-wheel are heard and the glimmering light is seen through its little window. Sources:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuczno_Castle  http://www.zamek-tuczno.pl/
Legends of ghosts in Spanish castles
ONCE UPON A TIME… A GIRL NAMED SOL
WHO LOVED DON MENDO. BUT HER PARENTS HATED HIM BECAUSE HE WAS A POOR MAN
SO DON MENDO WENT TO THE WAR TO MAKE MORE MONEY
WHILE, DOÑA SOL PARENTS FORCED HER TO MARRY DON RODRIGO, A RICH KNIGHT, BUT A CRUEL MAN
WHEN DON MENDO RETURNED FROM THE WAR, HE WENT TO SEE HIS BELOVED, BUT...
DON RODRIGO SAW THEM TOGETHER! HE GOT VERY uNGRY AND HE KILLED DON MENDO AND DOÑA SOL IN THE CONCEPCTION CASTLE
IT WAS BUILT BY KING ALFONSO X THE WISE (THIRTEENTH CENTURY)
IT HAS A LOT OF GARDENS
THIS CASTLE IS LOCATED ON THE HIGHEST OF THE FIVE STRATEGICS HILLS IN CARTAGENA, APPRECIATED BY MUSLIMS, CARTHAGINIANS AND ROMANS
IT IS REPRESENTED IN THE CENTER OF THE SHIELD OF OUR CITY
NOWADAY, A LOT OF PEOPLE CAN SEE DOÑA SOL SPIRIT WHEN THE NIGHT COMES. THEY HEAR HER CRYING AND LOOKING FOR HIS BELOVED DON MENDO
ON HALLOWEEN NIGHT, TRIPS ARE ORGANIZED TO RECREATE THIS LEGEND
AND TO FIND DOÑA SOL
THE END
Legends of ghosts in Ukrainian castles
The Castle of Belgorod-Dnestrovsk
Belgorod-Dnestrovskyi Castle is the biggest ancient castle in Ukraine which is extant nowadays. It is situated on the right bank of the river Dnestr in 2 kilometres from the Black Sea and in 46 kilometres from the city of Odesa. The castle is built on the place of the ancient Greek town of Tira which existed in V century BC.
Lots of legends are connected with this castle One legend is linked to “the Maiden Tower”. One Moldavian ruler Alexander the Kind had a daughter, Tamara. She was evil and violent and surrounded herself with dissipated servants. While her father was away on war journeys, Tamara with the help of her servants was robbing the inhabitants of the Princedom. Once, she asked her father for some money to build a monastery, but instead of the monastery she brought a lot of peaceful people and made them build a strong castle. Then she declared herself the Queen of the land, settled in the castle and started robbing and killing people even more furiously than before. When Alexander the Kind returned home from his journey, he was shocked to know what his daughter had done during his absence. He repudiated Tamara and cursed her. After that, she fell asleep deeply. Being asleep Tamara was brought into the tower which the people called “the Maiden Tower” after her. Since then, the cruel princess has been sleeping in her tower, waiting for a prince who will come, expiate her guilt with his heroic deeds and want to marry her. At that moment Tamara will awake.
The other tower is called “the Dungeon Tower”. This tower is connected with a Ukrainian beauty named Paraskovia. According to the legend, the cruel Turkish ruler Uzun-pasha took Paraskovia prisoner and tried to make her change her faith into the Muslim one. But the proud girl remained adamant, and then Uzun-pasha put her into the wet and dark dungeon where she spent long-long days and nights. Once, the Turkish ruler came to see Paraskovia, but her fetters fell down from her, and she walked quietly out of the tower and then – out of e. At that moment Uzun-pasha regained his senses and sent his servants to catch the girl. They reached her near the firth and raised their yataghans to deal shortly with her, nevertheless, a miracle happened again: Paraskovia melted in the air, and on the place where she was standing there appeared a spring. And the janissaries turned into stones around the spring. The spring with transparent and clean water still runs there.
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Akkerman_fortress
The Castle of Kamenetsk-Podolsk
The old castle of Kamenetsk-Podolsk is one of the most outstanding monuments of the art of fortification in Ukraine.This powerful defensive installation was built in XVI century on the basis of the Old Russian constructions of XII – XIII centuries. The Old Castle consists of 11 towers which are connected with each other with the help of defensive walls; there are also barracks and a siege well on the territory of the castle.
White Lady in the Kamenetsk-Podolsk Castle
In the history, fortress became known by the name of Polish princess of Italian descent, Bona Sforza. People of the countryside narrated many peculiar and imaginary stories on her behalf. Supposedly she sought eternal youth. In the course of absence any medicinal treatment that would provide it for her, Sforza would have to use blood of innocent virgins. There is another legend telling a story of a rope bridge crossing built out of female braids of hair that princess used to take to get into the castle.
To many well known narration about a tradition that Bona observed hiding out in a water well of underground palace and every Easter used to come out holding in her chin a golden key to a secret treasure chest filled with gold. Even though historian assert that Sforza owning the castle for twenty years had not visited it even once, motley canvas knit out of ancient legend perplex imagination. Sources:   
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamianets-Podilskyi_Castle http://niazkamenec.org.ua/ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Kamyanets_Podilsky_Castle
IS THIS CASTLE HAUNTED? http://castlehaunted.blogspot.com/ 2013 - 2014