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Myths and legends

ST. PETERSBURG 
1) The ghost of Mikhailovsky castle. 
The castle "on the water", Mikhailovsky Castle, is one of the most unusual places in St. Petersburg. The famous “safe” palace is the last refuge of Paul I: the king was so afraid for his life that in four years not even a palace was built, but a citadel, where it was almost impossible to get unnoticed. Here, Paul was destined to spend only 40 days. The king was killed in the bedroom. There is a legend that the spirit of Paul still lives in the castle. Confirmation was given more than once by local rangers, with a particularly impressionable ghost even talking. Paul is sometimes a simple passer-by at night - a wandering figure of a poor king with a candle in his hand, allegedly, can be seen in the window of the second floor of the castle.
2) Peter-Pavel's Fortress​
Half of the houses of modern Petersburg are located in anomalous zones. Moreover, 10% are located in the so-called "black spots". People knew about this for a long time, so there was a custom to carefully check the place before starting the construction of any building. The following method was used: where they were planning to build something, they hung up pieces of raw meat. If it rotted, the house was not built.
In St. Petersburg, there are entire areas that are built on the site of the former pagan sanctuaries. One of these places is the Peter and Paul Fortress.
Pavel Globa, astrologer: “The Peter and Paul Fortress was built on the site of an ancient pagan temple. Sacrifices were made there. There is a legend that the very first sacrifice was made by Peter I. Eagles also circled over this place. Peter considered them messengers of other worlds, fed and guarded. He gave the order for the construction of the Peter and Paul Fortress only after the eagles made two circles over this place.” 
Kutná Hora
1) St. Barbara's Cathedral
  
Barbara herself was one of the first Christians, the daughter of a local prince. The prince was very angry with her daughter that she was a Christian, and imprisoned her in a cell with two windows. Then she asked to cut her a third window, unsuspecting masons did it. So Barbara deceived the pope - she looked at three windows and they reminded her of the Holy Trinity. When the news came to papa, he growled.
Further, the story forks. According to one version, he immediately chopped off his daughter’s head, then he was struck by lightning.
On the other, she did run away and a mountain opened before her, and she went into it and stayed there.
 
2) Ossuary in Siedlec
  
  • In 1278, Abbot Henry, who served in the monastery, was sent by Otakar II to Jerusalem. From there he brought some land taken from Calvary and scattered it around the cemetery. As a result, this place gained incredible popularity not only among Czechs, but also among residents of the central part of Europe. Everyone wanted to find their eternal peace in the saddle necropolis with its holy land.
  • The events of the next hundred-plus years - wars, floods and numerous epidemics - led to the fact that the cemetery significantly increased in size. At the beginning of the 15th century, in order to make way for new burials, the long-buried remains were removed and put in the tomb of the church.
    By 1500, a huge amount of bones had accumulated. It is believed that it was during that period that the first interior items from the remains appeared. According to legend, they were created by a half-blind monk.
  • Instead of just dropping skeletons into a crypt, he bleached them in a chlorine solution and began to use them as a material. As a result, two central and four corner pyramids arose in the tomb, crowned with large crowns. Some time after the end of his labors, the monk died.
    At the beginning of the XVI century the church was rebuilt. According to the architect Santini, a new entrance was added to the building and the upper tier was remodeled in the Baroque style. Then, for more than 150 years, the temple was closed.
  • In 1870, the church and the land around it were bought by representatives of the noble Schwarzenberg family. They decided to change the interior of the cathedral and hired Frantisek Rint, a virtuoso woodcarver. He created the decor of the bones, which has survived to this day.
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