Updated
2024-10-30T13:40:27Z
- In nan mini Czech municipality of Lukova, location is simply a religion that has stood for hundreds of years.
- It was abandoned successful 1968, erstwhile nan tile fell done during a funeral.
- People avoided nan religion because it was haunted, truthful it now houses dozens of life-size "ghosts."
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In nan municipality of Luková successful nan Czech Republic sits St. George's Church, but it's not your emblematic spot of worship.
In 2012, an creator installed dozens of statues of ghostlike figures that still haunt nan place to this day.
Jakub Hadrava placed his statues location arsenic portion of his elder thesis and, successful nan process, he helped revitalize nan once-abandoned religion and adjacent area. Tourists came from crossed nan world and donated money to thief reconstruct nan church's crumbling tile — according to its caretaker, by 2018, donations totaled $26,000 — and it has undergone different improvements, specified arsenic getting caller timepiece faces connected its tower.
The religion is still unfastened to visitors connected Saturdays from March to October. If you can't make your measurement to nan Czech Republic, here's what it looks for illustration wrong St. George.
St. George's church, which was built successful nan 14th century, sits atop a elevation successful nan Czech colony of Luková.
Luková is simply a mini municipality 2 1/2 hours extracurricular Prague. In 2021, it had a organization of 735, according to nan census. St. George's was consecrated successful 1352, according to Atlas Obscura.
The religion was abandoned successful 1968 aft nan tile collapsed during a funeral.
This contributed to locals believing nan building was haunted or moreover cursed. The congregation began holding wide outside.
Playing disconnected its haunted history, section creator Jakub Hadrava created 30 life-size "ghosts" to unrecorded wrong nan church.
Hadrava utilized his chap classmates arsenic models, covering them successful sheets and creating plaster casts for nan eerie effect.
The eerie achromatic figures beryllium solemnly successful nan pews.
At first glance, they could beryllium congregants successful shawls.
Other figures congregate adjacent nan altar and guidelines astatine nan doorways.
Some guidelines by doorways, arsenic if to beckon visitors inside.
The statues correspond nan Sudeten Germans, aliases German Bohemians, an taste group that utilized to unrecorded successful nan area.
The Sudeten Germans were taste Germans expelled from nan Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia) aft World War II. There were believed to beryllium arsenic galore arsenic 3 cardinal Sudeten Germans successful nan Czech Republic, and erstwhile expelled, they moved to Germany and Austria.
Visitors from crossed nan world person travel to spot nan ghosts of St. George's church.
The church's fame soared successful 2013 erstwhile a stylized video was uploaded to YouTube. It has complete 287,000 views.
Tourists person donated thousands of dollars to thief repair nan church's roof.
The church's caretaker, Petr Koukl, told Lonely Planet successful September 2018 that visitors had raised much than 600,000 koruna, aliases almost $26,000, for renovations.
While astir visitors are excited to spot nan ghosts, "we had 2 aliases 3 visitors that refused to enter," said caretaker Petr Koukl.
We tin spot why.
"They peeked done nan door, but didn't participate because they didn't consciousness good astir it," he said.
Messing astir pinch ghostly statues wrong an abandoned religion does sound for illustration nan opening of a scary movie.
Think you're brave capable to meet nan ghosts of St. George's?
The religion is unfastened to visitors connected Saturdays from March to October, according to its website. If you sojourn connected an disconnected day, you'll person to settee for peeking successful done nan windows.