The words “Once upon a time…” invite you to visit unique and fantastic places full of beauty, power and inexplicable phenomena. A trip to the locations of the respective legends will allow you to delve even deeper into the history of local cultures. We've compiled five places here – some world-famous, some well-guarded – with very special scary legends.
Scotland:the world star Nessie The existence of a monster in the waters of Loch Ness was first mentioned in the sixth century. According to legend, a follower of the missionary Columban was attacked by a monster while crossing the Scottish Lake Ness. Columban then prayed to God and ordered the creature to disappear to the bottom of the lake and never appear again - that was Nessie's creation. It remained a local myth until a mysterious photo was published in 1933 of a dinosaur silhouette rising from the water. Sixty years later, however, it turned out to be a fake – but the legend persists to this day. With a stop on a Highland road trip, you can take great walks and visit the ruins of Urquhart Castle, even without Nessie.
Greece:In Search of Atlantis
According to legend, Atlantis is a gigantic city with an incomparable culture, on the side of the Strait of Gibraltar. The Greek philosopher Plato first told about the history of the city, which was built by the people of the atlases in honor of Poseidon. The urge to conquer and the moral corruption of the atlases would have drawn the wrath of Zeus upon them, and so he sank the city under a tremendous flood. The natural disaster also suggests the terrible volcanic eruption that devastated the island of Santorini around 1500 BC. Those who want to learn more about the tragedy of Atlantis can explore the crater of the volcano Santorini and the archaeological sites of Crete.
Lithuania:the amber castle
With its princess castles and baroque architecture, Lithuania is a real fairytale land, where the legend of Jūratė and Kastytis also originated. Jūratė is a goddess who lives in a fantastic amber castle at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Their kingdom is silent until young fisherman Kastytis starts catching too many fish from the Baltic Sea. Despite some warnings, he continues, so Jūratė decides to address the perpetrator personally. The two fall in love. Unfortunately, their love is not a lucky star:Perkunas, the god of thunder, does not agree to the love between a goddess and a mortal and finds the amber castle, which is shattered into thousands of pieces. With a bit of luck you can still find small amber stones during a walk along the Baltic beaches.
Italy:the founding of Rome The story of Romulus and Remus begins long before the founding of the Eternal City. The royal twins have been in mortal danger since birth, threatened by the ruling tyrant. To protect them, the mother puts them in a basket by the river Tiber. Miraculously, the children are found by a she-wolf who then raises them. Years later, after the siblings had chased the tyrant away, they decided to found their own town—where the she-wolf had rescued them. But they do not agree on the exact location:for Romulus it is the Palatine Hill, for Remus the Aventine. Romulus finally draws a groove that should represent the wall of the future city. Remus jumps over it provocatively. In anger, Romulus gives him a fatal blow with a sword, but immediately regrets his act. Romulus buries his twin brother in his honor on the Aventine Hill and then begins to build his city where he planned it, naming it Rome. Those who want to delve even deeper into the legend can visit the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum, where archaeologists discovered the tomb of Romulus.
Iceland:Dimmuborgir – a cruel Christmas fairy tale
The name Dimmuborgir – dark castle – sounds as dark as the legend behind it. According to Icelandic folklore, the cruel ogre woman Grýla lived here with her husband and their 13 gnome children. Today children in Iceland leave their shoes on the windowsill at Christmas. The good guys find presents the next day, the bad guys find a rotten potato. However, the children are really afraid that they will be kidnapped by the gnomes and eaten by the ogre woman Grýlas. This legend so scared young Icelanders that in 1746 it was banned from using it to scare children. Today, travelers on the Dimmuborgir lava field walk between lava columns in bizarre shapes.
