Five Abandoned Places

Today’s installment in our series on abandoned places takes us to macabre sites and the sociopaths who once inhabited them. Find a puppy to hug.

1. Castle Cachtice, Elizabeth Bathory’s Castle, Slovakia

Tired of wrinkles? Horrified at being mistaken for 58 when you’re really 57 years old? Have you ever considered marrying a Count, inheriting a castle, kidnapping virginal local peasants and bathing in their blood to acquire that “youthful” glow? If so, you’re crazy, deranged reader. Considered the world’s most prolific female serial killer, Countess Elizabeth Bathory did all of the above and is believed to have murdered 650 young women between 1585 and 1610. Never tried or convicted, she did spend the last four years of her life bricked in a set of rooms in her castle. Thank God for progress in the form of chemical peels and Botox.

2. Colosseum, Rome, Italy

Technically not a residence (except if you were a lion or a slave or a Christian or a boat), the Colosseum, while picturesque, was Rome’s arena of death. Rather than staying home to argue about aqueducts, these blood-thirsty weirdos repeatedly watched gladiators kill other gladiators and the slaughtering of thousands of wild animals. Construction on the Colosseum began in 72AD by Emperor Vespasian and by year 523AD, both gladiator fights and animal shows were outlawed.

3. Rose Hall, Montego Bay, Jamaica

Fully restored since the late 1970s (sites were hard to come by and this is a stretch), Rose Hall was built in a Georgian style in the 1770s. The plantation, owned by John and Annie Palmer, is famous for the legend of the White Witch of Rose Hall. While increasingly refuted, legend holds that Annie Palmer practiced voodoo and murdered a series of male slaves and subsequent husbands. Dilapidated by the 1960s, Rose Hall was refurbished by former Miss USA Michele Rollins.

4. Château de Machecoul, France

Château de Machecoul was a 13th century castle owned by child-murderer Gilles de Rais. Upon retiring from the French army in 1434, the Breton knight is believed to have kidnapped, sodomized and murdered hundreds of children. Arrested and placed on trial in 1437, de Rais was found guilty and was executed by hanging and burning on October 26th, 1440. Many thanks to SusanBAwesome for this horrifying suggestion.

5. Borley Rectory, Essex, United Kingdom

Commonly referred to as the “most haunted house in England,” the Gothic style Rectory was constructed by Reverend Henry Dawson in 1862. Built on a former 13th century Benedictine Monastery, legend holds that the location is haunted by the ghost of a nun from a nearby convent who had a clandestine relationship with a monk. Once the liaison was discovered and the couple attempted to elope, the monk was hung while the nun was bricked up inside the walls of the monastery to die. The estate was destroyed by fire in 1939.

For previous entries, please click here.

(Images c/o 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)