The cemetery of "los locos" that became the cursed cemetery of Europe

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Psychiatric.

Cemetery.

Abandoned.

With these three ingredients the legend of

has been forged

, a mental hospital founded on the outskirts of Prague at the beginning of the 20th century in whose small cemetery the

buried

: patients of the sanatorium, homeless, suicidal and even to soldiers of World War I.

The

was abandoned to its fate in

, when the last burials were made.

The graves and headstones were soon hidden under the ivy that covers the ground.

And although the

that surrounds the psychiatric hospital has a bucolic slant (many speak of "a

"), Bohnice and its cemetery have not been able to avoid attracting

in recent decades

Remains of a tombstone in the Bohnice cemetery.BOHNICKÝ HRBITOV

Those who have visited it at night claim that there are unpredictable fluctuations in temperature and inexplicably high levels of

.

It became so famous as

in the 1980s that even

were held

on a recurring basis.

They soon considered it "the most

cemetery in

".

TORTURED SOULS

But what is the real story behind the

?

Between 1906 and 1911, when Bohnice was still a small town north of Prague, a

was built there

, with small houses arranged around a large English-style park, all very popular at the time.

The complex was completed by a church, one of the

most beautiful

in Prague.

The institution also had its own

, quite far from the residences, unlike the old

and Protestant

of the Bohemian and Moravian towns.

Possibly to prevent the tortured souls of patients from disturbing the living.

Art Noveau Church with the psychiatric hospital in the foreground SHUTTERSTOCK

It was a sober and orderly place, with a small

and some larger graves (those of the doctors and patients of well-to-do families).

After its

passed into oblivion, since the people buried there for a long time had no living relatives who would come to honor their memory.

But in the late 1980s the proximity of a

had a detrimental effect.

The cemetery became a haven for

who especially took advantage of the chapel.

In less than a decade it fell apart.

The cemetery had to be closed to the public.

Vandals no longer entered.

But neither did the neighbors who walked among the crosses and the tombstones of those who died without a name, including several

THE NAME ITALIAN SOLDIERS

In 1916, forty-eight soldiers arrived in Bohnice from the

transferred from Pergine Valsugana.

Overwhelmed as the hospitals on the front were, many of the patients were transferred to other institutions of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Pergine Valsugana's men died in the Bohnice asylum in just two years, often from tuberculosis.

And they were buried

Mass celebrated in March 2017 in front of the Bohnice chapel. BOHNICKÝ HRBITOV

In 1932 a

held

in the cemetery.

Two tombstones were blessed and two commemorative urns were placed on the facade of the little

.

However, the

that ended the chapel also ruined the tombstones and urns.

Until in

the area was cleaned up again: weeds were pruned, the entrance to the chapel was groomed and a

religious

was held

with the assistance of several residents of the area.

CEMETERY FOR PETS

Today the psychiatric hospital continues to function, in fact Bohnice is the

welcomes more than 1,200 patients and about 1,000 employees on a 64-hectare campus with its own theater, library, workshops ...

And the cemetery?

A local non-profit organization began organizing

to the cemetery, although for the moment and due to the pandemic these have been suspended.

Although those who persevere can find guided tours lasting three and a half hours

on experience booking websites such as

(in English).

Cemetery for pets raised outside the walls.

The

note is

provided by the modern

erected outside the walls by a local businessman: a whole row of tiny graves, cared for and covered with rubber toys,

food

and all kinds of trinkets.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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