St George's "GHOST CHURCH"
In the town of Lukova, Czechia, sits a decrepit church, haunted by the ghosts of the temple’s troubled past. St George’s church was built in the 1350s and was like many other churches. That is until it was almost burned to the ground. Over hundreds of years, the church was subject to terrible fires that caused extreme damage to the structure on multiple occasions. It was repaired and rebuilt numerous times, before it became abandoned in 1968 during a funeral ceremony.
The congregation sat mourning the loss of a community member when the roof suddenly collapsed during the service. The attendees were so perturbed, they evacuated the building and never set foot back inside. Services held by members of the church continued in the yard outside, but no one wanted to repair, worship within, or have anything to do with the structure itself. The people of Lukova were all but convinced the church was haunted.
So, abandoned and left to the elements, the church decayed steadily overtime.
That is until ten years ago, Jakub Hadrava, a sculpture student studying at the University of West Bohemia, decided to bring “life” back into the place. He recruited some of his classmates and created life sized human sculptures using casts of their bodies. Now, when you peer into the clouded windows of the desolate church, you can see 30 figures sitting amongst the pews bent in prayer.
In addition to bringing a sense of humanity back to the church, Hadrava wanted to represent the towns tragic history following World War II, when all German speaking citizens (who were unwillingly made German by the Nazi’s during the war) were exiled.
For a time, the church was open to tourists and maybe more surprisingly, many of the townspeople congregated for mass within the church again, finding solace amidst the “ghosts.” But as of 2023 the church has been “closed indefinitely for renovations.”
Through researching this haunted location, I for some reason find THAT the spookiest part.
If you chose to go haunt St George’s church in Lukova, remember the rules:
RESPECT THE OWNERS
RESPECT THE PROPERTY
RESPECT THE RESIDENTS DEAD OR ALIVE
See you next week!
Learn more at the links below:
Check out this short video on youtube to see the sculptures:
References:
Atlas Obscura
Business Insider