Ghost stories
The 1953 North Sea Flood · The Water That Came ...
On the night of 31 January 1953 a North Sea storm surge met a spring tide, and the dikes of the south-west Netherlands broke in long stretches. Sea water poured...
The 1953 North Sea Flood · The Water That Came ...
On the night of 31 January 1953 a North Sea storm surge met a spring tide, and the dikes of the south-west Netherlands broke in long stretches. Sea water poured...
The Chained Library of Zutphen · Books Chained ...
In St Walburga’s Church in Zutphen there is a small library, the only surviving chained library in the Netherlands: every book hangs on an iron chain, fixed to a rod...
The Chained Library of Zutphen · Books Chained ...
In St Walburga’s Church in Zutphen there is a small library, the only surviving chained library in the Netherlands: every book hangs on an iron chain, fixed to a rod...
Muiderslot Castle · The Water in the Moat
Muiderslot Castle stands on a dike at the mouth of the river, with a square curtain wall, five round towers and a ring of moat — the most textbook example...
Muiderslot Castle · The Water in the Moat
Muiderslot Castle stands on a dike at the mouth of the river, with a square curtain wall, five round towers and a ring of moat — the most textbook example...
The Utrecht Dom Tower · The Night the Wind Brok...
The Dom Tower in Utrecht stands more than a hundred metres tall, the highest church tower in the Netherlands. It was once joined to the church itself; in 1674 a...
The Utrecht Dom Tower · The Night the Wind Brok...
The Dom Tower in Utrecht stands more than a hundred metres tall, the highest church tower in the Netherlands. It was once joined to the church itself; in 1674 a...
The Drenthe Hunebedden · No One Knows Who Carri...
More than fifty hunebedden lie scattered across the north-east of the Netherlands, built from boulders weighing dozens of tonnes. The stones were pushed here from Scandinavia in the ice age;...
The Drenthe Hunebedden · No One Knows Who Carri...
More than fifty hunebedden lie scattered across the north-east of the Netherlands, built from boulders weighing dozens of tonnes. The stones were pushed here from Scandinavia in the ice age;...
The White Women · The Figures in the Fog
On the heaths of the eastern and northern Netherlands, figures in white appear in the fog. Locals call them the “White Women”: they do not speak, and they walk slowly...
The White Women · The Figures in the Fog
On the heaths of the eastern and northern Netherlands, figures in white appear in the fog. Locals call them the “White Women”: they do not speak, and they walk slowly...
The Flying Dutchman · A Ship That Never Reaches...
Along the Dutch coast there is the story of the “Flying Dutchman”: a captain who swore in a storm that he would round Cape Horn even if it took until...
The Flying Dutchman · A Ship That Never Reaches...
Along the Dutch coast there is the story of the “Flying Dutchman”: a captain who swore in a storm that he would round Cape Horn even if it took until...
Guimarães Castle · Birthplace of the First King
Guimarães Castle stands on a hilltop and is the birthplace of Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal. The legend says that his mother remarried after giving birth to him,...
Guimarães Castle · Birthplace of the First King
Guimarães Castle stands on a hilltop and is the birthplace of Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal. The legend says that his mother remarried after giving birth to him,...
The Azores · Nine Islands on the Sea
The Azores are a group of islands belonging to Portugal in the middle of the Atlantic, where the water is too deep to see the bottom, the islands lie a...
The Azores · Nine Islands on the Sea
The Azores are a group of islands belonging to Portugal in the middle of the Atlantic, where the water is too deep to see the bottom, the islands lie a...
Madeira · Fog in the Middle of the Sea
Madeira is a volcanic island in the Atlantic, and from the sea it looks like a mass of rock floating on fog; the hills have a sea of cloud all...
Madeira · Fog in the Middle of the Sea
Madeira is a volcanic island in the Atlantic, and from the sea it looks like a mass of rock floating on fog; the hills have a sea of cloud all...
Monsanto · Houses Built Beneath the Rocks
The houses of Monsanto are built directly among the boulders: rock serves as wall, roof and doorframe, and in some yards a whole boulder hangs above the doorway. A saying...
Monsanto · Houses Built Beneath the Rocks
The houses of Monsanto are built directly among the boulders: rock serves as wall, roof and doorframe, and in some yards a whole boulder hangs above the doorway. A saying...
Alcobaça Monastery · Two Stone Sarcophagi
The Alcobaça Monastery is one of the largest Gothic churches in Portugal, and in the middle stand two finely carved sarcophagi: those of King Pedro I and his lover Inês....
Alcobaça Monastery · Two Stone Sarcophagi
The Alcobaça Monastery is one of the largest Gothic churches in Portugal, and in the middle stand two finely carved sarcophagi: those of King Pedro I and his lover Inês....
The Convent of Christ in Tomar · The Round Church
The Convent of Christ in Tomar was the Templars’ stronghold in Portugal: at the centre of the church is a sixteen-sided rotunda, wide enough for the monks to ride horses...
The Convent of Christ in Tomar · The Round Church
The Convent of Christ in Tomar was the Templars’ stronghold in Portugal: at the centre of the church is a sixteen-sided rotunda, wide enough for the monks to ride horses...
Bussaco Palace · A Room Waiting for Someone in ...
Bussaco Palace was built in the forested hills as the summer residence of Portugal’s last few kings, and was later turned into a hotel. The corridors are covered with tile...
Bussaco Palace · A Room Waiting for Someone in ...
Bussaco Palace was built in the forested hills as the summer residence of Portugal’s last few kings, and was later turned into a hotel. The corridors are covered with tile...
Fátima · The Day a Hundred Thousand Waited
In 1917 three shepherd children in Fátima said they had seen the Virgin Mary on a holm oak, and foretold that she would appear again on the thirteenth of each...
Fátima · The Day a Hundred Thousand Waited
In 1917 three shepherd children in Fátima said they had seen the Virgin Mary on a holm oak, and foretold that she would appear again on the thirteenth of each...
The Chapel of Bones in Évora · A Wall of Ten Th...
In the Chapel of Bones inside the Church of St Francis in Évora, the walls, columns and vaults are set with bone; it is said to have used the remains...
The Chapel of Bones in Évora · A Wall of Ten Th...
In the Chapel of Bones inside the Church of St Francis in Évora, the walls, columns and vaults are set with bone; it is said to have used the remains...
Quinta da Regaleira · Tunnels at the Bottom of ...
The most famous feature of the Quinta da Regaleira in Sintra is the “Initiation Well”: a dry well twenty-seven metres deep, spiralling down in stone steps to the bottom, where...
Quinta da Regaleira · Tunnels at the Bottom of ...
The most famous feature of the Quinta da Regaleira in Sintra is the “Initiation Well”: a dry well twenty-seven metres deep, spiralling down in stone steps to the bottom, where...
Mount Teide · In the Very Middle of the Island
Mount Teide stands in the centre of Tenerife and is the highest peak in Spain; beyond the summit crater lies a whole older crater system already weathered away, the rock...
Mount Teide · In the Very Middle of the Island
Mount Teide stands in the centre of Tenerife and is the highest peak in Spain; beyond the summit crater lies a whole older crater system already weathered away, the rock...
Montserrat · The Sawed Mountain
Montserrat rises straight out of the plain, its rock walls layered as if cut by a saw; the name means “sawed mountain.” The monastery on the mountain holds the “Black...
Montserrat · The Sawed Mountain
Montserrat rises straight out of the plain, its rock walls layered as if cut by a saw; the name means “sawed mountain.” The monastery on the mountain holds the “Black...
The Mosque of Córdoba · Those Who Work Inside a...
Inside the Mosque of Córdoba are more than eight hundred columns, and the double arches in red and white run on beyond sight. After the Christians took the city they...
The Mosque of Córdoba · Those Who Work Inside a...
Inside the Mosque of Córdoba are more than eight hundred columns, and the double arches in red and white run on beyond sight. After the Christians took the city they...
The Camino de Santiago · Eight Hundred Kilometr...
The cathedral of Santiago de Compostela holds the remains of Saint James, and from the ninth century pilgrims from all over Europe walked hundreds of kilometres to reach it, forming...
The Camino de Santiago · Eight Hundred Kilometr...
The cathedral of Santiago de Compostela holds the remains of Saint James, and from the ninth century pilgrims from all over Europe walked hundreds of kilometres to reach it, forming...
The Old City of Toledo · Three Faiths on One Hill
Toledo is built on a hilltop, and inside its walls a church, a mosque and a synagogue stand close together; Christians, Muslims and Jews coexisted here and drove one another...
The Old City of Toledo · Three Faiths on One Hill
Toledo is built on a hilltop, and inside its walls a church, a mosque and a synagogue stand close together; Christians, Muslims and Jews coexisted here and drove one another...
The Alhambra · Echoes in the Red Fortress
The Alhambra was the palace of the last Moorish kings of the Nasrid dynasty; the walls are covered with the words “there is no victor but God,” and water runs...
The Alhambra · Echoes in the Red Fortress
The Alhambra was the palace of the last Moorish kings of the Nasrid dynasty; the walls are covered with the words “there is no victor but God,” and water runs...
The Santa Compaña · The Procession That Passes ...
The best-known folk legend in Galicia is the Santa Compaña: a procession of the dead that walks the villages at night, led by a living person — a cross in...
The Santa Compaña · The Procession That Passes ...
The best-known folk legend in Galicia is the Santa Compaña: a procession of the dead that walks the villages at night, led by a living person — a cross in...