Religious Reliquaries and Mosques Made from Guns and Bullets

Religious Reliquaries and Mosques Made from Guns and Bullets

Chalk Art Drawings from Julian Beever

Chalk Art Drawings from Julian Beever

Beautiful and Amazing Park Güell - Barcelona

Beautiful and Amazing Park Güell - Barcelona

Park Güell is a garden complex with architectural elements situated on the hill of el Carmel in the Gràcia district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí and built in the years 1900 to 1914. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Works of Antoni Gaudí”.

Antoni Gaudi Park Guell Entrance Dragon FountainThe park contains amazing stone structures, stunning tiling and fascinating buildings. You can see from this picture the Gaudi dragon fountain that is at the entrance to Guell park. This dragon is adorned in beautiful coloured tiling and there is something rather hypnotic and magical about it.

Antonio gaudi parc guell – large organic looking columns made from stone. Here you can see a walkway supported by twisting rock pillars that seem to be growing out of the ground like tree trunks.  Gaudi was strongly influenced by natural shapes and used them in his work.  The vibrant colours of the tiles are truly breathtaking.

World 13 Scariest Halloween Hotels

World 13 Scariest Halloween Hotels

Karosta Prison Hostel, Latvia

Ghostly goings-on at this former military prison that was used by the Nazis, Soviets and Latvians include light bulbs that unscrew from their sockets, doors that open by themselves, and sudden drops in temperature. The ghost of a woman who hung herself after learning her fiancé was executed here is said to wander the corridor; while the grafitti of former inmates makes for particularly chilling reading.

Bunks from €15.

The Mermaid Inn, Rye, East Sussex, UK

Chairs that rock unaided, ghostly visions of men in mid-duel, and clothes that become wet when placed by the fire are just some of the frightening phenomena at this centuries old coaching inn.

Dinner, b & b from £80 per person per night.

Akasaka Weekly Mansion, Tokyo, Japan

Guests report strange mists that spiral from the air vents, the touch of ghostly hands, and lights that flick on and off of their own accord. However, the most terrifying tale is reserved for the female guest who claimed to have been dragged across a room – by her hair – by an unseen presence.

Twin room from £100 per room per night.

Stanley Hotel, Colorado, USA

Situated high in the Colorado Rockies, this reputedly haunted hotel was the inspiration for Stephen King’s spine-chilling novel The Shining. The idea came to King during a stay in room 217, but it’s room 418 – believed to be visited by the ghost of Lord Dunraven – that is considered to be the hotel’s most haunted. Guests and staff have also reported hearing children playing in the corridors late at night, and piano music coming from the empty ballroom.

Doubles from $120 per room per night; ghost tours from $15 per person.

Chillingham Castle, Northumberland, England

This appropriately named 12th-century castle has a gruesome history of executions. Traitors met a grisly end by a variety of means, including being hung, drawn and quartered. Today, visitors to the castle can visit the Torture Chamber – note the sloping floor designed to allow blood to drain away more easily – complete with an executioner’s block, gadgets for gouging eyes, and thumb screws. Unsurprisingly, the castle is believed to be haunted by a host of ghosts, but only the brave should book a stay in the Pink Room. Guests of this room report seeing flashing blue lights in a spooky phenomenon that has come to be known as the Blue Boy.

Self-catering apartments from £100 per room per night.

The Langham Hotel, London, England

A number of ghost sightings have been reported at this former home of the BBC, but one of the most spine-tingling is the tale of a man who stayed in room 333. The guest woke in the middle of the night to see a glowing ball of light transforming into human shape. Unperturbed, he asked the ghostly vision to reveal its name. In response, the spectre began heading towards the bed with its arms outstretched – at which point the man promptly fled the room. Other reported sightings include the host of a German nobleman, who threw himself from an upper floor window, and apparitions that walk through walls.

Double rooms from £350 per room per night.

Hawthorne Hotel, Salem, Massachusetts, USA

Check-in to room 325 and you could find yourself sharing with the ghost of a crying child, or being stroked by invisible hands. Situated in Salem, Massachusetts, a town notorious for hanging 20 women during the witch trials of 1692, the Hawthorne Hotel is believed to have been built on the site of an apple orchard belonging to Bridget Bishop, the first woman to be executed during the trials. Today, guests staying here regularly report a drop in temperature that is accompanied by a strong smell of apples.

Doubles from $114 to $315.

Ballygally Castle Hotel, Ballygally, Northern Ireland

The castle is believed to be haunted by the ghost of Lady Isobella Shaw, who was locked – along with her baby girl – in a tower room after failing to provide Lord Shaw with a male heir. In despair, Lady Isabella threw herself to her death from a turret window. Guests report seeing Lady Isabella’s spectre roaming the hotel grounds, and the cries of her baby are occasionally heard from the hotel’s “Ghost Room” (pictured).

Doubles from £165 per room per night, including breakfast.

Airth Castle, Stirlingshire, Scotland

A ghostly dog that nips at guests ankles, unseen children playing in rooms 3, 9 and 23, and sightings of a nanny and two young children who are said to have died in a fire are just some of the sightings at this 14th-century castle.

Dinner, b & b from £99 per room per night.

The Heathman Hotel, Portland, Oregon, USA

 Imagine waking in the middle of the night to the sound of heavy breathing, and to find that you are unable to move because the bedsheets have been wrapped tightly around you. The breathing grows louder and nearer as you battle to free yourself. You finally manage to get free and lunge for the bedside light, only to be greeted by the sight of your suitcases hovering in mid-air. Then, just as you let out a scream, your suitcases come hurtling towards you. Sounds far-fetched? Tell that to the terrified guest who claimed to have been subjected to this heart-stopping ordeal during a stay in the hotel’s infamous room 703. Other guests have reported cold spots, moving objects and the sensation of sharing their bed with a paranormal presence. A hotel stay that’s not for the faint-hearted.

Double rooms from $179.

Elvey Farm, Pluckley, England

Situated in Pluckley, which – according to the Guiness Book of Records – is England’s most haunted village, Elvey Farm is believed to be haunted by a “weeping wanderer”. Other ghosts in the vicinity of this medieval farmstead include the highwayman Robert Du Bois, who was speared to a tree at Fright Corner, and a phantom coach and horses that appears on Maltman’s Hill.

Doubles from £100 per room per night, including breakfast.

Hotel Burchianti, Florence, Italy

Guests staying in the Fresco Room have reported the sensation of icy breath on their face and seeing a man with an unearthly pink glow. Other sightings include a child that skips down the hotel’s corridors, a long dead maid who cleans in the middle of the night, and a woman who sits knitting in a chair.

Double rooms from €120 per room per night, including breakfast.

Dragsholm Slot, Sealand, Denmark

This 12-century castle is reputed to be haunted by three ghosts – the Grey Lady, the White Lady and the Earl of Bothwell. The White Lady is thought to be the spirit of a nobleman’s daughter, who was imprisoned within the castle walls by her father after falling in love with a commoner. During renovations in the 1930s, a skeleton cloaked in a white dress was discovered within a wall. However, sightings of The White Lady continue to this day.

Double rooms from £240, including breakfast.

Worlds Largest Statue of Jesus in Poland

Worlds Largest Statue of Jesus in Poland

A  Polish priest is on the verge of realising his dream of putting up   what  he says will be the world's largest statue of Jesus Christ in a   small  town in western Poland.

The giant Jesus at 167ft - a couple of yards higher than the iconic   Christ the Redeemer monument in Rio de Janeiro at 125ft - took two days   to build as windy weather conditions prevented it being completed in one   day.

The torso of Jesus Christ remained topless over night as heavy winds    prevented cranes from lifting the torso, arms and head onto the lower    half of the robed white figure.
 

The project cost almost £900,000 with money donated from across the   spectrum to fund the big idea. From business people to poor people   wanting to make a contribution to the church, work on the statue finally   began in 2008.
 

Many Poles are embarrassed by the project which is the brainchild of priest, Rev. Sylwester Zawadzki.Maciej Czerniewski, a 45-year-old who runs a small store in the shopping   center opposite said he is deeply embarrassed by it and accused the   priest of 'megalomania'.

He said: 'In general I don't care  about this project but I would prefer   to be living in a normal country.  We have bad roads, bad   infrastructure but the most monuments in the  world and now the biggest   Jesus in the world.'

 But  other town residents are thrilled by the new business they hope it   will  bring once believers in this deeply Roman Catholic country add it   to  their pilgrimage routes.
   

A 68-year-old retired biology teacher, Krystyna Skurzynska,  who belongs   to the priest's parish, said: 'My friends in Warsaw are making fun of   this, but we are happy about it.'

 They also hope  that many Germans - who tend to be much more secular   than Poles - will  visit simply out of curiosity since the border with   Germany is only 45  miles away.

Krystyna said she hopes it will  stimulate the economy and return some   old glory to Swiebodzin, a town of  22,000 that was, as she put it, 'a   major town in the 13th century.'The mayor, Dariusz Bekisz, also is a fan.

 'The  biggest statue of Jesus Christ in the world will be in   Swiebodzin,' he  said. 'People will come and leave some of their money   behind.'

 He  has little time for those mocking the project as excessively   g*****ose:  'When castles and the pyramids were built, there were always   people who  were laughing. But look at how many millions of people go   to see such  places and spend their money there now', he said.

 The  priest, Zawadzki, came up with his idea several years ago, though   he  imagined something much smaller in scale at first. With time,   ambition  grew for the man known around the town as 'the builder priest'   thanks to  churches and other projects he has carried out.

 The  figure complete with a golden crown faces a shopping center and    supermarket just across the street, and beyond that, the town.

Reports say that along the way, a bishop tried to halt the project and   officials threatened to withdraw permission for it because of its   enormous size. The elderly Zawadzki then had a heart attack.
 

He  recovered and plans got back on track but in recent weeks there was a    new setback: cranes were unable to mount the torso and head because of    their massive weight.

 So  they sent for a larger, more powerful crane, and had hoped to get   the  job done Friday. But powerful winds blew from the direction of   Berlin,  and it was too risky to attempt.Construction workers finally finished the almighty task on Saturday afternoon.