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History of Corvin Castle

Corvin Castle, also known as Hunyadi Castle, is a Gothic-Renaissance fortress located in the town of Hunedoara, Romania. It was built on top of an old Roman camp in 1446 by John Hunyadi, a Hungarian military leader, and served as a strategic stronghold against the Ottoman Empire. He was a Voivode of Transylvania, the highest ranking official during the 12th and 16th century. Back then, it was a part of the Kingdom of Hungary, a monarchy that existed for nearly a millennium. Over the centuries, the castle has been expanded and renovated by various owners, including the Corvin family, who gave it its current name.

Read More: Check out all haunted castles in the world

Despite its impressive architecture and historical significance, the castle is best known for its dark and twisted past. It has been the site of numerous battles, sieges, and executions, and has been home to some of the most infamous figures in history.

On 13 April 1854, Corvin Castle was struck by lightning, severely damaged and abandoned until 1869.

**The Legend of the Raven:** Some historians think John Hunyadi was the illegitimate son of King Sigimund of Luxemburg and an Elizabeth. To protect everyone, this was kept secret. Sigimund gave Elizabeth a gold ring for their son. When John grew up, Elizabeth gave him the ring. One day at lunch, John took off the ring, and a raven tried to steal it. John killed the raven with a bow and arrow and got the ring back. Later, he told the king (possibly his father) this story. Impressed, the king chose a raven with a gold ring for the Hunyadi family crest. The family liked this symbol, which stood for wisdom and longevity, and adopted the name Corvin, from the Latin word “Corvus” meaning Raven. It’s also said that Elizabeth used a raven to send a letter to Matthias when he and his brother were imprisoned, which is why the raven was the symbol of the Hungarian postal service for over a hundred years. The family also had a property called Raven’s Rock.

Dark Tales and Legends of Corvin Castle

The legends surrounding Corvin Castle are as numerous as they are chilling. One of the most famous tales involves Vlad the Impaler, who was imprisoned in the castle’s dungeon for seven years by John Hunyadi. According to legend, Vlad was kept in a small, dark cell and tortured mercilessly by his captors. This is what inspired him to impale his enemies, as it was what he did to the rats he ate alive in his cell. Some say that his ghost still haunts the castle’s halls to this day, seeking revenge against those who wronged him.

**Vlad the Impaler**: A historical depiction of Vlad the Impaler’s brutal methods of torture and execution, reflecting the dark history of Corvin Castle. Woodcut from the title page of a 1499 pamphlet published by Markus Ayrer in Nuremberg. It depicts Vlad III “the Impaler” (identified as Dracole wayde = Draculea voivode) dining among the impaled corpses of his victims.

If he really was is uncertain and most likely it’s a tall tale, but many of the tour guides of the castle show his holding cell they say he stayed in. Many say that he was imprisoned in 1462, but seeing that John Hunyadi was already dead by then, it carves a dent in the truth of the story. What has been said though, is that Bram Stoker was inspired by the castle, although he apparently had no idea about the Vlad the Impaler connection when he wrote Dracula.

Haunted sightings and experiences at in the Capistrano Tower

Over the years, there have been numerous reports of paranormal activity at Corvin Castle. Visitors have reported seeing ghostly apparitions, hearing strange noises, and feeling cold spots throughout the castle. Some have even claimed to have been physically touched or pushed by unseen forces.

One such legend talks about a monk haunting the Capistrano Tower. The Capistrano Tower, one of the most significant parts of the construction, was a circular tower and this was used as a prison like many of the other towers of Corvin castle, named of the Franciscan monk, John of Capistrano.

**The Towers of Corvin Castle:** The towers of the castle was known to be used as prison cells. This is also what fuels the haunted rumors about something not being quite right in one of them. Could the ghost of a monk be haunting one of the towers?

He was said to have been sentenced to death because he was spying on a nobleman in the council room. As punishment he was entombed alive in the brick wall of the tower and slowly died of starvation. To this day it is said his ghost is there, spying on those venturing into his tower.

Exploring the castle’s architecture and hidden rooms

Despite its dark history, Corvin Castle is a marvel of Gothic architecture and design. From its towering walls and turrets to its ornate carvings and frescoes, the castle is a testament to the skill and craftsmanship of its builders.

One of the most interesting features of the castle is its hidden rooms and secret passages. These were often used by the castle’s inhabitants to escape during times of siege or to hide valuable treasures. Some of the most famous hidden rooms include the Knight’s Hall, which was used to store weapons and armor, and the secret room of John Hunyadi, which was used as a private study and meditation space.

One time though, some tourists got locked in the Corbin Castle after it closed for the day. Some say that they bribed the security guard to let them stay overnight. When the castle opened the next day, they were found, bruised, beaten and terrified. They were unable to explain what had happened to them, but claimed that some unseen force had tortured them throughout the night.

The torture chamber and its gruesome history

One of the most chilling places in Corvin Castle is the torture chamber, where prisoners were subjected to horrific acts of violence and torture. The chamber is located in the castle’s basement and features a variety of torture devices, including the rack designed to tear a victim in half, the iron maiden that was a spiked iron chamber the prisoner had to sit in, and the Spanish Donkey were the victim was places on a triangle with pointed edges between the legs where the prisoner eventually split in half.

There was also a bear pit that prisoners were thrown into alive to be eaten by the creatures residing there. No wonder that the castle is filled with ghosts.

The Bottomless Well

Another famous tale involves the castle’s well, which is said to be bottomless and connected to the underworld. Legend has it that the well was dug by three Turkish prisoners who were promised their freedom if they could complete the task of digging after water. However, once they finished digging after ten to fifteen hard labored years, they were thrown into the well and left to die.

**The Well:** What will you find at the bottom of the well? The gateway to hell or the skulls of some Turkish prisoners? Source: Stanisław Ludwiński/Flickr

Some say that he held them there, laughed in their face and kept them in the basement until they died. Some think that it was Hunyadi who promised them their freedom, but died while they were working. The one telling them to get back into their cell was his wife, Elizabeth. One of the prisoners allegedly wrote on the wall: You now have water, but no soul/heart. With this, he cursed the castle forever.

Some say that they were beheaded and hteir skulls thrown into the well, still there to this day. It’s said that their ghosts can still be heard crying out for help from the depths of the well.

Is Corvin Castle really haunted?

While there’s no scientific proof that Corvin Castle is haunted, there’s no denying the countless reports of paranormal activity and ghostly sightings that have been recorded over the years. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, there’s no denying the eerie feeling that permeates the castle’s walls.

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Hoia Baciu — The Haunted Forest of Transylvania

23. March 2022 Mirror 2 Comments

The Haunted Forest for Ufology

It’s not only those living close to the Hoia Baciu forest, superstitious people or those seeking ghosts that claim there is something going on in between the trees. Even in academic circles there are those who were intrigued by the strange place and the subject has been dealt with by both national research as well as overseas.

**UFO** **Over the Treetops**: This picture is one of the pictures Emil Barnea took of the sky above the forest, now believed to be of more strange origin.

Even some selected professors at the university in the city claim this particular forest is a place where paranormal activity happens, and in the modern world filled with strange disappearance legends, tales of aliens and UFO’s has started becoming a part of the lore of the haunted Hoia Baciu Forest.

In the late 60’s a biologist named Alexandru Sift came back with pictures from the forest that he claimed were flying UFO’s in the sky over the twisted trees. Sift wandered into the forest to have a closer look at the strange vegetation that can be found in there as part of his research.

These pictures of the alleged UFO’s were published by his chemist friend of Sift, side by side with theories about the paranormal stuff happening in the old forest right outside the city. And what he found and reported off got more people interested in both the paranormal legends that had seemingly always followed Hoia Baciu.

The same claim about seeing a UFO inside of Hoia Baciu came from a military technician named Emil Barnea as well. In 1968 he took some pictures in the western part of the forest while he was camping in the forest. Barnea took a huge hit by publishing the pictures as the communist government at the time looked at tales like ghosts and aliens like madness and superstition. He even lost his job because of the publishing of the pictures.

But what was the truth behind the pictures? What flew in the sky that made people think it had to be aliens? Both of these cases, with what seemingly looked like picture evidence, helped to give the forest a sense of notoriety more than a local place filled with local legends.

When first delving into the local lore since the first trees started growing there, strange occurrences had been reported long before the 60’s and people started talking about UFOs.

The Bermuda Triangle of Romania

Hoia Baciu Forest is located near the Cluj-Napoca city in the northwestern part of Romania, an old forest still stands only half an hour away from the city by car. The forest is in notorious Transylvania, and for many it is expected that a haunted forest should be placed right here. Although the city close to the forest is free from the Dracula tales of Bran Castle and the tourist attractions one might find in a lot of towns capitalizing on the vampiric lore of the country. But there is a certain eeriness to the trees bending in twisted ways with skeleton-like branches reaching out for the hikers.

We are away from the bustling modern everyday life from the city and here in Hoia Baciu Forest and the only thing to hear is the falling leaves, whispering as they reach the ground, and the sounds of deer, walking among the trees. Some might say Hoia Baciu is much more scary than Dracula himself.

**Strange Lights of Hoia Baciu:** Another one of the pictures taken by Barnea in the 60’s showcasing strange lights that has been told legends about in Hoia Baciu throughout the years. What the lights and figures over the forest really was has never been found out, but has been the source of much speculation within the ufology community.

When saying the forest is an old one, it truly is. As in 55 000 year old. With such old places like the mysterious Hoia Baciu, there are old stories that no one really knows when they started or came from. Farmers in the valley claim the forest is haunted to this day, and especially stories about strange disappearances there are plenty of. The story about the strange disappearances are also why the Hoia Baciu forest is also sometimes referred to as: “The Bermuda Triangle of Romania.”

The Disappeared Shepherd

One of these disappearance stories from Hoia Baciu tells of a shepherd that went into the Hoia Baciu and vanished with more than 200 of his sheep without a trace, never to return. Perhaps a man could simply vanish in a forest by himself, but 200 sheep? The stories about many people disappearing are odd considering the forest is not that big compared to other places an covers an area of about 3 square kilometers.

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In some sources it is after the disappeared shepherd that the forest is named Hoia Baciu. The locals are at times afraid to enter the forest because of tales like this that have been handed down for generations. The once brave enough to venture in have also complained about feeling nauseous, itching as well as getting migraines when they are brave enough to enter.

The Girl Who Vanished

Perhaps the most famous tale from this forest is of the 5 year old girl that wandered into the forest one day and got lost and disappeared from the face of the earth, at least for the rest of the world. Years passed and after five years of being missing she came back out from Hoia Baciu, supposedly in the same clothes she wore on the day of her disappearance, not looking a day older.

When asked where she had been and what had happened, she had no answers. She reappeared in the forest with no memories of where she had been and what happened to her, at least, she didn’t want to share it. For her it had apparently only been a little while, not many years.

Many accounts claim there are many, perhaps as many as thousands of people that have disappeared in this Bermuda Triangle of Romania over the years. But of course, no hard evidence is found of these occurrences. Because they never happened, or merely because they happened so long ago that evidence of this is long gone?

Ghosts Haunting the Forest

There are not only strange legends about people being whisked away for years or forever or pseudo science of UFO and aliens that are told going on inside of the forest. A part of the local legends of the forest also deals with ghosts haunting the trees.

One of the ghost stories tells of the ghosts of Romanian peasants that were murdered in the forest and is believed to still be trapped in the forest, unable to move on.

They are sometimes seen wandering among the trees in Hoia Baciu, observing the people entering their final resting place. Other tales of shadow figures, something looking like ectoplasms as well as hearing strange voices are also told by joggers and hikers. One of the ghosts are supposedly also wearing something that looks like the northern Romanian traditional clothing.

The Poiana Rotunda Inside Hoia Baciu

**The Poiana Rotunda:** The clearing in the forest were most of the strange happenings is taking place giving the nickname Bermuda Triangle of Romania// **Photo**: Lajsikonik

Most of the paranormal reporting has now started centering around a supposed vegetative dead zone found inside of Hoia Baciu. This place is called Poiana Rotunda, or ‘Round Meadow’ found west in the forest.

The Poiana Rotunda is a one kilometer area of grassland inside the thick forest and is a close to perfect circle on the ground where no trees grow from the soil, apparently without an explanation.

People claim that they feel nauseous or dizzy when coming close to this place, and most of the strange things that are told about the forest are said to have started or happened around this dead zone.

What happened here has been up for much speculation. Could it be from a UFO landing at this place, could it be a sign of the gateway to the parallel dimension that seems to have spirited away many people throughout the years?

The more earthly and natural reasoning for this mysterious meadow in the middle of the forest could also be caused by natural causes or illegal deforestation the forest is suffering from. Soil samples have been taken from the place, but as of now, we don’t really have a definite explanation for this phenomenon.

A Walk Inside of the most Haunted Forest in the World

No matter what really lies inside the forest, of it really is haunted or some sort of Bermuda Triangle of Romania, it certainly pulls the strangest and darkest things out from people visiting. It is a perfect setting to put on a tv-show, sell books claiming all sorts of stuff.

Maple groves, gatherings of beech, ash and elm wrap around themselves, contorting to strange shapes that perhaps help the feeling of uneasiness and gives the forest an overall creep factor. Blocking out the sun, leaving us in a sort of eternal shadow below the trees, anything seems possible in Hoia Baciu.