Author: Ms. R.

The Rushen Abbey is a former abbey located in the Ballasalla area of the Isle of Man, near the island’s Douglas Airport. The abbey was originally founded in 1134 by an order of monks of an order known as Savignac but later fell under control of the Cistercians, a Catholic religious order. The abbey remained with the Cistercians until the order was dissolved in the 16th century under the strict rules set by King Henry VII. Hoping to increase the……

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The areas bordering the road from Carcassone to Quillan in the Aude are called Cathar or Grail country. This is because this part of southwest France is unerringly associated with the bloody persecution by the Catholic Church of those in the region who practiced the (heretical) Cathar religion. Add to this the Holy Grail myths and conspiracies surrounding places like Rennes-Le-Château, and you have a potent mix of local history layered thick with highly speculative theories and mystical legends. But not all……

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Elphinstone Tower, also known as Dunmore Tower or Airth Tower, is a ruined tower house currently sitting within the Dunmore Estate. Originally, the tower would have had views across the low-lying ground to the River Forth.  The tower dates to the early 16th century, when it was built by Sir John Elphinstone as the seat of the barony of Elphinstone. Before his death in 1638 Alexander Elphinstone, the 4th Lord of Elphinstone had added a gallery and a new hall to the……

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Frederick Ward, more famously known as “Captain Thunderbolt”, had become something of a folk hero due to his gentlemanly behavior and his tendency to avoid violence. His bushranging included roaming across a vast area of New South Wales, from the Hunter Valley to the Queensland border. Less than three months after escaping from prison at Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbor for the second time in 1863, Ward laid in wait at Split Rock to rob the mail coach. Seven years……

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With bulging eyes, long, black braids, and an unnervingly large grin, Supay, lord of underground mines and other dark spaces, leers at visitors from his spot beside other art from Bolivia. Just downstairs, a geometrically patterned face sporting three horns adorned with monkey fur stares blankly across a room crowded with other Congolese artifacts. Steps away, an exquisite Torres Strait shark mask, made of tortoise shell, looks like it could come alive on its display stand. The British Museum……

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New York City’s century-old subway system has a labyrinth’s worth of abandoned tunnels and stops. But the 76th Street station in Queens is by far the most mysterious. Why? Because the 76th Street station may not exist at all. According to the New York Times, the bricked-up stop “has been rumored to sit just east of the Euclid Avenue station, part of a grand, never-realized plan to continue the A line out to 229th Street.” Why that plan was……

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In the Apennine hills south of Bologna is the natural (if improbable) grotto called the Grotte di Labante. In the area nearby they used to quarry a type of sedimentary limestone called travertino, and the grotto is formed from this limestone. A spring flows from the nearby Chiesa di San Cristofano through this cave system and gathers in a small, clear pool. That pool sits by one of the cave’s two main entrances, which are linked by a relatively……

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Every year on January 17, pilgrims go to the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene in Rennes-le-Château to witness a mysterious light phenomenon known pommes bleues (blue apples). Around midday, the sun streams through the church’s stained glass windows, projecting numerous strange multicolored orbs that are said to resemble apples onto the religious friezes inside. The blue apples are mentioned in ancient parchments supposedly discovered by parish priest Bérenger Saunière hidden in the church altar. These papers fuelled the legends and stories……

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Brent Walker, creator of the Hidden South, is gifted at discovering hidden treasures. His career as a photographer and location scout honed his skills in discovering secret places. But his sixth sense of discovery extends beyond places and objects. Brent sees hidden treasures in people cast off by society. As a recovering addict for over two decades, Brent believes lives headed for destruction can be redirected and restored. He is living proof. While scouting, he befriended dozens of folks……

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Until the 1670s, at the edge of London’s River Thames, stood York House, the mansion property of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. In 1672 however, Villiers had fallen on hard times financially and so when the developer Nicholas Barbon asked to purchase the land, Villiers was glad to accept the £30,000 offered (an amount equivalent to more than £5 million in 2022). The agreement was made on the condition that the proposed development would pay homage to Villiers, therefore……

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