GB
US
To mark the arrival of Halloween 2020, we've rounded up some of the most spooky, unsettling and curious sites visited on Andante Travels tours. From witch marks found etched inside of caves to ancient ball courts where the game's losers made the ultimate sacrifice, take a look at the list below!
7 Spooky Sites For Halloween
26 October 2020
Witch's marks found at Creswell Crags
Back towards the beginning of 2019, members of the Subterranea Britannica charity took a cave tour at Creswell Crags in Nottinghamshire and discovered "apotropaic" marks scratched into the cave's surfaces. The marks were originally thought to have been graffiti, but upon closer inspection have since been reclassified and were probably etched there to keep evil spirits from entering the spaces. If you'd like to explore Creswell Crags in the company of one of the world's leading experts in cave art, join our study day in 2021 here.
An eerie discovery in Pompeii
Archaeologists working in Pompeii's Garden House in 2019 were excited to discover the hinges of a decomposed wooden box among the rubble, as well as items that were most likely contained within it. The items in question ranged from tiny skulls and miniature penises to crystals and buttons carved from bone, and are thought to have been part of a sorceress's kit – probably used in rituals concerning fertility, good luck or love. Always wanted to tick Pompeii off your bucket list? We have three tours that can take you there in 2021: Our Romans on the Bay of Naples tour, our shorter Highlights of Pompeii 5-day break or our best-selling 8-day Pompeii, Herculaneum & Classical Campania tour.
Can Halloween's origins be traced back to a site in Ireland?
In 2014, archaeologists working at Tlachtga - the Hill of Ward - found significant evidence of intense burning on the site, which dated back to AD 500. You may be familiar with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, associated with the ritual lighting of bonfire and later becoming associated with our modern-day Halloween, and the Hill of Ward area is a vast ceremonial enclosure, perhaps where Samhain originated due to the fire festival that archaeologists determined took place here. On our Prehistoric Ireland tour, you'll visit the Hill of Tara, just 30 minutes away from the enigmatic Hill of Ward.
A prophetic site in ancient Greece
Venture to the Temple of Apollo in Delphi and you'll stand on the very spot where the Pythia – priestesses who served Apollo – would deliver prophesies to visitors, thought to have been channeled from Apollo himself. Delphi became a sacred space, partly as a result of people consulting the oracle so frequently, and all that remains today of the site are a series of broken Doric columns. Visit the Temple of Apollo as part of our Peloponnese itinerary.
A wild fire that never burns out
Head to the slopes of Mt Olympos in Turkey and you'll come face to face with the mythical Chimaera, where natural flames flicker from vents in the mountainside. The flames erupt when gas seeps from the earth and comes into contact with air, and the fire is alight almost all of the time. Legend depicts the Chimaera as a monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature that was eventually defeated by Bellerophon thanks to the help of airborne Pegasus, and the site in Turkey is thought to have been where the defeat took place. We visit it as part of our South West Turkey tour, which you can see by clicking here.
The mummy's curse
Any time tombs in Egypt are opened, you can rest assured that a sensationalist article or theory will appear mentioning a mummy's curse, but have you ever wondered why this happens? The origin of this worry is often linked to Howard Carter's discovery of King Tutankhamun's tomb in the early 1920s, but the late Egyptologist Dominic Montserrat did some research and concluded it came about much earlier. Find out more here. If you're tempted to treat yourself to an Egyptian adventure, we have a selection of archaeological escapes on offer here.
An ancient sport with a deadly twist
If you're familiar with Mesoamerican ball courts and the games played within them, you may know that the members of the losing team were very unlucky indeed. While specifics about the game can't be completely verified, research and evidence have concluded that death sometimes awaited members of the team that didn't win. There are carvings that depict human sacrifice following ball games and it's certainly thought that many injuries would have been sustained in play. Maya ball courts can be seen today at Chichén Itzá, Tikal, Uxmal, Palenque, Yaxchilan and Copan. You can visit Chichén Itzá's mighty ball court as part of our Mexico - The Maya tour.
