The Halloween Nights and Where Ghosts Dwell - Part III -

ORIGINAL VERSION: LE NOTTI DI HALLOWEEN E I LUOGHI DOVE DIMORANO I FANTASMI - PARTE III -

Don't know where to spend your Halloween night and love to get a thrill? Why not adventuring into an abandoned place fueled by tales of dark presences and tragic, mysterious events? Places where few dare to go, where you need to arm yourself with courage, and maybe a camera to capture some creepy images...
There are many places that owe their fame mostly to stories concerning the paranormal, unexplainable events or to fatal events. Whether you believe them or not, these places surely have a creepy shroud of mystery.

ISLAND OF DOLLS. XOCHIMICO, MEXICO.

The Island of Dolls is one of the most haunted sites in Mexico. Don Julian Santana was a man who lived as a hermit on this island for over fifty years. The tragic accident of a girl who drowned on the island while visiting, caused further madness in Julian. Some people believe that he started fishing dolls out of the river because he believed that the dolls were real children. Whatever it was that motivated him, the island was turned into a shrine for that little girl. Dolls by the hundreds hang in the trees and the house. Don Julian Santana was found in the same part of the river that the little girl drowned in by his nephew. He said that he heard voices beckoning to him from the river. Each of the dolls is believed to be fused with the energy of the little girl. Candles, hard candy, and dolls should be brought as offerings to appease the spirits. The dolls are said to move, beckon, and speak to those who come. The spirit of the man is also believed to be there still. Orbs, loud sounds, and opening doll eyes abound.
More info: http://weburbanist.com/2010/10/06/mexicos-creepiest-tourist-destination-island-of-the-dolls/

MANILA FILM CENTER. PASAY CITY, PHILIPPINES. 

The Manila Film Center was the site of a construction accident in the early '80s. When construction of the center was rushed for a film festival, the ceiling scaffolding collapsed, killing several workmen who fell to the orchestra below. Rather than halt construction to rescue survivors and retrieve the bodies of dead workmen, Imelda Marcos, the First Lady and the main financier of the project, was believed to have ordered cement to be poured into the orchestra, entombing the fallen workmen. Some of them were even buried alive in the orchestra. Various ghostly activities were reported on the site including mysterious sounds, voices and poltergeist activity. In the late '90s, a group called the Spirit Questors began to make visits to the film center in an attempt to contact and appease the souls of the workmen who were killed in the building. Some of these spirits claimed to have moved on, but a few allegedly remain. Previously abandoned for its haunted reputation, the building is now currently in use.

More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila_Film_Center

BIRD CAGE THEATRE. TOMBSTONE, ARIZONA. 

At the Bird Cage Theatre in Tombstone, there have been reports of ghostly laughter, yelling, and strange music. These reports date back to the 1880s. It was investigated on the TV series Ghost Adventures. It was also investigated by TAPS on Ghost Hunters.
More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_Cage_Theatre

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The ancient glory of Tenochtitlán

ORIGINAL POST: L'ANTICA GLORIA DI TENOCHTITLÁN 

"We were amazed and said that it was like the enchantments told in the book of Amadis, on account of the great towers and cues and buildings rising from the water, and all built of masonry. And some of our soldiers even asked whether the things that we saw were not a dream?" (Bernal Diaz del Castillo)

The grand Tenochtitlán was founded in 1325 by the legendary king Tenoch on lake Texcoco, Mexico, and rapidly became the most important city of Central America. Built on a rocky island, Tenochtitlán spanned for some 10 square kilometres and was split in four districts, linked to dry land through bridges and embankments. The city provided both streets and canals, so that it could be reached both by feet and by canoe.  In the city centre stood a 30 metres tall pyramid, with a 100x80 base, and with two sanctuaries at its summit. Near the pyramid rose two monasteries, the god of wind Ehcatl’s sanctuary, a patio used for games of pelota, and the Tzompantli, a macabre place where the skulls of the sacrificed victims were exposed.

The palace of king Montezuma II stood outside the ceremonial centre, and was a luxurious two-floors building with gardens full of exotic plants, swans swimming in artificial lakes, and multicoloured birds singing in the cages. Tenochtitlán was also an important economic hub where more than 25.000 traders came to sell food, textiles, shoes, puma or jaguar skin, tobacco, wood, utensils and handicraft. There was no money, so everything was bartered, usually for cacao or broad beans.

Since the lagoon water could not be drank, Montezuma I had an important aqueduct built, 5 kilometres long from the springs of Chapultepec. Later, also a second, 8 kilometres long aqueduct was built. Since Tenochtitlán suffered from frequent floods, Montezuma I ordered in 1449 the construction of a 16 kilometres long dam, in order to contain the waters of lake Texcoco.

At its full splendour, Tenochtitlán’s population was estimated at 700.000 inhabitants, even though more cautious esteems lower the number to 550.000. In any case, it was the third largest city in the world, after Beijing (700.000) and Hangzhou (600.000).

When Hernán Cortés reached Tenochtitlán in November the 8^th, 1519, he wrote in his diaries that never had he seen a bigger and more efficient city in the world: the streets all had pedestrian walks, no building had any smoke or dirt fouling, shining fairy-tale-like constructions with coloured walls and pensile gardens. The Spanish soldier Bernal Diaz described it as an “enchanted” vision of a magic city with “and cues and buildings rising from the water”. Tenochtitlán really was a perfect city.

Maybe this shocking fact, together with the lust for power and gold, drove the conquistadores, even though they were welcomed with honour and hospitality by king Montezuma, to conquer the city after a bloody battle. On August the 13^th, 1521, the legendary Tenochtitlán was reduced to a pile of rubble and its population exterminated. What was left of the city was dismantled and destroyed. On the ruins of the beautiful metropolis, Mexico City was built.

During the seventies Tenochtitlán’s ruins were brought back to light and some of the most important structures, like the Great Pyramid, are now open for visitors. Today, the Zócalo, Mexico City’s most important plaza, stands on what was once Tenochtitlán’s ceremonial centre, but who knows what such a glorious metropolis of the ancient world could have become without the destructive and cruel impact of the Spanish conquerors. Unfortunately, we will never know…

The ruins of Tenochtitlán

 (Translation by Marco Salvadori)