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Saturday, January 05, 2008

Lucedio Abbey in Italy

The Lucedio Abbey in Italy is a place where torture, child molestation, murder and disturbing rituals were believed to have been preformed. Many say this one of Italy's most haunted places.

Lucedio Abbey dates back to 1123. During that time, Cistercian monks resided there and introduced rice cultivation to the area. Years later, the peaceful abbey became a place of such horrible acts that word eventually reached Rome. Under direct orders from Pope Pio VI, the Abbey was finally closed (it took 100 years) on September 10, 1784.

In the judgement room (room where all the monks made their decisions about sentences for people's crimes) a pillar mysteriously appears wet. People say that it "cries" because of all the cruelty it has seen. In another area of the building a strange fog has been seen forming numerous times for no explainable reason. Under the church is the crypt where all the abbots are buried. People say that an evil presence was captured down there and locked inside. It was believed that in oder for the presence to remain locked inside the crypt, it needed to be guarded. A number of abbots were buried in a sitting position in a circle. As if this was not strange enough, in time, all the abbots became mummified in a natural way.

Lucedio Abbey has been investigated in the past for paranormal activity. The once popular show Scariest Places On Earth filmed a family while attempting to spend the night there. From what I recall there was a lot of activity. More recently the cast from Ghost Hunters International did an investigation there and had their own creepy encounters while on the premises. We'll be able to see their investigation of the abbey in the second episode of the new upcoming SciFi show. (Ghost Hunters International will air Wednesday nights on SciFi at 9pm ET starting January 9th)

42 comments:

Anonymous said...

LIKE MOST HOLY PLACES,THIS ONCE PLACID CISTERCIAN, BENEDICTINE ABBEY ONCE A PLACE OF HOLINESS AND THE SCENT OF HEAVEN CHOSE ANOTHER PATH. THESE MONKS, THEIR ABBOT AND G-D KNOWS HOW MANY LAY FOLLOWERS TURNED TO THE DARKSIDE, TO SATANISM. IT'S INHABITANT MONKS WERE SO CORRUPTED , EVIL AND FILTHY THAT POPE PIUS 6TH HIMSELF AFTER APPROXIMATE A HUNDRED YRS OF TRYING CLOSED THIS PIGSTYE OF HELL AND EX-COMMUNICATED EACH AND EVERY ONE OF IT'S MONKS AND THEIR CORRUPTED ABBATIAL LEADERS. TO THIS DAY THE STINK OF CORRUPTION LINGERS THERE AND THE LOCAL FOLKS SHUN THIS DISPICABLE MONASTERY.

Marica said...

Well put John, thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts on this place.

jerome said...

Unfortunately, the story doesnt mesh with the historic facts of the catholic church. If such evil and travisty would of taken place in a holy place in those time the church with all its power in those days would of removed the abbey stone by stone than have its reputation at stake, remember back in those days the church was all powerful and incompassing, all daily life was dictated by thier doctrine. Ruler and kings ruled by the churches Blessings and if you decided to rule outside thier rules you were branded a heritic and delt with swiftley

Marica said...

You make a good point jerome and yes if you did not embrace catholicism you were branded a heritic. The story of the Satanic rituals could be just that, a story. Or, perhaps there is some truth. I can not find anything other than what I wrote to back things up. Regardless, GHI did capture some very interesting EVPS at the location.

Ben said...

GHI did get some good EVPs from the abbey, as well as some personal experiences. At the end of the show, though, they tell us that they did some historic research, and that the monk's satanic practices is a myth.

Marica said...

I think that doing historical research on a place is an important part of an investigation. I must have missed that part of the reveal. Thanks for that information. Very important to have the facts.

Anonymous said...

My experiences growing up in my parents house are fact (for me anyway)that we can be in the presence of something unknown and unseen. I liked Ghost Hunters because they started off the same as I would have. To learn more about facts of an unseen presence.Somehow, somewhere, G.H. became more interested in money rather than fact. To them, Everything is haunted. Especially hotels looking for profit.
Lucedio Is just another hotel using a motive to bring customers in. That's it. You can do your own research at the Vatican Archives.
Thank You For Allowing My Comment.

Anonymous said...

hi anonymous, thanks for the comment. I have to disagree with " To them, Everything is haunted." Both GH and GHI did investigations that turned up nothing and are not afraid to say that they have no evidence to support a haunting. In my opinion, GH are the best out there and they have brought credibility back to the field.

Anonymous said...

hey my name is kris from the UK, last week over here, a show we have called "most haunted" went to this town and did a 5 night live broadcast from various places including this monastry! Each show was on for 3 hours! They had a medium with them who spoke of alot of the things that went off their in the past, now i know he could have researched alot of the storys but he went into detail about alot of them (with storys i couldnt find online) and also said that he believes that the monks are burried somewhere very close to the abbey but never actually said they were underneath it, in the crypt!! Now you would think if he researched and knew they were underneath it he would have said at some part of the show, but he didnt so i think theirs a really good chance he was picking up his knowlage from the spirits!! He also got names of some of the spirits of the evil monks who lived their, phillipo, octavia and i cant remember the others lol. They also did live shows from the underground tunnels, the graveyard and the castle in lucedio. I watched the live broadcasts online too because they set up webcams in various places so you can see whats going off in the empty rooms and i did actually see one of two wierd shadows moving around and orbs flickering!!Now, i know it can all sound staged and made up and im not one to be easily led when it comes to things like this but from watching those shows, seeing and hearing the fear on their faces and in their voices made me beleive it was true, plus the medium who was picking up on the spirits was very good the way he slowly got the information, some of it was that mixed up the storys didnt make sense so that made me beleive in a way!!

Marica said...

HI Kris, thanks for stopping by and commenting.

I am aware of Most Haunted and am not impressed with their show or findings. I used to be a fan until I dug a little deeper into their claims. They have been found to present false information and create activity where they film.
Check this out
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=295960
Plus, Ghost Hunters International have given all the details of that location publicly during an investigation there at the beginning of this year. Even if you don't get the show there, every episode can be viewed on Youtube for anyone to see. I think that they hurt the field and would like to see the show canceled.
Here is more proof of their bullshit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KlNnMkepMQ&feature=related

Anonymous said...

Oh boy, Most Haunted is a huge joke they're part of the reason so many people find it hard to believe in the paranormal because of all the false or exaggerated claims. The Abbey was excommunicated by Vatican city by the late Pope. This is definitely a place I would LOVE to visit! Ghost Hunters Int. did a really good job investing makes me want to go even more.

Anonymous said...

hey its kris again, yeah im also aware about most haunted being a load of shit but i really did beleive this one, obviously their were some things that make you raise your eyebrows, but some of it really did seem real! Maybe they got a shock and actually picked up some paranormal activity haha!! Ive seen GHI on youtube too and though some of that was abit faked, but then again i think anybody who;s doing it for entertainment value and to make money are all the same really! (im not slagging the show btw lol)!!
Ah well, definatly going to go their one day and check it out for myself as ive got really intrested in it. Here's a link to a page where a guy from the radio has been in the abbey and taken photos from inside and in the crypt, dont know if their real or not but its worth a gander www.metroradio.co.uk/PhotoWall.asp?id=20094

Marica said...

Hey Kris, thanks for the link. Will check it out.

Anonymous said...

Hi aura, hi guys. I was reading your posts about Lucedio Abbey and there are some interesting thoughts. However, I cannot agree with jerome on the heretic part and taking down the abbey stone by stone. From the mid 15th century to end of renaissance, the (catholic) church did have a lot of influence. But it was not all guided by fate. Most of the lower places clerics were faithfull men, when not tempted by wealth and power. The whole infrastructure was corrupt, the church beeing the wealthiest power in central Europe throughout these centuries. As for Lucedio Abbey, the place played a central role in rice trading an other trading in that area. There could be a lot of explanations why the pope could not shut down the place, economical, political reasons and so on. As for a fact, the Abbey was labeled evil during that time, but mostly because of corruption and cases of molestation. In these times, it was most common in Italy, Spain, Portugal and France that clerics manifesting unfaithfull behaviour were said to have a connection to the devil. After all, clerics were powerfull and respected persons. They were difficult to denunciate, as in rural areas, it was often the clerics having political and criminal authority. Transmitting information over a larger distance was practically impossible for lower mob.
Personally I am from Luxembourg and I have a MBA in History and Anthropology. I spent some semesters at the university of Aix en Provence, France, were I did research on the popal era at Avignon (close to Aix). "Criminal" behaviour was most common with 16th, 17th century clerics, without retribution whatsoever.

Greetings from good old Europe to my friends in the States
Eric

Marica said...

Hi there Eric! My thanks to you for taking time to comment on this controversial post. You put it into the words that I could not. Thanks! It definitely helps having your background. Come back again sometime :)I would love to hear about your take on my posts dealing with Hidden/Forbidden History and Archeology.

Anonymous said...

Aura, thanks for your kind words. As you can imagine, there are a great amount of accounts throughout history with paranormal background whatsoever.
I had several interesting courses in anthropology about religion, human beliefs and metaphysical manifestations. Some of the theories are based on the belief, that nothing comes from nothing, if you know what I mean. For any story, there is a hint of truth behind it.
The problem with paranormal accounts for historians is the following: You can never tell how much cultural influence affects these accounts. Example: For centuries, women have been burnt in Europe after beeing accused of witchcraft. In, lets say 99,99 Percent, they did not have any supernatural powers whatsoever. Either it was the belief of their fellow peers, which drove them to think of some of the happenings around them to be an act of witchcraft coming from a certain person, or it just was jalousy or pure malice which led them to denunciate a rival. Thats what I mean by cultural influence - as in the belief of a society, that monks molesting women or children, had to be in some relationship with evil, even though it just was their maliciousness. So historians never know if it is just lore, superstition or the real thing.
It is only today, with new technologies and a certain approximation to reality or external validity, that we can take some accounts to be viable.
But as an open minded - at least I think I am ;-) - historian / journalist (I work as a journalist for a daily newspaper) I have to admit that there are numerous facts throughout history of mankind, which cannot be explained by reason or contemporary science. I guess some if this is what "they" call hidden/forbidden history. And you cannot discart the fact, that religion still has a strong grasp on mankind today. A lot of paranormal encounters are still dismissed because it goes against clerical policy, not only in christianity.
Anyway, I am very pleased to meet you. I read through some of your post and you seem like a very interesting person ;-) and I'd love to discuss some of these matters with you.

Anonymous said...

I am sorry for some of my english, I'm not used to explain these things in English. Luxemburg just recently got an university, so I had to do my studies abroad (in Vienna, Austria with two exchange semesters in Aix en Provence based on a europeanwide programm called Erasmus, very popular with european students though ;-)). It is nice however to use some of the things I've studied from time to time. As a journalist, it comes in handy, but it is not used on a day to day basis ;-).

Marica said...

Hello Eric, you make some very good points. It is also nice to see that you are open minded, as one with your background should be. You can email me anytime for further discussions by clicking on the skull. You can't miss it...top left of page. :)

I look forward to talking with you soon.

Marica said...

No worries anonymous, I understood you perfectly. I have read a bit about the Erasmus program. Sounds like a good program with many lifelong benefits.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Anonymous said...

People.. do you really want to know about lucedio? http://www.magicolucedio.it/

yes many things happened here, but now its not the same, is not scary. This scary bs, is a way to get money. its all a business..

Anonymous said...

im sorry but i did my own research about this place and its importance in multiple religions and this is supposedly the area where great evil sleeps and where wickedness ran in early life and where a flaming star fell to the ground and if you know your biblical factsa satans other name was morning star so if you put it all togetgher it makes sense on how people would turn evil no matter how holy they are with such a unoly power and that would also explain why it took so long for the pope to close it down becouse it was tainted and he didnt want to be in the presence of such wickedness

Anonymous said...

After watching a re-run of scariest places on earth's "visit to lucedio abbey" in Italy, it is no wonder the majority of people are are sceptics regarding the supernatural. I've never seen so much bullshit piled into one half hour of air time, kinda typical of what you can expect from hollywood. To their credit Ghosthunters international did a considerably more rational investigation, without the hollywood crap and a bunch of visiting Americans running around hooked up to lighting attached to them screeming their arses off.Not to mention the guy with the English accent and a poor immitation of Boris Karloff at that commentating that B-S production, Guess the English accent is suppose to make the whole thing sound sophisticated and a cut above the rest, what a lot of wasted time on my part by watching that b rated bull.MEA CULPA

Anonymous said...

I saw a program on tv about this place last night, and the entire time I felt saddened because Italy is my homeland and the thought that such evil things took place there is horrible..I no longer practice Catholicism, but I believe evil dwells in the Principato di Lucedio..

Anonymous said...

I visited Lucedio once on a vacation (I'm from Italy) though it was daytime, but you could definetly feel some kind of presence there, it was that kind of feeling like you are being watched, when we were in the monks private quarters my brother said "Stop breathing in my ear Christa" (Christa is my sister) but nobody was there, that freaked me out a little. And my dad had his own experience, when he was about to walk outside for a cigarette he swears he saw a shadow on the wall that appeared to be human sized but it was getting smaller and smaller and eventually disappeared. I didn't have experiences like that, the only thing I experinced was the feeling of being constantly watched and sometimes in the judgement room I was smelling what I think was the smell of wet clothes like you have just been outside in the rain, it was a little strange.

But there's definetly something at Lucedio, I was what you would call a skeptic before I was at Lucedio. If you are ever in Italy you should check it out, and come visit me :)

Anonymous said...

Hi, great site! I am from the UK, and am currently watching the 'Most Haunted' episodes on sky filming in Turin in the Abbey of Lucedio.

I am very interested in watching the show 'Ghost Hunters Internaional' whilst they were filming there. I understand we can watch these on you tube, however, do you know which series/episodes they are? As I am having trouble finding them.

Thank you
Easily Scared! UK

Marica said...

To watch the episode of GHI in Italy at Lucideo go to this link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn1KcBBbnaA

Anonymous said...

All I have to say is I trust GH and GHI totally. They dont go in to get the thrills, or to get money (infact they are a non-profit) as far as I've been able to look into. They look into the research of every place if possible, and they look for ANY and EVERY way that could denounce what they or anyone else has been experiencing. They also use every known high tech (and low tech in some ways) way of detecting ghosts, from camera's, EVP's, heat sensor cameras, etc. I've seen shows where they've denounced a house was not haunted or possibly haunted when I myself would have said it was definetly haunted.

The only thing I could do without on the show GH or GHI is the quiet background music constantly going on so we can hear those "voices" or sounds they hear more clearly. I've taped some of the shows and with a program on my computer I've tweaked the noise so I could hear more of the hidden sounds, and many times I could hear sounds they heard but due to the music I couldnt hear.

as for Lucedio, They did a sound job at getting info on it, and showing it for what it is.

Anonymous said...

I am currently watching scariest places on earth where they are at the lucedio monastary. The only thing i wanted to say is that i agree that many shows like this seem to manufacture haunts and other paranormal phenomena. Does anyone know if the monastary is open to the public? I love history, the unknown, and study of religion,death, evil, good, g-d, etc. Who owns the place?
thanks

Cardinal Richelieu said...

So much has been said and written about the Abbey of Lucedio.As a
result, I decided to see the Abbey
personally last year to find what is fiction and history.

The Abbey was not far from the Swiss Border about 3 hours. Luckily for us, there was a Guided Tour.The Guide told us that most of these stories on the Abbey had no basis.

If there is indeed an evil presence inside the main church
(there are two churches), why the
church did not exorcise that presence?

Regarding the crypt, it is common
in big Abbeys to have the monks buried in abbey crypts. Now the question was there any records
that exist to prove they are buried without coffins and in sitting position?

AndroidXX said...

Oo, I thought it sounded familiar! I saw that episode of Scariest Places on Earth...I still like that show :)

It's a really creepy place, but if i went with someone and stayed with them the whole time, I would like to visit.

Anonymous said...

what a pile of bullshit - if this pile of shit is to be believed why not a program based in Auschwitz where great wrongs which were actually documented did take place?

Bunch of gullible retards in this world and on this website unfortunately

Marica said...

I write the story / account and the reader decides for him or herself what to believe. To completely discount everything as "bullshit" is equally gullible. We are here asking questions, sharing information and experiences - making up our own minds as we go along.

BK said...

"Curious in Arkansas" says = Does anyone remember the show "Scariest Places on Earth"? They did two showings at this place - - of course, I never really believed this show was true - locking up a family for an overnight video-taped excusion in a haunted place. I have to wonder if any of the things the families went thru were really real, or staged.
Ghost Hunters & GHI are two shows that I watch frequently, and believe them when the find stuff.

Stumbled upon this site - nice little place. thanks. :) ~ curious in Arkansas

Anonymous said...

it is very funny that we will look into these rare cases with a optimistic view, but think back to the pope and hilter. how quainte it is that both were at one time sharing the same table to break bread and on the same page for world dominance and the eradication of jews. these two people were very much alive and well. and yet people turned a blind eye to this act of war. the catholic chruch has prioritized their reputation over the lives of innocent people who did nothing to deseve what was done unto them; in many cases their reputation took presidence over their faith and good judgement.
just looking at this place scares the shit out of me; however, I KNOW what catholics are capable of.

Anonymous said...

I watch many of these paranormal-type shows having had an experience myself. Some are without doubt better than others - Paranormal State comes to mind. However, I find the biggest offender to be that ridiculous Chicago cop paranormal detectives show. GET THAT STOGIE OUT OF YOUR FAT FACE!! There, I feel better now.

Anonymous said...

I must admit I was a skeptic about ghosts, demons and such, until June of 1974, when I personally saw a kitchen stove come on by itself. It was a gas stove, which had to be pushed in to turn. No one was in the kitchen at the time it came on. Next the kitchen sink faucets turned on full blast simultaneously.

The think I hate about these shows is that the people are always talking, screaming, etc. You never see the actual activity. The people scare themselves more than anything.

Having seen activity with my own eyes, I wish someone would produce a show, where the people remain quiet and we see the actual activity without their input.

It would be an easy thing to set up cameras for say 1 week, then review the tapes and see if anything is found. Otherwise, I don't find the programs to be conclusive of anything but people's fear.

Nuff said.
Anon

Unknown said...

I apologize for digging up an older thread, but you should really check out "A dictionary of Angels", by Gustav Davidson, for stuff about the whole satanist thing. For example, 'Satan' is really 'Ha-Satan', Archangel of Adversaries. Put another way, his job, given by 'God' (if you believe in that sort of thing) is to make humanity endure to prove their faith. Also, Lucifer is still Archangel of light; Lucifuge is a minor fallen angel. This whole transaction occured because of a monk whose name I can't remember (but is written in that book I mentioned) mistranslated Lucifuge as Lucifer. "The devil" is Samael, according to everything I've ever read, and that includes any hermetic studies like Dictionary Infernal or Grand Grimoire, etc.

Just my 2 cents!

Brittany said...

What most of you fail to realise is that the catholic church would cover something like this up. They would also not recors this in their history. So how can we believe what is real and what is not unless we experience ourselves? Has anyone translated principato do lucedio in English? It means welcome to hell as well as you did not mention that the monks where burned in there cordons before the abbey was closed down. If you want to know more about something you have to be willing to look into it depper and remember that catholics back then hid things from its religious followers just like they do now.

Unknown said...

Brittany.... it doesn't mean welcome to hell.... Also, the modern catholic church wouldn't cover this up. It's not worth covering up. It's just a ghost/demonic story. I personally believe the story, because i believe in ghosts and demons, but it's still a story. They realize not every catholic in history has been faithful.

Anonymous said...

guys lucedio is really haunted i was horrified on the catheral you'll here the laugh more on the laugh of the demon alan robson is right i can't imagine a place were the devil hides
the torture room there was a column the middle was mysteriously get wet many believe that this is the tears of the soul who suffer in this place
once you enter this place u feel like hell its about to reach or the pit of the devil

Unknown said...

lucedio was the most horrifying place i've been especially the cathedral once we reach the altar we heard the laugh of a person but to me it was a laugh of a demon alan robson was right i wouldn't imagine a better place to were the devil hides
guys once you enter this place you feel like you've enter the fortress of the devil...
the torture room where a column is mysteriously gets wet in the middle
many believed that was the tears of those souls who suffered in that room
you can even see the mummified of the monks damn this is the most haunted places here in europe

Unknown said...

I know I'm commenting very late in the game, but I also seriously just watched the GHI episode with this place in it and I'm tripping out.

While watching the episode, I had a very strange feeling as soon as Paolo introduced the GHI team to the judgement room with the crying pillar. I seriously felt as if I've been there before, although this would be totally impossible. I am an American and have never left the United States except to go to Canada. And yet it seemed so ridiculously familiar! Freaky.

So anyway, I feel as though I had a deja vu while watching the episode. Like in seeing that room with a pillar, I remembered a dream I had years ago as the room appeared to look identical to the dream. Whether if its related to the Lucedio Abbey or not I do not know, but it did freak me out a bit. Perhaps you Europeans can debunk whether or not this dream is a legit deja vu?

In my dream I'm standing where I interpret as the right hand side of the pillar, but as a spirit of ghost to the men inside the dream. On left side of the pillar is the side that is closer to where a wall and a black, square-ish doorway is located. The man who is doing the judgments is standing by what I perceived as the crying pillar. He was judging about 5-6 men standing in a single file line before him. Sort of like military actually, and there were guards off to the side to oversee the judgment and bring all the arrested men in.

I did not hear any clear words spoken, but from what I could tell the man who was judging talked concerning how'd they be judged in the name of God, what would happen as divine justice took place, what their rights were, etc. He acted as a man with God's authority, but what he was saying I could tell was clearly outrageous and in violation to basic human rights.

One of the men being judged, the one standing in the line next to the guy on the far right, displayed his anger towards his mistreatment with hostile words and actions. Quickly the guards took hold of him before it broke out into any sort of brawl, and they carried him out the door to the left of the pillar to be executed. The man was still yelling and screaming because he was innocent, and likely wanted to go home to his wife and family.

The man judging then turned to the other men and asked if anyone else wanted to be executed for clear display of actions against God (basically). They all remained silent, and then were taken to their several places depending upon if they were found "guilty" or not. As I watched this in the dream it made me mad, outraged, and deeply saddened as some more of those men received grievous sentences; but I couldn't do anything to intervene.

So Europeans, is there anything that can explain this dream I had and why it reminds me of the crying pillar? This is very odd to me, but for now I'm leaving it as just that. The crying pillar is an odd place that reminds me of a dream I once had years ago.

O_o