What museums are not there nowadays! And quite habitual natural sciences, historical, artistic, etc. And not quite standard: for example, in Osaka (Japan) there is a museum of instant noodles; in Zagreb (Croatia) - a museum of divorces; in Kent (England) - a museum of dog collars; in Los Angeles (USA) - the museum of death; in Küritz (Germany) - a museum of lies, etc.
Well, for those who love a wide variety of mythical and mysterious creatures, such as vampires, gnomes, fairies or ghosts, now they also open many exhibitions, museums, galleries and similar institutions. We want to introduce you to the 10 most famous of them.
List
- 10. The National Leprechaun Museum (Dublin, Ireland)
- 9. Exhibition Center Loch Ness (Loch Ness Center and Exhibition) (Scotland)
- 8. The Mothman Museum (Point Pleasant, West Virginia, USA)
- 7. The Fairy Museum (Sibastopol, California, USA)
- 6. The Monroeville Zombies Museum (Evans City, PA, USA)
- 5. Mythical Monster Museum (Waxahachi, Texas, USA)
- 4. International Museum of Cryptozoology (International Cryptozoology Museum) (Portland, USA)
- 3. Vampire Museum (Le Musee de Vampires) (Paris, France)
- 2. Museum of Witchcraft (Boscastle, Cornwall, England)
- 1. Museum of ghosts and legends (Prague Ghosts and Legends Museum) (Prague, Czech Republic)
10. The National Leprechaun Museum (Dublin, Ireland)
If suddenly it seems to someone that he doesn’t know who the leprechauns are, we remind you: these are small creatures very similar to gnomes, they adore gold and therefore collect it and hide it in secluded places (and to find the gold of leprechauns, according to legend, quite simply - the end of the rainbow always points to it).
Leprechauns wear green caftans and hats that look like cylinders. You must have seen them (or rather, people dressed like these Irish folk characters) if you have ever been to St. Patrick's Day celebrations.
The Irish still adore leprechauns and fairy tales about them, and therefore dedicated a museum to these creatures. It opened in 2010 in Dublin, and it presents in some detail the history of not only the Leprechauns, but also other characters of the myths and legends of Ireland.
Many expositions and attractions of this museum are based on optical illusions that allow visitors to "see the world through the eyes of a leprechaun": for example, sit on a giant chair and drink tea from a giant cup.
9. Exhibition Center Loch Ness (Loch Ness Center and Exhibition) (Scotland)
But about Nessie, I think everyone has heard. It is believed that the first mention of this mysterious monster (prehistoric ichthyosaurus?) Was left by the British legionnaires who conquered Britain, who discovered Celtic images of local animals on the shores of the Loch Ness lake, including a very strange gigantic-sized seal with a long neck and small head .
And already in the VI century, St. Columbus allegedly drove off a very similar monster, drowning the inhabitants of nearby villages in the lake. Messages that a terrible monster (or even more than one!) Is found in Loch Ness appeared both in the 18th and 19th centuries, but at the beginning of the 20th century the legend of Nessie blossomed in a riotous color.
In 1932, a certain Miss MacDonald saw the monster on the shallows, in 1933 - the couple Mackay, who crossed the lake in a boat, Mr. Alexander Shaw with his son, the Clement family, Miss Nora Simpson, etc., etc. Well, in 1934, the London doctor Kenneth Wilson photographed Nessie for the first time (and only 60 years later it turned out that the picture was fake).
Since then, both the locals and tourists, as well as serious scientists with special equipment, have been trying to find the monster, but searches have not yet led to success. The Loch Ness Exhibition Center is dedicated to this long and complex history.
8. The Mothman Museum (Point Pleasant, West Virginia, USA)
In the second half of the 1960s. many residents of Point Pleasant (in West Virginia) claimed to have seen a strange flying monster that looked like a man with huge wings and red eyes glowing in the dark.
What was it: a massive hallucination, a hoax, or some obscure (alien?) Creature really chose the Point Pleasant neighborhood, it seems, will remain a mystery.
Nevertheless, since then, the “man-moth” has become so popular in the USA that a book has been written about him (“The Prophecies of the Man-Moth” by John Keel), a film was shot with Richard Gere (2001), a whole festival is dedicated to him, etc. .
Well, in Point Pleasant, of course, there is a Museum of Moth-Man, which presents documents on the observation of a monster, props from a movie about him, etc. And in front of the museum is a 3-meter statue of this creature.
7. The Fairy Museum (Sibastopol, California, USA)
As you know, Americans generally adore various monsters, fairy-tale characters, otherworldly creatures, etc. (we will once again see this in the description of other museums of our ten). The next museum that we want to present to you is dedicated to much prettier creatures - fairies. They are known in most countries of the world.
Usually they are crumbs the size of a human little finger, most often playful or stinging. Fairies are like miniature and very beautiful girls with magical powers.
And of course, in the Fairy Museum, located in the California city of Sibastopol (Sebastopol), you can find many details about their lives and habits - here are the most interesting references to fairies in myths and legends of different nations. In addition, in the museum's souvenir shop you can buy “magic pollen from the wings of fairies”, various “magic” accessories, bells, etc.
6. The Monroeville Zombies Museum (Evans City, PA, USA)
If we talk about the most popular monsters in our time, then, no doubt, “at the top of the rating” will be zombies. Now literally there is no escape from them anywhere: they are in the movies, in TV shows, and (of course!) In computer games.
And even the popular book Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice in 2009 survived the adaptation of American writer, screenwriter and producer Seth Graham Smith under the title Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (based on which the film was made in 2016).
And the modern "zombie epidemic" began back in 1978, after the release of George Romero's film "Dawn of the Dead", which was filmed in Monroeville - the shopping center of Evans City.
It is here that the Zombie Museum is now located, where you can get acquainted with the full history of the living dead in popular culture. Here are props from movies and TV shows, full-length replicas of zombies, "reconstruction" of scenes of zombie attacks on people, etc. Of course, the museum also has a large souvenir shop.
5. Mythical Monster Museum (Waxahachi, Texas, USA)
But the creators of another (also American) museum decided not to exchange for expositions dedicated to individual mythical creatures, but gathered all the monsters under one roof.
If you want to see immediately zombies, and werewolves, and vampires, and orcs, and many other monsters, then you have a direct road to Waxahachi, Texas.
And if the information about these monsters presented in the museum impresses you too much (or even scares them), then experienced experts (they are guides, they are also “monster hunters”) Daniel Raptus and Miles Crane will tell you in great detail how easy it is and the most reliable way to kill this or that dangerous monster.
4. International Museum of Cryptozoology (International Cryptozoology Museum) (Portland, USA)
Another “atypical” museum located in the USA is the Museum of Cryptozoology. Its founder Lauren Coleman dedicated his institution (as, in fact, clearly from its name) to the most "elusive" creatures in the world.
Here you will find both the well-known Bigfoot, Godzilla, Gremlin, house elf, chupacabra, mermaid, giant squid, etc., as well as mythical creatures that are less often mentioned in books and on television.
By the way, the museum also displays once-existent, but extinct animals that are supposedly found in some places to this day (pterodactyl, mammoth, saber-toothed tiger, etc.), as well as strange photos with murky silhouettes of some obscure (otherworldly) ?) creatures.
3. Vampire Museum (Le Musee de Vampires) (Paris, France)
Undoubtedly, the most popular immediately after zombies in modern mass culture can be called vampires. A huge number of books have also been written about them, more than one hundred films and series, television shows, etc. have been shot.
And, of course, these very charming (thanks to their "cinematic" image) monsters, too, could not remain without their own museum. There is a small private institution dedicated to vampires (and very reminiscent of its crypt with its interiors and lighting) in Paris.
This old mansion can only be reached by appointment, but if you are a real fan of vampire themes, then it's worth it. It contains everything related to vampires, their "life" and habits - books, films, photos, paintings, accessories, etc. (and even mummified cats).
2. Museum of Witchcraft (Boscastle, Cornwall, England)
Well, someone who, and the witches certainly deserve a museum! After all, they believed in them long before all kinds of “moth-people”, chupacabras and the like “bigfoot”.
And, by the way, they were also much more afraid of them, because it is still not clear whether there was, for example, a werewolf, and there is a witch in the city for sure - otherwise why does the neighboring child get sick, milk turns sour faster than usual, and the other day the hail broke whole grape harvest?
It is said that in the 19th century in England the largest number of witches lived in Cornwall (and it was here that all the witches of Britain gathered for the Sabbath). Moreover, they were “white” witches, and people from all around gathered for magic help.
That is why the museum of witches was opened in these same regions as far back as 1951, and since 1960 it has firmly settled in the village of Boscastle. According to the assurances of the keepers of the Museum of Witchcraft, today it has collected the world's largest collection of witchcraft artifacts.
1. Museum of ghosts and legends (Prague Ghosts and Legends Museum) (Prague, Czech Republic)
Prague is one of the most mystical cities in Europe: every cathedral, an old mansion (what’s there, almost any building older than 150-200 years!) Here not only has some strange or scary story, but quite often boasts and own ghost.
These are deceived girls, and pouring their ghostly tears for uncomplicated fate, and headless knights, and something to sin the monks, and even the Turks who traded in medieval Prague and committed some terrible misconduct.
It was these many ghosts (and legends about them) that the creators of the very "atmospheric" Prague Museum tried to bring together. It is located in the basement of the building, leading its history since the XIV century.
A lot of interactive elements (lights, sounds, strange shadows, etc.) create a truly mystical and creepy surroundings in the museum, and the stories that the guides tell you will make you nervously startle and feel the sensation of cold "goose bumps" running across your skin .