Edinburgh Vaults
Yop guys!
Today we leave England to go to Scotland, in Edinburgh exactly. The capital is
famous for its castle and picturesque old town but not only. While walking in
the old city, you can notice that there are numerous horror tours which permit
you to discover a new facet of Edinburgh. They propose you to wandering in an
old graveyard, torture exhibition or the well-known vaults. This is a place
that I’ve visited (and I almost cried haha).
This is
where we’re going today, but first what are exactly these vaults? It began with
the construction of the South Bridge in 1785. At this time, the Edinburgh
Castle was an impenetrable fortress so townspeople wanted to live as close as
possible to it. The bridge were built to connect flat areas to the castle:
South Bridge consisted of 19 arches and at its highest point, it stood 31 feet
above ground and had foundations that penetrated Edinburgh's bedrock as far
down as 22 feet.
In 19th
century, the vaults begin the place for poverty: during famines and plague
epidemic, homeless and contaminated lived in the vaults and serial killer let
their victims dying in the darkness of the place. Murder, rape and death were rampant as disease and crime took hold of the area.
At the end
of the century, vaults were closed to drive the seedy activity out from the
Edinburgh’s main thoroughfare and was let into obscurity.
In the 1990’s
students who let a flat in the old town heard scratching at the wall and
decided to destroy it (they were drunk…). Behind the wall, the vaults surfaced
again. Since then, the vaults have been opened to public and ghosts reports
have poured in. The most famous ghost is Mr. Boots: some said seeing a man wearing
a long black coats and boots and guides of vaults tour report hearing his
footstep.
Some ghosts are bolder, like the spectral child "Jack" who grabs visitor's hands in the wine vaults.
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How to get there: One of the most horrifying vaults tour is the Auldreekie Terror Tour, more informations HERE. This tour is only for over 18s only and will make you cry; the visit is done by night and the guides are so interesting and creepy! Well, it's worth checking out!