A 14th-century church that has been abandoned for 50 years is now filled with 'ghosts.' Look inside.

St. George's church in Lukova in the Czech Republic has been abandoned for over 50 years. Now it's populated by tourists ... and ghosts.

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Oct 30, 2024 - 09:00
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A 14th-century church that has been abandoned for 50 years is now filled with 'ghosts.' Look inside.
st georges church prague
The ghosts of St. George are eerie.

Matej Divizna/Getty Images

  • In the tiny Czech town of Lukova, there is a church that has stood for hundreds of years.
  • It was abandoned in 1968, when the roof fell through during a funeral.
  • People avoided the church because it was haunted, so it now houses dozens of life-size "ghosts."

In the town of Luková in the Czech Republic sits St. George's Church, but it's not your typical place of worship.

In 2012, an artist installed dozens of statues of ghostlike figures that still haunt the place to this day.

Jakub Hadrava placed his statues there as part of his senior thesis and, in the process, he helped revitalize the once-abandoned church and nearby area. Tourists came from across the world and donated money to help restore the church's crumbling roof — according to its caretaker, by 2018, donations totaled $26,000 — and it has undergone other improvements, such as getting new clock faces on its tower.

The church is still open to visitors on Saturdays from March to October. If you can't make your way to the Czech Republic, here's what it looks like inside St. George.

St. George's church, which was built in the 14th century, sits atop a hill in the Czech village of Luková.
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The exterior of St. George's.

Petr David Josek/AP

Luková is a small town 2 1/2 hours outside Prague. In 2021, it had a population of 735, according to the census. St. George's was consecrated in 1352, according to Atlas Obscura.

The church was abandoned in 1968 after the roof collapsed during a funeral.
st georges church czech republic
Inside St. George's, a ghost beckons you in.

Petr David Josek/AP

This contributed to locals believing the building was haunted or even cursed. The congregation began holding mass outside.

It was left to rot until the community decided to try to save it. However, no one could come up with the money.
St. George's church lukova
Outside of St. George's.

Matej Divizna/Getty Images

The town of under 800 people did not have the resources to refurbish a historic church. But in 2012, a local artist had an idea.

Playing off its haunted history, local artist Jakub Hadrava created 30 life-size "ghosts" to live inside the church.
st georges church prague
One of his "ghosts."

Matej Divizna/Getty Images

Hadrava used his fellow classmates as models, covering them in sheets and creating plaster casts for the eerie effect.

The eerie white figures sit solemnly in the pews.
Czech Republic Ghost Church
"My Mind."

Petr David Josek/AP

At first glance, they could be congregants in shawls.

 

Other figures congregate near the altar and stand at the doorways.
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Ghost statues by artist Jakub Hadrava at the St. George's church.

Matej Divizna/Getty Images

Some stand by doorways, as if to beckon visitors inside.

The statues represent the Sudeten Germans, or German Bohemians, an ethnic group that used to live in the area.
St. George's church
Ghost statues by artist Jakub Hadrava are placed at the St. George's church.

Matej Divizna/Getty Images

The Sudeten Germans were ethnic Germans expelled from the Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia) after World War II. There were believed to be as many as 3 million Sudeten Germans in the Czech Republic, and once expelled, they moved to Germany and Austria.

Visitors from across the world have come to see the ghosts of St. George's church.
st georges church czech republic
French tourists visit the church of St. George.

Petr David Josek/AP

The church's popularity soared in 2013 when a stylized video was uploaded to YouTube. It has over 287,000 views.

Tourists have donated thousands of dollars to help repair the church's roof.
czech republic st georges church
French tourists visit the church of St. George in the village of Lukova, Czech Republic.

Petr David Josek/AP

The church's caretaker, Petr Koukl, told Lonely Planet in September 2018 that tourists had raised more than 600,000 koruna, or almost $26,000, for renovations.

While most visitors are excited to see the ghosts, "we had two or three visitors that refused to enter," said caretaker Petr Koukl.
St. George's church
Ghost statues in St. George's church.

Matej Divizna/Getty Images

We can see why.

"They peeked through the door, but didn't enter because they didn't feel well about it," he said.
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Ghost statues by artist Jakub Hadrava in the St. George's church.

Matej Divizna/Getty Images

Messing around with ghostly statues inside an abandoned church does sound like the beginning of a horror movie.

Think you're brave enough to meet the ghosts of St. George's?
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Ghost statues.

Matej Divizna/Getty Images

The church is open to visitors on Saturdays from March to October, according to its website. If you visit on an off day, you'll have to settle for peeking in through the windows.

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