The Decabal Hotel shot to international fame in December 2008 when remarkable photographs of a ghostly woman were published by Romanian newspapers.
The haunting
The hotel, situated in Bacau, has closed for a large renovations project. Local authorities have requested that people do not enter the building as the construction work may have made the building unsafe.
Local legend suggests that the 150-year old hotel may be hiding ancient Roman treasure. The Romans invaded Dacia in the second century, defeating King Decebal (after whom the hotel is named) but quickly lost the land to the Goths.
A number of people have claimed to have seen then the ghost – who seems to be watching the staircases around the Baile Herculane spa. Victoria Iovan, a local, has seen the ghost and described her to press as resembling “a priestess in long white clothes.”
The treasure
The Decebalus Treasure is a legend which dates back to the Second Dacian War. A medic serving the Roman Emperor Trajan wrote that the treasure horde might be as much as 5,000,000 lbs of gold and 10,000,000 lbs of silver.
The Sunday Herald reported that since 1990, over 20,000 Dacian gold coins dug up and sold on the Western coin black market. They’ve been valued at over 20 million euros. A further 7,845 ancient gold coins, 190 gold works of art and plates smuggled out of the country have been recovered.
In Pure Spirit
What do you think of the photo? Two photos merged together or a very good example of a ghost caught on camera?
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