If you've been following our stories on the discovery of ancient “vampire burials” throughout Europe, you're witnessing the beginnings of a very popular tourist trend. Medieval graves in Poland and Italy have revealed how those countries' cultures and superstitions dealt with people thought to be vampires, and the different methods they used to prevent them from rising again to prey on their neighbors.
Photo: Dariknews.BG
According to Bulgaria's Sofia News Agency, one such site was found on the grounds of a 700-year-old monastery in Sozopol, in which two skeletons bear the marks of vampire prevention: each is staked through the heart with an iron bar.
Photo: AFP/Getty Images
While thois particular discovery happened in 2012, dozens of similar finds have been recorded throughout Bulgaria in recent years, and the cultural impact is now being felt around the world: CNN reports that tourists from multiple countries (including the US) are obsessed with viewing the strange corpses – and others like them – as the main attraction on “vampire vacations.”
Oddly enough, Bulgaria saw a 20% surge in tourism last year, sending it to the top of the list in the European Union for hotel occupancy. Coincidence? I'm thinking nope.