These illuminating images show the crumbling remains of some of the worlds places of worship. The shots include golden chapels, overgrown synagogues and eerily silent rooms that were once used for prayer. They were visited by Matthias Haker, a 31-year-old photographer from Potsdam, Germany. Adding to the general intrigue of his images, Matthias never discloses the location of a shot – not even the town, country or continent. Here: The Church of All Saints. (Photo by Matthias Haker/Caters News)

Pilgrims rest on June 6, 2019 in Villamanrique, during a pilgrimage to the village of El Rocio. El Rocio pilgrimage, the largest in Spain, gathers hundreds of thousands of devotees in traditional outfits converging in a burst of colour as they make their way on horseback and on board decorated carriages across the Andalusian countryside. (Photo by Cristina Quicler/AFP Photo)

Photo: Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870 – 1924) lying in state in the Kremlin. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). 1924

Important! For the same article in Russian language click here.

Something quite intriguing is happening within Russian-speaking internet during the last few – should you type a fully academic inquiry (at least, according to Russian academic requirements) in national search engines for "Lenin's mausoleum" – the first thing you get (even in top 10 searches) is website pages talking about black magic and occult. Website authors view this construction differently, but unconditionally agree on one thing: the mausoleum of the "leader of the world proletariat” – the essence of a magical artifact, a sort of “energy vampire”. It was built with a certain purpose: to drain the energy out of miserable Soviet citizens on one hand; and to poison the anthroposphere of one-sixth part of the earth with its vibes (the exact territory that was occupied by the former Soviet Union), depriving the Russian people of will to resist on the other hand. Complete nonsense? No doubt. Nevertheless, an intriguing one. Well, probably because some oddities do exist in mausoleum's history. These oddities are the thing we are going to discuss this time. First, let me refresh you memory on the subject.

“Sokolica”. Sokolica, Poland. (Photo and caption by Marcin Kęsek/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture.

Hermes Cifuentes, who is also known as “Brother Hermes”, performs an exorcism on Marleny Munoz, 55, who claims to be possessed by spirits in La Cumbre, Valle July 7, 2012. Cifuentes says he has performed more than 35,000 exorcism rituals in the past 25 years. (Photo by Jaime Saldarriaga/Reuters)

J.T. Miller #9 of the Vancouver Canucks scores a goal on Alex Nedeljkovic #39 of the Pittsburgh Penguins during the second period of their NHL game at Rogers Arena on October 26, 2024 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Derek Cain/Getty Images)

“On the Li River near Xingping in China, Cormorant fishermen work the waterways before dawn amidst the spectacular limestone towers of the Karst landscape. The birds are trained to fetch fish from the inky depths but not swallow them. The fisherman accepts the fish from the birds who dive back for more. Here, still before dawn, the fisherman and his birds head for home”. (Photo and caption by Neville Jones/2014 Sony World Photography Awards)