Guided Tour Abandoned Cemetery and Psychiatric Hospital

A guided tour of the abandoned graveyard of fools in the Bohnice district of Prague is one of the most scary experiences on a trip to Prague. Ivy-covered graves that have not been maintained for decades, names that are no longer legible, except for one: Maria Tuma who died in 1912. Her grave is still cared for. The question is: ‘by whom?’

Join a guided tour

A visit to an overgrown cemetery and a mental institution in the Bohnice district probably won’t be at the top of your ‘what-to-do-in-Prague’ list. But if you want to see a completely different part of the city, visit to a haunted cemetery and walk through the grounds of the Psychiatric Hospital this tour is just what you’re looking for.

Guided tour of Bohnice Psychiatric Hospital and Cemetery

Your guide will show you around the extensive grounds of the psychiatric hospital, which include the main building, which resembles a small castle, the Art Nouveau-style Wenceslas Church and a working farm for ergotherapy. During this walk, your guide will tell you about the darker sides of psychiatry and the now outdated treatments that patients were undergoing at the time.
He explains in detail the Rosenhan experiment: healthy people pretended to have psychological problems to experiment showed that the treatment of psychiatric patients in the 1970s was completely inadequate.

The Abandoned Cemetery

You walk to the cemetery along a narrow road with sweeping views. Not only psychiatric patients were buried here, also staff working in the hospital and locals living in the vicinity. The cemetery is said to have supernatural powers. Visitors experienced unexplained changes in temperature and high levels of electromagnetic energy. Strange lights and unusual noises were said to be seen when visiting the cemetery at night. Allegedly, it was a place for satanic rituals. As a result, the cemetery has been called the scariest in Europe. It is up to you to believe this or nots. Only a visit to the cemetery will provide the answer.

Highlights of the tour

* Introduction to the history of psychiatry in Europe from medieval to modern times
* Learn about different methods used to cure mental illness
* Explanation of the Rosenhan experiment
* Discover more about life at the Bohnice Psychiatric Hospital and learn about past and current infamous patients
* A walk around the abandoned cemetery
* The tour guide speaks English

Meeting point and directions

Meeting point: Main entrance Psychiatric Hospital in Bohnice, Ústavní 91

Directions to the meeting point
By metro to Kobylisy station, change to bus 177 towards poliklinika Mazurska, get off at Zhořelecká stop. Cross the street and walk into Pred Ustavim until Ustavni street where the main entrance is.

photos: Marianne Crone