The Abbot’s Apparition

A Cistercian monastery founded beside the original castle in the late 12th century became a leading cultural centre over the centuries. After death its abbot Jeroným, Hieronymus Bösneker, appeared as a ghost. Once at midnight, knocking sounded at the gate; it opened, admitting the dead man in a coach drawn by four horses. The new pious abbot Kajetán met him and spoke Latin with him at length, then led him out. The ghost drove away down the lime avenue. Soon a storm arose and lightning struck one tree, turning it roots upward, crown into the ground. The ghost never appeared again.