Ghost Map

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Apparitions

White ladies

The white lady is Europe's most popular ghost. Nearly every self-respecting castle has one: usually a daughter, wife or bride who was killed by a jealous husband, walled up alive or died of longing. She appears in corridors and galleries and sometimes foretells a death in the owners' family. Folklorists link these stories to old beliefs about guardian spirits of a family line, sceptics to tricks of light, draughts and the power of suggestion within old walls.

cases
12
years
1476–2026

Disputed: 3 Legend: 9

  1. 15th century

    1. 1476 White ladies · Legend Perchta of Rožmberk – the White Lady of Krumlov Český Krumlov Castle, Czechia An unhappily married daughter of the mighty Rožmberk family is said to have returned after death as the White Lady, guardian and herald of the family's fate.

  2. 16th century

    1. 1561–present White ladies · Legend The Green Lady of Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, Scotland, United Kingdom The ghost of a maid of Mary, Queen of Scots, who legend says saved the queen from a fire, is believed to warn of danger – especially fire.
    2. 1598 White ladies · Legend The White Lady of the Hohenzollerns Berlin Palace (Berliner Schloss), Berlin, Germany A figure in white that, according to court tradition, appeared in the Berlin Palace before the deaths of members of the Hohenzollern dynasty.

  3. 17th century

    1. c. 1700–present White ladies · Legend The White Lady of Charles Fort Charles Fort near Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland On her wedding night the commander’s daughter lost her husband, shot on sentry duty, and threw herself from the walls. She still walks the ramparts in her bridal gown.

  4. 18th century

    1. 1790–present White ladies · Legend The White Lady of Kórnik Kórnik Castle, Greater Poland, Poland Teofila Działyńska, a former mistress of Kórnik, is said to step out of her portrait in a white dress every night and walk through the castle.

  5. 19th century

    1. 1861–present White ladies · Legend Watson's Mill, Manotick – the Ghost of the Young Bride Watson's Mill, Manotick (Ottawa), Ontario, Canada Six weeks after her wedding, 20-year-old Ann Currier's crinoline caught in a spinning mill shaft. Her figure is said to look out from a second-floor window.
    2. 1897 White ladies · Disputed The Greenbrier Ghost – the Spirit Who Named Her Killer Greenbrier County, West Virginia, United States Zona Shue died suddenly in 1897. Her mother claimed her daughter’s ghost described the murder – after an exhumation, Zona’s husband went to prison.

  6. 1900–1909

    1. c. 1900–present White ladies · Legend The Grey Lady of the Halifax Citadel Halifax Citadel (Fort George), Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada The fiancée of a soldier who took his own life on the eve of their wedding is said to wander the Cavalier Building, leaving a scent of roses behind her.
    2. c. 1902–present White ladies · Legend The Blonde in the Bathroom – the Ghost of Brazil's School Toilets Conselheiro Rodrigues Alves School, Guaratinguetá, São Paulo state, Brazil Every Brazilian child knows the “blonde in the bathroom,” summoned in a mirror. The legend leads to a school in Guaratinguetá and a young woman who died in 1891.

  7. 1930–1939

    1. c. 1930–present White ladies · Legend La Planchada – the Ghost Nurse of the Hospital Juárez Hospital Juárez, Mexico City, Mexico At night a nurse in a perfectly ironed, old-fashioned uniform is said to visit patients' bedsides in a Mexico City hospital – and they recover.
    2. 1936 White ladies · Disputed The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall Raynham Hall, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom Two “Country Life” photographers captured a misty female figure on the staircase of Raynham Hall – one of the most famous ghost photographs ever taken.

  8. 1960–1969

    1. 1968–1971 White ladies · Disputed The Shining Figure over the Church at Zeitoun St. Mary's Church in the Zeitoun district, Cairo, Egypt For three years thousands of people saw a luminous woman over a Coptic church in Cairo – and scholars still argue about what the light was.