The legend of the White Lady
Ghost of Karosta Prison.
Legend has it that during the German Wehrmacht raid in 1944, a Latvian boy was captured and imprisoned in Karosta prison due to a misunderstanding. The boy was scheduled for a wedding two weeks later. The bride has learned that her beloved has been imprisoned, using various women's tricks, and has entered prison. When the girl arrived in cell 18, where the boy was sitting, the cell members announced that she had arrived too late - the boy had been sentenced to death and he had already been shot. The girl hung up in the cell with shame and great experience. Since then, the prison has been haunting - inexplicable sounds can be heard, electrical switches are broken for no reason, mobile phones are charging by themselves, the heavy prison cell doors are closed with a lot of noise…. Quite often, the White Lady also appears as a bright light in a completely dark corridor, or as an ice-cold touch on a hot summer day. This white lady has been met by almost everyone who has served a sentence here or has been on guard for the guards. Of course, during the Soviet era, such phenomena were denied.
After Latvia regained its independence until 1997, this building was still used by the restored Latvian Armed Forces. At that time, the Chief of the Guard was Captain Lieutenant Aivars Feldmanis, who had also seen the White Lady. He tells the story of a virgin with long, brown hair entwined in a thick braid that appears in a white dress. In order to prevent strange phenomena, the Chief of the Guard guarded the pastor of the Karosta Orthodox Cathedral. He came here with several liters of holy water and incense. Baķuška spent all day in prayer in prison, consecrating every cell, every room. Sacred signs were drawn on separate walls to scare away spirits. It helped for two months. Then the White Lady returned and still lives here today.
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Karosta Military Prison
The Karosta Prison in Liepāja is the only military prison in Europe open to tourists. Constructed around 1900 for the needs of a hospital, the building was never used for its original purpose. The structure was repurposed as a place for serving temporary disciplinary punishment and was used as such up until 1997.
Powers changed but the purpose of the institution remained the same, namely, to house prisoners, including revolutionaries, sailors and non-commissioned officers of the Russian tsarist army, German deserters, enemies of the people of the Stalin era, as well as soldiers of the Soviet and Latvian armies. The Karosta Prison is currently open to visitors and guided tours are available. The tours show the prison and visitors can learn about its history, have a look at the prison and punishment cells and hear interesting and even ghostly tales about life at the prison. Braver souls have the opportunity to play the ‘Behind the Bars’ reality game or try to get out of closed rooms. And those who know no fear can spend the night in a prison cell. The Karosta Prison has a Karosta Visitor Centre, a Soviet-era buffet and a souvenir shop. The services of a guide are available throughout the whole of Karosta.
