salem ma attractions, Massachusetts is best recognized for a series of occasions that happened nearly 325 years ago. In 1692, 20 harmless women and men were put to demise because they were believed to be witches. Whereas this non permanent outbreak of hysteria and witch hunting was tragic, it pales in comparison to the number of “witches” burned at the stake or tortured in Europe during the early Fashionable Interval, but it’s a stigma and a historical past that has hung over the city ever since. These witch trials, which had been portrayed in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, overshadow the town’s wealthy historical past as an essential seaport.
In the present day, more than one million people visit Salem every year, especially throughout the city’s month lengthy “Haunted Happenings” in October, with occasions like parades, street fairs, family film nights on the widespread, lantern tours, costume balls, haunted houses, live music and chilling theatrical performances.
I’m not so into the macabre, spooky, or haunted; nor am I drawn to the Halloween-themed shops or New Age and Wiccan boutiques scattered all through city; but I was intrigued by the history of the city and thought Salem would make a terrific day trip destination. Positioned just half-hour north of Boston, Salem is a simple day journey from Boston, Portland, ME, and even our house in Rhode Island.
We lucked out with an attractive, unseasonably warm Election Day this November, making an ideal day for exploring this seaside town. While among the town’s prime points of interest, just like the Salem Trolley and harbor boat tours were closed for the season, the assorted museums and historic maritime site have been open and in no way crowded.
Because our main draw, like most, was the witch trials, our first cease was on the Salem Witch Museum. While there are many museums in Salem devoted to the witch trials — the Witch House, the Witch Dungeon Museum, the Witch Trials Memorial, the Witch Historical past Museum — theSalem Witch Museum is heralded as Salem’s most visited museum. Not fairly a museum in the traditional sense, when you enter the museum you purchase a ticket for a “presentation” that begins at common intervals. I have to say, it wasn’t in any respect what I expected. My assumption was that there could be some form of movie or interactive presentation that told the historical past of witch trials with out sensationalizing or over dramatizing the devil worship / witchcraft facet, because it was later proven to be all a falsehood began by a group of women that were both bored or caught up in a mass hysteria.
Instead, once we entered the presentation we were seated in chairs set surrounding a witch’s circle in red on the floor in the center. The lights exit and the soundtrack comes on, lighting up a series of dioramas on the outskirts of the room. The presentation begins out by highlighting a statue of Satan with the creepy voice speaking about devil worship and witchcraft — dramatic and a bit a lot for youthful kids. It then goes on to talk briefly about how they assume the rumors of witchcraft began, the trials, the circumstances in the prisons, and how the accused have been tortured after which hung or pressed to death. It concluded with a dialogue about how the accuser later recounted and the victims had been declared innocent.
After the presentation, the group moved to a second area where we had been told in regards to the history of witches and the perceptions of witches by the ages, and reminded how “witch hunts” of assorted forms nonetheless take place today. The Salem Witch Museum is present in Washington Square and is open every day 10 am – 5 pm, with longer hours in the summer and through Haunted Happenings. Tickets are $9.50 for adults and $6.50 for kids ages 6 to 14. After chatting with my daughter after our go to, we each agreed that we wouldn’t advocate it for kids below 10, depending on their maturity and how easily they scare.
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