Doorless Shrine of Gogni in Gogni, Georgia

Deep in Georgia's mountains stands the Shrine of Gogni, dedicated to Saint George, where no door has lasted over a thousand years. According to legend, when villagers built the shrine in the seventh or eighth century, doors kept mysteriously falling to the ground. The locals call it 'Karugdebeli'—door-thrown-off. Even the Soviet Union failed to suppress it. When communist authorities tried sealing the shrine during the twentieth century, their barriers were repeatedly torn down, reportedly every Saint George's Day. After Georgia's independence, locals rebuilt it—doorless—and it now draws tens of thousands of pilgrims twice yearly. In two thousand ten, the community built a grand new church nearby. But the finest woodcarver in the province experienced bizarre problems: wood warping overnight, twice over, followed by a sudden neurological affliction that left him unable to work. He refused to continue. The new church was completed without doors. According to Atlas Obscura, pilgrims believe walking the shrine three times, especially on Saint George's Day in May or November, fulfills their wishes.

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