Have you ever had a close up and personal visit with dinosaur poop? (Surprise: some of it will look very familiar!) If you're driving through Williams, Arizona along Highway 40, possibly on your way to the Grand Canyon, here's your chance. The Poozeum (get it?) is weird and scien … | Continue reading
According to historical accounts, Babingley is believed to be the very place where St. Felix, who became Apostle to East Anglia, landed in the year 615. The Wuffingas, who were the East Anglian royal family, had invited Felix to evangelize to their kingdom. Aiming, naturally, for … | Continue reading
In Ciechocinek, Poland, there is a monumental structure that exerts a strange power. It continues to draw visitors to its healing power in the two centuries since its construction in 1824. This salt graduation tower pulls saltwater from the ground underneath to feed it to the spa … | Continue reading
While most visitors head to Wat Chayamangkalaram to pay respects to the reclining Buddha, located near George Town’s historic downtown, fewer visitors head opposite to the temple hiding in plain sight. The Dhammikarama Burmese Buddhist temple is one of the few Burmese temples out … | Continue reading
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, or Elagabalus, is one of the most infamous Roman emperors in history. Reigning from 218 to 222, he has been variously described as a teenage tyrant, a mad libertine, and even a genderqueer icon. Born in Syria, his posthumous nickname Elagabalus (alterna … | Continue reading
Szolnok houses all of the Hungarian Air Force's helicopters, as well as the country's only museum of military aviation. The RepTár's open-air collection of decommissioned aircraft boasts an impressive 51 restored aircraft as well as various aircraft engines and other miscellaneou … | Continue reading
Driving along the long and winding N330 road between Teruel and Requina (often listed as one of the best motorcycle routes in the country) one comes across scenic areas close to the River Turia that would not look out of place in Zion or Bryce Canyon National Parks or, perhaps Se … | Continue reading
The National Route 66 Museum is a fascinating stop along historic Route 66. Inside the museum, you'll find stories of the people who lived, worked, and traveled the “Mother Road.” Visitors can walk through scenes with pieces from all the states the highway crossed through, highli … | Continue reading
A two-hour train ride from Kagoshima, the Nishi-Ōyama train station is surrounded by agricultural fields and a large volcano, Kaimondake, to the west. The station itself is little more than a slab of concrete with a roof and an obelisk proclaiming it as the southernmost Japan Rai … | Continue reading
Situated near the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant in Lithuania is the town of Visaginas, built by Soviet planners to house the plant's workers. This power plant is the same variety as the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, making Visaginas the analog to the Ukrainian city of Pripyat. To … | Continue reading
The morning was already hot and humid as the divers jumped off the boat and descended into blue-green waters off the Florida Keys. With them, they carried dozens of living coral polyps, each tiny animal about to find a permanent home on the reef. About 25 feet down, they reached … | Continue reading
In the heart of Richmond, Virginia's Shockoe Slip lies a must-see for every ferroequinologist (train enthusiast). Across the once bustling canal stands the nation's only triple crossing of Class I railways, currently owned and operated by CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern. … | Continue reading
Green Island, Taiwan's cliffs of igneous rock have been sculpted by millenia of wind and waves into all manner of memorable figures. These range from a slumbering woman, named "Sleeping Beauty" after the fairy tale character, to a Pekinese dog, to a Chinese general, but the most … | Continue reading
Welcome to the Clown Museum in Leipzig, where the serious business of clowning around takes center stage. Here you’ll find everything from red noses to oversized shoes, all meticulously curated to tickle your funny bone. Marvel at the history of slapstick and the evolution of cus … | Continue reading
Tucked into a room of the Angier Public Library, the gourd museum is the work of a man who truly loved gourds and understood their versatility and potential. Marvin Johnson grew and collected gourds for many years, finally opening a museum where the public could appreciate them. … | Continue reading
Located just outside of Halifax, Shibden Hall is a half-timbered building that stands in the middle of Shibden Park. The building was constructed in 1420 and has been modified and renovated numerous times over the centuries. The mansion’s rooms are decorated and furnished in the … | Continue reading
Originally located along U.S. Route 1, the bird began life in the 1950s as an orange juice advertisement and road side attraction. It was purchased and moved in the 1950s by local motel owners who painted the bird blue, giving it the iconic look that it maintains today. For many … | Continue reading
Getting into a canoe is unnerving. Failure means capsizing, plus looking foolish in front of that cute camp counselor. But as you wobble aboard, know you’re not alone. Even the experts dump their boats from time to time. “I’ve flipped over completely in six inches of water trying … | Continue reading
The former Aguas de Busot Spa was built in the 19th century near Aigües, Alicante, Spain. The spa was originally called the Hotel Miramar Winter Station by owner, designer, and Spanish aristocrat Senor Conde de Casa Rojas. The complex was located directly opposite the thermal spr … | Continue reading
Tucked between the historic buildings and gardens of Oatlands National Historic Landmark is a relic from the Industrial Revolution. It’s not a house or a pathway, or anything man-made. Instead, watching stoically over the park is a 200-year-old ginkgo tree. The tree, which has ga … | Continue reading
The guardian lion-dog shisa is a traditional Okinawan decoration that can be found all across the island. These statues are often placed on rooftops or gateposts to ward off evil spirits from households. The legendary creature is a variant of shishi, the Chinese guardian lion, wh … | Continue reading
A nature book like no other—a dazzling, over-the-top collection of the world's most extraordinary wild species that takes you to all seven continents and beyond. It's more than a field guide—it's an adventure. Featuring over 500 extraordinary plants, animals, and natural phenomen … | Continue reading
Founded in 1652, during the reign of Frederick III, Denmark's oldest bakery is still beloved by locals in Copenhagen to this day. The shop has every every sort of bread and pastry one could want, from wienerbrød (known internationally as a Danish) to cream-filled fastelavnsboller … | Continue reading
Each week, Atlas Obscura is providing a new short excerpt from our upcoming book, Wild Life: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Living Wonders (September 17, 2024). Everyone knows about the ocean’s flashier builders—the corals that sculpt reefs, the mollusks that spin up perfect … | Continue reading
The historic coastal town of Lewes, Delaware does not look like the center of any sort of industry, on first blush. But for more than 70 years, from the end of the 19th century all the way through the 1950s, Lewes was one of the country’s most prominent commercial fishing ports, … | Continue reading
Kangiten is a strange deity. The Japanese Buddhist equivalent of Hindu god Ganesha, he also takes the form of an elephant-headed deity, but in twofold, in an act of embrace. Traditionally, the deity is feared and respected as a remover of obstacles and bringer of success. His eff … | Continue reading
Saint Clement's Caves is a four-and-a-half-acre network of ancient tunnels and caverns beneath Hastings' West Hill in its Old Town. The earliest written reference to the caves, from 1783, tells of an elderly man and woman who lived there after being evicted from Hastings' workhou … | Continue reading
It was a muggy summer evening more than a decade ago in Apopka, Florida. Spanish moss hung like tattered capes on the gnarled oaks that loomed over cabins where, as day turned to night, tired campers made their way to their bunks. After a long day of archery, arts-and-crafts, and … | Continue reading
Area 51 might be barricaded by barbed wire and military guards, but this open-air exhibit welcomes all intrepid travelers. Signs that say Abducción Gratis ("Abduction Free") and the looming figure of a crashed UFO greet visitors, encouraging guests to meet ET's distant relatives. … | Continue reading
This narrow glacial lake in far northwestern China is beautiful, but the journey you must take to get there is remarkable in and of itself. Although you can now fly, a train makes a more special journey as you skirt the Gurbantünggüt Desert with free-roaming camels and barren san … | Continue reading
This 18th-century mill is home to one of the four remaining silk ribbon-weavers in the United Kingdom. These skilled craftspeople are officially an endangered species. Whitchurch ribbons are not your run-of-the-mill ribbons. Woven on looms dating back to the 1800s, they can be pr … | Continue reading
The Jawor Peace Church may be smaller than its more famous sister church in Świdnica, but its interior is no less stunning, and its location further off the beaten track means that a visit here often feels more intimate. Prior to the two World Wars, the Thirty Years' War between … | Continue reading
The Imperial Canal of Aragon is a civil engineering achievement of the highest order. Built in the 18th century, it aimed to provide irrigation water for lands to the southeast and above the level of the River Ebro, as well as a means of navigation linking Aragon to the sea. But … | Continue reading
Observatories often have an otherworldly feel, not just because of the telescopes housed inside, but due to the sometimes-unusual style in which they are built. Cointe Observatory is no exception, with its iconic red bricks and retractable roof that may have inspired Futurama's P … | Continue reading
If you’re going to write the history of a place, you’ll need a lot of paper. And for a time, there was no finer paper to be had than from the Curtis Paper Mill in Newark, Delaware. Today, a neighborhood park attracts birds and the occasional visitor to what was once the site of t … | Continue reading
Happening upon a foraging deer or dam-building beaver can turn an ordinary walk in the woods into your own personal safari. But you don’t have to wait for a chance encounter to get up close and personal with wildlife. Finding clues left behind by animals was an essential skill fo … | Continue reading
In the summer of 1861, weeks after Confederate troops fired the first shots of the Civil War, educator and abolitionist Frederick Gunn assembled his own troops—about 30 boys and a dozen girls who were students at his Washington, Connecticut, boarding school. Gunn, an early propon … | Continue reading
Most of what is now Split's historic center was once the palace of Roman emperor Diocletian, surrounded by thick stone walls. What is now the Church of St. Martin was then a passageway for the walls' guards. His rule lasted from 284 to 305, and was partly known for the Diocleniat … | Continue reading
Founded in 1903 as an electronics store in Tokyo's Asakusa neighborhood, Denkiya Hall transformed itself into a café after its skilled workers went away to fight in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). Back then, electricity (or, in Japanese, denki) was considered a trendy thing. … | Continue reading
A fabulous respite for nature lovers and an excellent spot for birders, the Garden of the Phoenix, originally a gift from Chicago's sister city of Osaka, Japan, to coincide with the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, which was centered around Jackson Park and what is now the M … | Continue reading
Soul City is not a city, but it aspired to be. Planned as part of a federal program supporting the development of "new towns," master planned communities, Soul City was intended as a rural alternative to inner cities where Black Americans could realize economic and political self … | Continue reading
A striking larger-than-life statue of Toussaint Louverture (1743–1803) presents the Haitian leader of his nation's independence movement as a thoughtful political leader rather than as a military hero. The bronze statue by Senegalese sculptor Ousmane Sow (1936–2016) is likely one … | Continue reading
Nestled deep within the lush, tropical rainforest of Grenada lies a hidden gem shrouded in mystery and enchantment—Grand Etang Lake. This serene, azure body of water, perched 1,700 feet above sea level, is a crater lake formed in the dormant heart of an ancient volcano. Its volca … | Continue reading
Harriet Tubman, the “Moses of her people,” usually conducted her work on the Underground Railroad by night, using the North Star as a guide. However, in October 1856, she took on what was possibly her most daring escape—a rescue of an enslaved woman named Tilly, undertaken in bro … | Continue reading
On the Croatian island of Hvar, beyond its modern culture of star-studded clubs and super yachts, lies the village of Malo Grablje, less than one square mile in area. Beginning in the 14th century, generations of residents produced olive oil, wine, and lavender oil in the hills o … | Continue reading
In the heart of labyrinthine streets and back alleys in Alexandria's El-Mansheya area, about as hidden as can be, an antique coffeehouse captures the city's classical charm. Established in 1882, the Ali El-Hendy Coffeehouse is both a lesser-known but locally beloved gem, and a st … | Continue reading
The shoreline of much of the island of Malta is rather rocky, so it could be difficult or even dangerous to go swimming in many places. However, the shore of the urban area of Sliema (which is located just northwest of the nation’s capital, Valletta) features a series of pools cu … | Continue reading
In 1646, St. Mary’s Church, in the town of Battle, spent "2 shillings and 6 pence"—an average day’s wage for a skilled tradesman—on Guy Fawkes Night, marking the earliest record of such celebrations in Battle. Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Bonfire Night, is a traditional Britis … | Continue reading