It is midnight. The moon is dim, and hundreds of diminutive people—bearded, flat faced, and pale, with large blue eyes—are hard at work atop Fort Mountain in northern Georgia. They’re building a zigzagging wall of rocks from east to west. The wall is only a few feet tall, but the … | Continue reading
This article is adapted from the October 19, 2024, edition of Gastro Obscura’s Favorite Things newsletter. You can sign up here. As we enter what feels like the 800th year of this American election season, I can’t help but find myself thinking back to the guys who started it all. … | Continue reading
The mountains of British Columbia tend to be extremely steep because they've been oversteepened by deep and extensive glacial downcutting. The result is that slopes are extremely unstable; gravity will have its way eventually. That's what happened in Sunshine Valley around 7 a.m. … | Continue reading
This unassuming pub is a building that one might walk past without a second glance at the treasures that lie within. But as soon as you walk in, you'll notice a quirkiness as you gaze at the bar, littered with motorcycle paraphernalia. On closer inspection, one will note a few mo … | Continue reading
The Paseo del Sistema Solar (Solar System Walk) is a three-dimensional model of the solar system that was inaugurated on September 10, 2010. This project was conceived by scientist Julián Gómez-Cambronero Pacheco. It offers an opportunity to understand the vastness of our univers … | Continue reading
Charles M. Schulz, creator of the comic strip Peanuts, was born in Minneapolis and spent his childhood in Saint Paul.At its height, Peanuts was published daily in 2,600 papers throughout 75 countries, and translated into more than 20 languages. Over the almost 50 years that Peanu … | Continue reading
This story was originally published on The Conversation. It appears here under a Creative Commons license. I teach a course on New England witchcraft trials, and students always arrive with varying degrees of knowledge of what happened in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. Nineteen p … | Continue reading
Počitelj is a charming historic fortified village located in the south of Bosnia and Herzegovina, along the Neretva River. The village has medieval Ottoman architecture built on a hillside, with stone houses, narrow streets, and fortress in the top of the hill that gives you an a … | Continue reading
Founded in 1337, Ryūkō-ji Temple is located atop a hill overlooking Enoshima Island. The name, also read as Tatsu-no-kuchi, means "dragon-mouth" in Japanese, referring to the local legend of a dragon whose body formed the terrain. In the Middle Ages, from the Kamakura period (118 … | Continue reading
Cascata Diamantina is one of the most beautiful waterfalls of Tijuca National Park. Accessed by an easy-difficulty hike, this waterfall is hidden on the middle of the woods, with clear and cold waters. The rocks around it form a kind of natural sanctuary illuminated by the sun, w … | Continue reading
A mile-long walk through a restored prairie takes one to a woods of large bur oak and shagbark hickory to the site of a large glacial erratic deposited by the Wisconsin glaciation period over 10,000 years ago. Local legend states that those who place an ice cube in the heel of Bi … | Continue reading
Massive granite formations standing hundreds of feet tall, some as ancient as 2.5 billion years old—Idaho's City of Rocks has some of the most dramatic landscapes you’ll find on a U.S. natural reserve. Native American tribes, such as the Shoshone and Bannock, have long considered … | Continue reading
In Idaho’s Cache National Forest, near the Utah border, lies one of the most geologically fascinating caves in the United States. Minnetonka Cave, the largest limestone cave in Idaho, is renowned for its unique rock formations and a maze-like structure created by ancient undergro … | Continue reading
Known as the Gem State, Idaho boasts over 240 minerals that have been identified within its borders. The most significant one, though, is its state gem, the star garnet. Star garnets get their name from the four- or six-pointed star that appears to hover upon the surface when the … | Continue reading
In 1928, Elmer Cook, a rancher from Hagerman, Idaho, stumbled upon fossils eroding from the rock along the Snake River. He reported his remarkable discovery to the U.S. Geological Survey, which contacted the Smithsonian Institution. The result was a remarkable series of fossil ex … | Continue reading
Brown bears are thought to have gone extinct from most of Britain around the year 500 (with some populations potentially surviving a few centuries more in Scotland), while the Roman occupation of the southern half of the island lasted approximately from 100 B.C. to 450 A.D. This … | Continue reading
This Croatian bridge may be one of the most politically controversial bridges ever built. Its existence owes much to both the way in which Yugoslavia was subdivided and the necessity for Croatia to comply with the requirements of the Schengen Convention. Pelješac Bridge provides … | Continue reading
Along Main Street in Oxford, Massachusetts, near the historic district is a small historical marker nestled among the bushes and leaves. It describes a Huguenot settlement on the top of Mayo’s Hill, which can be reached by the aptly named Huguenot Road directly next to it. The se … | Continue reading
What may at first appear to be a mess of scattered rocks is in fact a medieval necropolis. Nestled on the grassy steppes below the Drumitor mountains, many of the stecci (tombstones) have weathered this windy and rugged eniroment well over the past few centuries. One of the stone … | Continue reading
Walking toward the SS United States, I was taken aback by how unimaginably large and grand the liner was. It was something you really couldn’t fully appreciate from far away. The rusty red, white, and black prow towered above me like the blade of a giant knife, and the funnels al … | Continue reading
Selling antiques is a difficult business, primarily because you never know what will sell when. This means that those who dabble in the practice often have large collections which they have to store. This particular collector however found a way to merge living and storage. Het s … | Continue reading
If you're looking for a spot to eat and drink while you're out and about in Salisbury, the Haunch of Venison has quite the storied past. Bursting with antique charm and quirks, the building dates back to the 15th century, with records of an inn at that location going all the way … | Continue reading
Portland’s creative scene has always been characterized by resilience and grit: a scrappiness and openness to push boundaries, whether it comes to visual art, food, or design. This artist couple is no exception and their unique works prove that there is so much more to Maine than … | Continue reading
A tiny structure on the leaf of a cannabis plant appears as a fairy-tale tree adorned with purple bubbles for leaves. A green crab spider, which could comfortably sit on a kernel of corn, seems to train four of its eight eyes directly on you. Brain tumor cells, colored in vivid g … | Continue reading
From viaducts to bridges, high structures around the globe are being repurposed into elevated parks. It may have started with the Promenade Plantée in Paris, and be best exemplified by the High Line in New York City, but the trend has expanded across the world, including the Chao … | Continue reading
The seaside city of Durrës, Albania, abounds with Old-World charm. While many visitors focus on its more ancient sites, many overlook a particularly quirky attraction hiding in plain site. Locals are particularly proud of the city's historic doors, about a 150 of which have been … | Continue reading
Brian Bethel met the black-eyed children while paying his cable bill. In 1996 in Abilene, Texas, after finishing a late shift at the local newspaper, he was sitting in his car outside a strip mall, writing a check. Suddenly, the hair on the back of his neck stood up. He noticed a … | Continue reading
Food artist Nikk Alcaraz knows a thing or two about show-stopping, spooky pastries. In his upcoming cookbook, Peculiar Baking: A Practical Guide to Strange Confections, he lays out in great detail how to make gorgeous and gruesome desserts. These range from cakes bristling with f … | Continue reading
This article is adapted from the October 12, 2024, edition of Gastro Obscura’s Favorite Things newsletter. You can sign up here. In Guy Mannering, an 1815 Scottish novel by Sir Walter Scott, a mysterious fortune-teller named Meg Merrilies sings a charm of protection over the titl … | Continue reading
This article is from Hakai Magazine, an online publication about science and society in coastal ecosystems. Read more stories like this at hakaimagazine.com. In 1667, an apocalyptic earthquake almost destroyed Dubrovnik, one of the most beautiful medieval cities in the Mediterran … | Continue reading
Charles Addams studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania in the 1930s. In 2001, the building at 200 S. 36th Street was dedicated to him and now houses the University's Fine Arts Department. Outside the building, there are silhouettes of all eight Addams Family member … | Continue reading
Model ship making is an art almost as old as that of making regular-sized ships, as these models were often used to convince admirals and other investors into building the real deal. While most of the large ships have sunk now, many of the models can still be found across the wor … | Continue reading
Located in the heart of Nessebar’s old town, the Hagia Sophia Church predates Istanbul’s famous Grand Mosque of the same name by almost a century. Also known as the Old Bishopric, the church is one of the oldest and most important Christian sites in the Balkans, showcasing the re … | Continue reading
During the silver boom of the late 1800s and early 1900s, the town of Silver Islet sprung up on the shores of Lake Superior in Canada. The town is still there, though now with only a handful of permanent residents. Tucked along a wooded trail, visitors will find the Silver Islet … | Continue reading
Listen and subscribe on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast apps. In this episode of The Atlas Obscura Podcast, we take listeners inside a hotel that some paranormal investigators call the most active haunted location in the world: The Stanley Hotel in Estes … | Continue reading
Located just outside the medieval coastal city of Piran, Slovenia, along the country’s Adriatic coastline, is the Sečovlje Saltpans Natural Park. The park is one of the last saltpans in the Mediterranean, where salt is harvested by hand using a method going back centuries. People … | Continue reading
Outside the ancient Thracian city of Nessebar, Bulgaria, is a picturesque pink lake: Lake Atanasovsko. Just a stone’s throw from the Black Sea, the lake is one of the few places in the world where visitors can enjoy a dip in a pink lake. Lake Atanasovsko covers about 28 square mi … | Continue reading
It isn’t uncommon to stumble upon a subterranean shrine in Laos’s “Cave Alley.” Since the 16th century, these natural pits in the mountains of Khammouane province have served as places of worship, often bedecked with prayer flags, floral garlands, and gold-plated Buddha statues w … | Continue reading
The Lehmja oak forest, or Lehmja tammik in Estonian, is a historic oak grove located near the town of Jüri, about 12 kilometers from Tallinn. Covering 12 hectares, it is the largest and one of the rarest old-growth oak forests near the capital, providing easy access to nature for … | Continue reading
Some 700 miles east of Madagascar, situated on a submarine plateau in the Indian Ocean, sits the island nation of Mauritius, which was formed by volcanic activity some 8 million years ago. The island is the second largest of the Mascarene Islands and is home to some of the world’ … | Continue reading
When English teacher Steve Springer retired from the Clark County School District, he still longed to do something with children. After road works in 2005 tore up part of the front yard outside his home in Henderson, Nevada, he had the idea to use his yard for some type of educat … | Continue reading
Along the many arteries of the Silk Road, it is common to find rock engravings left behind by locals and travelers alike. The distinctive styles, themes and scripts point at civilisations from modern day Tibet, China, India, Iran, and Afghanistan, attesting to the vital role that … | Continue reading
In 1873, the second lighthouse on Lake Superior went up: Porphyry Lighthouse on Porphyry island, erected at the eastern point of Black Bay Peninsula in Lake Superior. Originally, it was just a square-shaped wooden structure that had a white light on top shining out into the water … | Continue reading
Lady Anne Clifford was one of the more notable people in the history of what is now Cumbria. The noblewoman was born in 1590 to George Clifford, the third Earl of Cumberland, and his wife Margaret. The Clifford family was quite wealthy and possessed five castles in Westmoreland a … | Continue reading
Housed inside the 19th-century home of a wealthy Greek merchant, Nessebar's Ethnographic Museum is dedicated to telling the stories of everyday people who have called this historic, seaside town home. Specifically focusing on the Bulgarian National Revival period during the 18th … | Continue reading
Located on the island of Björkö, Birka was an important Viking trading center that was settled from about 750-975. Because of its long history, it is commonly called Sweden's first town. While wandering the remaining earthwork ruins and exploring a modern recreation of what it wo … | Continue reading
Perk up your ears and listen closely, for the soundtrack of Halloween is creeping up on us: the rustling of candy wrappers, the cracking of chocolate bars, the crunch of hard candies being crushed between eager teeth. This means that it’s time to stock up on not just your neighbo … | Continue reading
Balanced upon a block in the center of Manchester Northern Quarter is a 10-foot-tall broom and dustpan. Rather than simply a random addition to the area’s unique, and sometimes quirky, character, these oversized implements are emblematic of the city’s pride and promise. Much like … | Continue reading