In 1955, the Prudential Company completed their newest offices, a sprawling 22-story building that was both the largest insurance office in the Southeastern United States and the first sky scrapper built in Jacksonville since the end of World War II. It was to serve as South-Cent … | Continue reading
Enter Pa Mai, a rustic eatery in landlocked Phuket Town, and before anything else, you’ll be presented with a stainless steel plate of thin, round, gleaming white rice noodles known as khanom jiin. Cheap, infinitely customizable and, perhaps most importantly for southern Thais, s … | Continue reading
Some of the older sports stadiums around the world feature either unusual in-built features or eccentric neighborhoods that have developed around them over a century or more. In London, one of the oldest sporting locations is the Oval Cricket Ground, often called the Oval and cur … | Continue reading
The eastern Oregon high desert, with its clear air and low population density, has night skies as dark as anywhere in the conterminous 48 states. It's hardly surprising, then, that the University of Oregon has located a research observatory there, on 6,349-foot (1,935-meter) Pine … | Continue reading
Japanese folklore and popular culture are fond of ghost stories, often focusing on their tragic, melodramatic aspects. There is even a "big three" of Japanese ghost stories, which always includes Yotsuya Kaidan and Banchō Sarayashiki, while the third place usually goes to either … | Continue reading
This story was originally published on SAPIENS and appears here with permission under a CC BY-ND 4.0 license. As recently as a few decades ago in the Western world, stars dazzled humans with their brightness and the Milky Way could be seen spanning the far reaches of the heavens … | Continue reading
The River Fleet, which ran from Hamstead in north central London into the River Thames near where Blackfriars Bridge now stands, was considered for centuries to be a disgusting waterway filled with sewage and garbage, including a substantial amount of waste from the butchers base … | Continue reading
Tucked away in the charming town of Rabenau, the Deutsches Stuhlbaumuseum (German Chair Making Museum) is a hidden gem that celebrates the age-old craft of making chairs. Imagine stepping into a world where chairs aren’t just furniture, but works of art that tell a story. Rabenau … | Continue reading
The lime kilns were built in the middle of the 19th century when there was a large lime extraction in the area. As early as 1701, it is stated on a map of Östra Torp's parish that Count Beck-Friis was allowed to "take lime on the properties no. 1". This is the oldest known record … | Continue reading
Tuinplaas - Tiny Town in Albertinia, South Africa, is a bizarre conglomerate of children's attractions, a museum, political satire and a restaurant. Located just off the N2, this roadside attraction is home to a replica of a town made entirely of ceramics and many other oddities. … | Continue reading
The village of De Lutte in Overijssel, Netherlands, is home to the legend of the Kardoes, or the Hellehond ("hellhound"). Often haunting cemeteries, this infernal beast with pointy ears and glowing eyes is believed to be an omen of death, much like the black dog of British folklo … | Continue reading
In a beautiful Alpine valley known as the Valley of 72 Waterfalls, Trümmelbach Falls stands out as the only waterfall carved inside the mountains. While the falls carved their own passages through the rocks, in 1877, Swiss miners began carving additional passages to allow visitor … | Continue reading
Cinder cones are a common type of volcano. They are relatively small and composed of basalt, a dark fluid lava that is rich in iron and magnesium. The basalt is also scoriaceous (frothy), as the magma is typically rich in gass. The eruption starts out as fountains of fire with fr … | Continue reading
As early as the beginning of the 19th century, historians suspected that the city of Wigan in northwest England had once been the site of some sort of ancient Roman settlement. The location seemed to correspond to the position of a fort on Roman maps, various Roman roads from oth … | Continue reading
Named after Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto, the first European to discover the Mississippi River, the DeSoto House opened in 1855 at a time of economic boom in Galena, Illinois. It billed itself “the largest hotel in the west.” During its heyday, the red brick building served … | Continue reading
Mühlerama is home to the Tiefenbrunnen industrial mill, which is over 100 years old and the oldest operating mill in Zurich. Flour is still produced here every day and can be bought in the museum shop. But why buy flour when you can grind your own? With the entry tickets, you get … | Continue reading
They have survived in the shadows for millennia. Their names have been whispered over hearths and campfires, invoked as warnings to disobedient children, or perhaps known but never said aloud for fear of attracting their attention: the wendigo, the bunyip, the capelobo. Around th … | Continue reading
From haunted dolls and funeral home artifacts to religious relics, Ouija boards, and strange sideshow items, all things bizarre fill the shelves of the American Oddities Museum. Located in the Mineral Springs Hotel, in the small (and, according to some, haunted) town of Alton, Il … | Continue reading
The history of Peshawar goes as far back as the Vedas, which mentioned it as one of the most important cities of the Gāndhāra civilization. Because of this, Peshawar has been a crossroad of different peoples and cultures for centuries, and its history can aptly be described as tu … | Continue reading
Listen and subscribe on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast apps. In this episode of The Atlas Obscura Podcast, we head to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the Mini Golf Capital of the World. We explore the vibrant and eccentric world of mini-golf, showcasing it … | Continue reading
“It’s just such an awesome image to think about: a giant flying dragon, essentially, coming down and preying on these dinosaurs,” says Ben Thomas, a paleontology graduate student at the University of Portsmouth, England. Earlier this year, Thomas released a video on his paleontol … | Continue reading
In the village of Dinoša, not far from Montenegro's capital Podgorica, stands a century-old mulberry tree that has been described as a miracle because of the waterfall that occasionally bursts from its trunk. It is believed that there exist a number of underground springs in the … | Continue reading
Maungauika (the Mountain of Uika) is named for one of its original Māori inhabitants of around 800 years ago, and at over 50,000 years old, is one of the oldest cones in the Auckland volcanic field. In the 1880s during the global "Russian scares," the government rushed to build f … | Continue reading
Yasaka Kōshin-dō is a distinctive temple in Kyoto’s Higashiyama district, close to the city’s famous Kiyomizu-dera pagoda. Yasaka Kōshin-dō, as a rare example of a Kōshin temple, presents a cultural and religious tapestry of Buddhist, Taoist, and Shinto elements. Yasaka Kōshin-dō … | Continue reading
It is certainly not the most famous and visited church in Bergamo, but the Chiesa del Santo Spirito (Holy Spirit Chuch) is one of the hidden jewels the Italian city. The exterior is an incoherent mix of styles spanning a period of 400 years, from the 14th to the 18th centuries, b … | Continue reading
The walls here are covered in paintings, photos, and memorabilia from the saloon's long and storied past. This family-owned and operated establishment has numerous photos and paintings of past generation proprietors, guests, and even ghosts. The noose that ended the life of the l … | Continue reading
The first ecclesiastic building on this site, in Lastingham, Yorkshire, was a Saxon monastery which was written about by the Venerable Bede. The monastery was founded in 654 by St. Cedd of Lindisfarne. During the first millennium period of Viking raids in many parts of northern E … | Continue reading
Henrietta Lacks' date of passing on her gravestone reads October 4, 1951, but in some regard, Lacks is immortal. During her cancer treatment, some of Lacks' cells were nonconsensually extracted and cultivated, becoming the first immortalized human cell line, called HeLa. Lacks wa … | Continue reading
The Jerma Palace Hotel, located in Marsaskala, Malta, opened its doors in 1982. The massive, luxurious four-star hotel was built by the Libyan Foreign Investment Company, and the ex-leader of Libya once had his own presidential suite in the hotel. The opulent hotel was responsibl … | Continue reading
Established in August 1926, the Kanamachi Purification Plant started collecting water from the Edo River and supplying it to the northern districts of Tokyo. In 1941, the second intake tower was added to the plant, built with red bricks and topped with a triangular roof often des … | Continue reading
Amid the flat plains of Sardinia, Italy, stands a well-preserved nuraghe. Next to it, sits a small Romanesque-Byzantine church with mysterious origins. It's not clear when exactly it was built or by whom. It is at least 1000 years old, and has served several purposes throughout i … | Continue reading
Visiting the Sod House on the Prairie is a chance to experience life on the prairie. The views of the prairie give one a chance to feel the love of the the many who settled on the rural Minnesota prairie. A great way to experience the walk in the world of Laura Ingalls. Go into t … | Continue reading
Someone seized the opportunity to transform this geological formation into a huge, red dinosaur with rocks for teeth and a glass bottle for an eye. The body is red with black accent marks, and rocks adorn the dinosaur's crown to add extra flair to its silhouette. This dinosaur is … | Continue reading
Tucked away in a fairly rural area of Japan lies the world's largest collection of jellyfish. Kamo Aquarium which is located near to moderate-sized city of Tsuruoka in Yamagata, is home to 60 species of these invertebrates. The aquarium is recognized by the Guinness World Records … | Continue reading
In Sardinian author Michela Murgia’s 2009 novel Accabadora, a young girl named Maria is adopted by Bonaria Urrai, the respected village seamstress—and an angel of death. Little Maria wonders where Urrai disappears at night, never imagining that she hurries through narrow streets … | Continue reading
The Yokai Museum is a thrilling journey through a series of hidden structures scattered around the charming streets of Shodoshima. Walking around the streets of Shodoshima, you can soak in beautiful art and interesting explanations about yōkai, supernatural entities in Japanese f … | Continue reading
If you venture down the sun-soaked boulevards of Myrtle Beach, you’ll soon stumble upon something rather unexpected: a volcano. Rising 40 feet in the air, it erupts every 20 minutes in fiery spectacle over its kingdom: Hawaiian Rumble, a Mini-Golf Course nestled among the town’s … | Continue reading
Ōfuna is a district on the outskirts of Kamakura, neighboring Yokohama, known for its somewhat surreal sight. Standing above the train station, overlooking the town from up on a wooded hill, is a colossal statue of Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy—an eye-catching icon of the … | Continue reading
The statue of Charles Darwin outside Shrewsbury Library has an interesting history that reflects the town's pride in its famous son. The statue was commissioned to honor Charles Darwin, who was born in Shrewsbury in 1809 and is renowned for his groundbreaking work on the theory o … | Continue reading
Today the Rickmansworth Aquadrome is a public park and nature reserve. But few know that its two lakes were originally gravel pits created during the construction of the original Wembley Stadium in 1923. Later the pits were filled with water to create a public recreation ground. … | Continue reading
Visible from the coastline, around 500 meters meters out to sea, you can see the Demetrios II, a ship claimed by the south Cypriot seas. Heading to Syria from Greece with a cargo of timber, the ship would never reach its destination, running aground just off Paphos on the March 2 … | Continue reading
Beginning in late March, 1945 and ending on June 22, 1945, the Battle of Okinawa was a pivotal milestone in drawing a close to World War II in the Pacific Theater. It was the first time that one of the islands considered a Japanese homeland experienced an invasion and ground figh … | Continue reading
At the top of a steep stepped path, along the way to the Cape Byron Lighthouse, lies the most easterly point on the Australian continent. (Off the continent, the dramatic sea spire known as Ball's Pyramid takes the title for easternmost point in Australia.) For thousands of years … | Continue reading
From the main road it doesn't look like that much to see, however, as you drive closer the full-scale of this site begins to reveal itself. Roughly a century ago, giant mill buildings stood here about a century ago churning out copper. The mine employed about 350 workers, many of … | Continue reading
Nestled in Ninigret Park, a wooded area in America’s smallest state, two giant troll statues entice visitors into the forest. These wonderfully weird guardians of the woods, one lounging and another seated, are each is made of thousands of pieces of recycled wood cobbled together … | Continue reading
Namiyoke Inari Shrine stands on the water’s edge close to the Tsukiji Fish Market, in the Chūō district of Tokyo. The shrine and market sit upon land reclaimed from the sea after much of the city was destroyed during the Great Fire of Meireki in 1657. Locals attempted to rebuild … | Continue reading
Herculaneum is an amazing, well-preserved archaeological site near the famous Pompeii, another victim of the Mount Vesuvius eruption of 79. One of its most impressive remains can be found in an ancient house nicknamed Casa del Tramezzo di Legno, or House of the Wooden Partitions. … | Continue reading
South of U.S. Route 20, at the intersection of four roads in North Oxford, Massachusetts, is the Barton Center for Diabetes Education. Directly next to it is an old historical home. It may look like the many others throughout the area, but the name of the center hints that this i … | Continue reading