Meg's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
Stazzema, Italy

Monte Forato

A massive natural rock arch gives the Tuscan mountain its own window to the sky.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Biblioteca Nacional do Brasil

The largest library in Latin America owes its existence to an Old World earthquake and a Napoleonic invasion.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Weeping Glass

A beautiful oddities shop crammed with strange and morbid curiosities.
Blatce, Czechia

Houska Castle

Folklore says this medieval fortress was plopped atop a portal to hell to trap the demons below.
Chester, England

Minerva's Shrine

Western Europe's only representation of a Roman goddess still in its original location sits in an unassuming park.
Kyiv, Ukraine

Toilet History Museum

A quirky collection flush with information on commode culture from ancient times to modern day.
Naples, Italy

Bourbon Tunnel

Dug as a secret royal escape route, the tunnel became a wartime bomb shelter and dumping ground for vintage cars.
Stamford, Connecticut

Stamford's Miniature Ghost Town

Forgotten under the construction of a new urban roadway is a small, abandoned part of town.
Jajepura, India

Chambal River

An ancient curse kept humans from living on the water, and now it's brimming with rare wildlife and is one of the most pristine rivers in India.
Paris, France

Fountain of Innocents

A 16th-century fountain marks the site of a lost medieval cemetery once filled with mass graves.
Përmet District, Albania

Benja Thermal Baths

A medieval bridge stretches over a sulfur-rich river that leads to year-round natural hot springs.
Al Haouz, Morocco

Tin Mal Mosque

The remains of a magnificent medieval fortress that was the capital of a vast empire.
Kolkata, India

Mud Statues of Kumortuli

The potters' quarter is packed with artists sculpting clay gods with mud from the sacred Ganges river.
Campamento Geotermico Corfo, Chile

El Tatio Geysers

The largest geyser field in the southern hemisphere is a spectacular sight.
Hettingen, Germany

Gewandhaus Museum Inneringen

Opulent period costumes and murals lead you on a journey through fashion history.
New York, New York

Fliers and Explorers Globe

A prized globe signed by Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh sits in the Brooklyn office of the American Geographical Society.
Chicago, Illinois

Couch Place (The Alley of Death)

This alley in downtown Chicago held the bodies of over 600 people after the fateful Iroquois Theatre fire.
Sewell, Chile

Sewell Ghost Town

The “City of Stairs” sits high in the Andes, above the world’s largest underground copper mine.
Southampton, England

Hythe Pier Railway

The world's oldest operational public pier railway has shuttled seagoing commuters from ship to shore since 1909.
Chesterfield, Missouri

Pecan Legacy Park

After miraculously surviving a giant flood, the 19th-century nut tree and its offspring are protected with their own tiny park.
Arcadia, Oklahoma

Arcadia Round Barn

This unusually circular centenarian barn became a Route 66 icon.
Dublin, Ireland

Saint Audoen's Gate

The enchanting archway is the only surviving portal into Dublin's lost medieval wall.
Clarkdale, Arizona

Arizona Copper Art Museum

The state's only comprehensive museum dedicated to the mineral that defined its history and economy.
Santa Barbara County, California

Torrey Pines of Santa Rosa Island

Windswept and remote, this island was once the home of a rare mammoth and today is home to a rare tree.