rai's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Los Angeles, California

‘Corporate Head’

This sculpture presents commentary on a life in pursuit of profits.
Bomarzo, Italy

The Monsters of Bomarzo

A 16th-century horror show built in a lovely Italian garden.
Soriano nel Cimino, Italy

Tower of Chia

Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini fell in love with this lonely 13th-century tower while making his most famous film.
Soriano nel Cimino, Italy

Corviano

This archaeological site built into a tuff outcrop is filled with rock dwellings, the ruins of a medieval castle, and a necropolis.
Soriano nel Cimino, Italy

Sasso Menicante (Trembling Stone)

This massive rock balanced for thousands of years being tossed here during a volcanic eruption.
Caprarola, Italy

Pozzo del Diavolo (Devil's Well)

Was this cave created by Hercules's wrath, the devil, or volcanic activity?
Chitina, Alaska

The Gilahina Trestle

In the middle of the Alaskan wilderness, lies a train trestle to nowhere.
Beltsville, Maryland

Smokey Bear Archive

The Forest Service's surprisingly sophisticated collection of wildfire prevention art features America's most beloved bear.
Athens, Greece

Stoa Emporon

This abandoned shopping arcade has new life as an art installation.
Noisy-le-Grand, France

Espaces d’Abraxas

This stunningly massive housing complex is a go-to filming location for dystopian sci-fi cinema.
Kawagoe, Japan

Five Hundred Arhats

Hundreds of statues of Buddha’s disciples meditating, napping, sneezing, and picking their noses.
Sorano, Italy

Vie Cave

This network of roads is one of the most unique Etruscan creations ever discovered.
Santo Domingo de Silos, Spain

Sad Hill Cemetery

This haunting location was featured in the final scene of a classic spaghetti western.
Nazaré, Portugal

'Veado'

A deer-headed statue that brings together a 12th-century legend and big wave surfing.
Peldon, England

The Strood

This ancient causeway can flood daily, leaving Mersea Island as a true island for hours at a time, and cutting its 7,000 residents off from the mainland.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Extinct Bird Hall

Venture into the past with an unlisted exhibit hall featuring extinct birds.
Aosta, Italy

Aosta Roman Theatre

An ancient theatre in the "little Rome of the Alps."
Petersburg, Kentucky

USS Sachem Ruins

A ship that lived many lives under many names is now known merely as the "Ghost Ship."
Point Pleasant, West Virginia

TNT Area

These rows of World War II-era bunkers were the scene of some of the infamous Mothman sightings.
Rome, Italy

Santa Maria dell'Orazione e Morte

At the crypt of St. Mary of Eulogies and the Dead you are left alone to ponder mortality among piles of skulls.
Naples, Italy

The Anatomical Machines of Cappella Sansevero

These "anatomical machines" are only one of the many strange items in this Italian crypt.
Naples, Italy

Via Port’Alba

This 17th-century passageway is home to numerous bookshops, a witch legend, and the oldest pizzeria in the world.
Brooklyn, New York

Le Boudoir

Just your average Marie Antoinette–themed speakeasy in an abandoned 19th-century subway tunnel.
Leiden, Netherlands

Israël Kiek Memorial

A memorial commemorating the man whose name became synonymous with taking a picture in the Netherlands.