Spain

Places in this region

Calder Mercury Fountain

Beautiful but toxic fountain of mercury

Mercury, also known as quicksilver, remains liquid at room temperature and is a beautiful and graceful metal. Unfortunately it is also extremely toxic. For many years, the world's greatest source... »

Unusual Monuments | Edited by spopkes, mrobscurity and others

Fountain of the Fallen Angel

A monument to Satan in the same country that gave us the Inquisition

Though Spain may have loaned its name to one of the most famous Christian witch-hunts in human history, the country's capital city holds unique bragging rights for having what is commonly... »

Strange Statues | Edited by littlebrumble

Cathedral of Salamanca's Astronaut

The Cathedral of Salamanca has a number of unusual carvings but none so surprising as a modern astronaut

Nothing is more confusing to archeologists and historians then old hoaxes, hoaxes that are now themselves parts of history. The crystal skulls, for example, which were "discovered" in the jungles... »

Architectural Oddities | Edited by arztriper and Xof

Los Jameos del Agua

Partially collapsed lava tube and cave system complete with concert hall, underground pond, and unique albino crabs

Known as a jameo, it is a geographic feature similar to a sink hole and is caused when a lava tube (an underground tunnel created by flowing magma) ceiling collapses in on itself, or as in this... »

Geological Oddities | Edited by taylorstevens, Dylan and others

Solar Power Tower

Spain's stunning solar energy plant

One could only hope that our entire energy future will look as whimsical as the solar power station in Sanlúcar la Mayor near Seville. This power plant consists of a pair of "concentrated solar... »

Inspired Inventions, Architectural Oddities | Edited by stanestane, kevinjoyce8 and others

Electricity Pylons of Cadiz

The world's most elegant power lines

Cadiz is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Spain, an ancient (even by Andalusian standards) cluster of buildings on a tiny spit of land jutting into the Atlantic Ocean. Every old city has... »

Instruments of Science, Architectural Oddities, Outsider Architecture | Edited by Alpha and Henry

Templo de Debod

An ancient Egyptian temple in the middle of Madrid, Spain

The Templo de Debod, or Temple of Debod, is an ancient Egyptian temple bizarrely out of place in the heart of Madrid, near the Plaza de España. Gifted from Egypt to Spain in 1968, it originally... »

Curious Places of Worship, Incredible Ruins | Edited by Jacque and michelle

Shadow Pilgrim

An accidental trick of light casts the perfect shadow of a pilgrim of the Camino de Santiago against the cathedral wall

Every night in a corner under the baroque clock tower in the Plaza de la Quintana, a hunched pilgrim appears. He stands life sized, and wears the traditional garb of the religious pilgrim: cloak,... »

Optical Oddities | Edited by Annetta

The Whistling Island

On La Gomera, "Silbadors" communicate in a 4,000-word language of whistles

On the small mountainous island of La Gomera, one of the Canaries, the children speak to each other from miles apart using one of the most unusual languages in the world. Known as Silbo, the... »

Anomalous Islands, Rites and Rituals | Edited by Josh, Dylan and 2 others

Museo Anatómico de la University de Valladolid

A somewhat mysterious anatomy museum in a Spanish University

Many of the best museums are to be found tucked away in the corner of a University campus, known only to a handful of professors and students. This anatomy museum in the University of Valladolid... »

Medical Museums | Edited by Dylan and Henry

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