andrewchristensencockrum's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Venice, Italy

The Mad Colored Houses of Burano

This community on a small Venetian island has taken to painting their houses in bright neon hues.
Rome, Italy

The Mouth of Truth

The yawning maw of this pagan visage is said to bite off the hands of liars.
Florence, Italy

Michelangelo's Hidden Drawings

The doodles of a genius line the walls of a secret room under the Medici Chapel, where they were hidden for nearly 500 years.
Rome, Italy

The Dome Illusion

A master of trompe-l'oeil creates a stunning, tourist-fooling dome out of a flat ceiling.
Bomarzo, Italy

The Monsters of Bomarzo

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

Santa Maria della Concezione Crypts

The crypts of Capuchin friars decorated with the bones of over 4,000 friars, including an entire "crypt of pelvises."
Sorrento, Italy

Valle dei Mulini (Valley of the Mills)

An Italian crevasse filled with abandoned buildings gives visitors a look at the world without humans.
Uozu-shi, Japan

Buried Forest Museum

Roots and stumps that lay inundated for two millennia are on display in Japan's city of three mysteries.
Motobu, Japan

Bise Village

A network of sandy streets lined with verdant fukugi trees weaves throughout this tiny seaside town.
Inuyama, Japan

Little World Museum of Man

An anthropological theme park that depicts the cultures of around 20 different countries.
Inuyama, Japan

Momotaro Shrine

A kitsch shrine dedicated to the ogre-slaying folktale hero born from a peach.
Itoigawa, Japan

The Jade Coast

You can still find treasures on the pebbly beaches of one of the world's oldest jade-producing areas.
Ōshima Island, Japan

Mount Mihara

This active volcano's siren song to suicide jumpers forced authorities to build a fence.
Aso, Japan

Mount Aso Caldera

The largest volcanic caldera in Japan holds an entire city in its maw.
Tsuruoka, Japan

Sokushinbutsu of Dainichibou Temple

The self-mummified monks of Japan.
Tokyo, Japan

Harukor

Tokyo’s only Ainu restaurant serves Indigenous food from northern Japan.
Tokyo, Japan

Sōgenji Temple (Kappa-Dera)

Shrine to Japanese water-goblins, complete with their preserved body parts.
Kyoto, Japan

Sanjūsangen-dō

1,001 carved statues of the Buddhist God of Mercy, each with a unique face.
Narusawa-mura, Japan

Narusawa Hyoketsu (Ice Cave)

A 70-foot-deep ice cave formed by lava from Mt. Fuji on the edge of Japan's "Suicide Forest." 
Kyoto, Japan

Yokai Street

This neighborhood thoroughfare is haunted by dozens of homemade monsters.
Tokyo, Japan

The Giant Ghibli Clock

Tokyo’s only Vaudeville-cuckoo clock–steampunk-Victorian curio cabinet time piece.
Kyoto, Japan

Nishiki Market

This 700-year-old street food market features baby octopus and soy donuts.
Motobu, Japan

Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium

One of the world's largest tanks mimics the experience of watching rare whale sharks, giant rays, and deep sea creatures from the ocean floor.
Kumejima-chō, Japan

Tatami-ishi (Tatami Rocks)

Unusual hexagonal rocks formed by cooling lava named for their resemblance to traditional Japanese tatami mats.