slswilley's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Baghdad, Iraq

Saddam Hussein's Blood Quran

A 605-page Quran penned in the blood of a dictator is locked away in a mosque.
Molly McBride Jacobson Added by Molly McBride Jacobson
Denmark / Canada

Hans Island

A long-disputed island that Denmark and Canada claim by periodically alternating flags and bottles of liquor.
hrnick Added by hrnick
Krakow, Poland

Nowa Huta

This sprawling concrete suburb of Kraków was designed by the Soviet Union as the model proletarian city.
leiris Added by leiris
Copenhagen, Denmark

The Genetically Modified Little Mermaid

Hans Christian Andersen for the postmodern world.
Added by Zhab
Antarctica

The Bar at Vernadsky Research Base

One of the world's southernmost bars.
EricGrundhauser Added by EricGrundhauser
Luray, Virginia

The Great Stalacpipe Organ

An organ located deep within a cave, whose "pipes" are the geological features of the cave itself.
New Haven, Connecticut

The Cushing Center

An archival collection of over 2,200 case studies which includes human brain specimens and tumor specimens.
Annetta Black Added by Annetta Black
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Homomonument

Three connected pink triangles memorialize persecuted gays and lesbians throughout history.
AaronNetsky Added by AaronNetsky
United States / Canada

United States–Canada Border Slash

The entire length of the border is marked by a 20-foot-wide slash through the trees.
lewblank Added by lewblank
Gibraltar

Operation Tracer Cave

There was a top secret plan during World War II to seal a group of soldiers inside the rock.
Added by aribrown
Siegen, Germany

Hainer Stollen

The abandoned mine where American troops discovered a treasure trove of art and artifacts hidden by the Nazis.
Added by Maya W
Zhengzhou, China

Shaolin Flying Monks Theatre

A magical work of architecture where a wind turbine enables monks to levitate.
lewblank Added by lewblank
New York, New York

The Ziegfeld Head

The front yard of an Upper East Side town house hides the last fragment of one of New York's most famous theatres.
Luke J Spencer Added by Luke J Spencer
Otsuchi, Japan

Wind Telephone

A disconnected rotary phone for "calling" lost loved ones offered a unique way of dealing with grief in disaster-stricken Japan.
hcw2rp Added by hcw2rp
Ljubljana, Slovenia

Cyanometer

Martin Bricelj Baraga's monolithic sculpture measures the blueness of the sky, and changes color to match it.
AaronNetsky Added by AaronNetsky
Khumjung, Nepal

The Yeti Scalp of Khumjung

A Himalayan monastery claims to have a piece of a centuries-old abominable snowman.
neuromon Added by neuromon
Novosibirsk, Russia

Monument to the Laboratory Mouse

This cuddly rodent has a place of honor at a Russian institute for genetic research.
hrnick Added by hrnick
Longyearbyen, Norway

Longyearbyen

In the northernmost city in the world, it's illegal to be buried because it’s too cold for bodies to decompose.
lewblank Added by lewblank
Leninskiy rayon, Russia

The Kamera (The Chamber)

The laboratory where the Soviet secret police invented exotic poisons used to kill dissidents in hideous and (mostly) untraceable ways.
Dylan Added by Dylan
Washington, D.C.

National Archives Vault

An atomic bomb-proof strongbox protects the U.S. Constitution from terrorists and thieves.
Elliot Carter Added by Elliot Carter
Whitby, England

Whitby Museum, Library & Archive

The curious and tiny collection contains some very odd objects.
Duckhead Added by Duckhead
Glasgow, Scotland

Mugdock Gunsite

The remains of an anti-aircraft battery from World War II look out over Glasgow.
angellj1976 Added by angellj1976
Drymen, Scotland

Buchanan Castle

This castle was established by the 4th Duke of Montrose and is connected to the Buchanan Clan.
Added by chowker
Craighat, Scotland

Devil's Pulpit

A strange rock with a sinister reputation lurks within the crimson waters of this Scottish glen.
Added by Ryan Ebejer