HughDoVoodoo's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Brest, Belarus

Brest Hero-Fortress

Thanks to its heroic service during WWII this Soviet castle has been turned into a monument towered over by a brutalist titan.
Helfaut, France

La Coupole

This bunker in northern France was built by Nazi German forces with the intention of launching up to 50 V2 rockets at London each day.
Edinburgh, Scotland

Tolbooth Tavern

Now home to a drinking establishment, this building has a macabre history.
Modhera, India

Modhera Sun Temple

An architectural marvel that dates back to the zenith of Indian architecture.
Edinburgh, Scotland

Sanctuary Stones

A series of three shiny letters mark the boundary of an old refuge for those being pursued by debt collectors.
Edinburgh, Scotland

The Hanging Stanes

A pair of stones embedded in an Edinburgh street memorialize one of the city's last public hangings.
Edinburgh, Scotland

Grave of 'The Great Lafayette'

A magician and his beloved, pampered canine were buried together, within days of each other, due to a tragic twist of fate.
Edinburgh, Scotland

Paperback Bookshop Rhinoceros

This small sculpture honors a shuttered bookshop that was the site of a fiery act of protest.
Edinburgh, Scotland

Site of the Porteous Riots

The location of a citizen uprising that led to a gruesome act of mob justice.
Edinburgh, Scotland

Merchiston Tower

A former medieval fortress, now home to Edinburgh Napier University, contains a rather risqué work of art.
Parma, Italy

Tomb of Niccolò Paganini

The final resting place of the famous violinist, after his corpse was denied a proper Catholic burial for decades.
Ann Arbor, Michigan

'Villa of the Mysteries' Replica

A watercolor recreation of a famous fresco unearthed at Pompeii.
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.
East Somerton, England

The Witch's Leg at St Mary's Church

A witch wreaks ruinous revenge on this ancient church with her "enchanted leg."
Cabezón de la Sal, Spain

Bosque De Secuoyas (Redwood Forest)

An out-of-place grove of sequoias thrives in northern Spain.
Pramarzo, Italy

Temple of Damanhur

Eco-village hidden in the foothills of the Alps that created a massive system of psychedelic underground temples.
Hunedoara, Romania

Corvin Castle

This fairy-tale castle would make Dracula (who is said to have been imprisoned there) jealous.
Frangokastello, Greece

Frangokastello Castle

Every spring, locals see the shadowy figures of a ghost army of slain Greek soldiers descend upon this ruined fort.
Tokyo, Japan

Koukokuji Buddhist Temple

Inside the columbarium, thousands of colorful, high-tech Buddhas guard the ashes of the dead.
Paisley, Scotland

'Alien' Gargoyle

A familiar otherworldly creature guards this 12th-century Scottish abbey.
Antarctica

Point Nemo

At the point of oceanic inaccessibility, you can't get farther from dry land without leaving the planet.
New Zealand

Spacecraft Cemetery

The oceanic dumping ground where spaceships go to die.
Lagoa, Portugal

Benagil Caves

Perhaps the most spectacular grotto along the Algarve coastline.
Bainbridge Island, Washington

The Labyrinth Mosaic and Halls Hill Lookout

Overlooking Puget Sound sits a garden with a Buddhist prayer wheel and an elaborate labyrinth.