jonathancarey's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
Venice, Italy

Scala Contarini del Bovolo

This palatial spiral staircase was so unusual the name "snail" was given to the noble family who built it.
Lima, Peru

Cripta de los Héroes

The elaborate crypt where Peruvian heroes of the War of the Pacific were laid to rest.
Amritsar, India

Golden Temple

This peaceful Sikh gurudwara serves around 50,000 free meals every day within its gilded walls.
Istanbul, Turkey

Vlora Hanı

An Art Nouveau gem hides beneath the layers of city grime obscuring this once-magnificent building.
Paris, France

Le Chat Noir Collection

Original cabaret handbills, posters, and feline artwork are a purrfect highlight of the Museum of Montmartre.
Dokan, Iraq

Qyzqapan Tomb

Ancient rock-cut tomb? Definitely. That of a great Median king? Unlikely.
Chamchamal, Iraq

Chamchamal Fire Well

A boiling wellspring flowing with natural gas burns in a continual blaze.
San Diego, California

Space Invaders

The classic Atari game's iconic aliens have invaded downtown San Diego.
Lima, Peru

Francisco Pizarro Statue

A monument to the conquistador became increasingly controversial in the very city that he founded.
Sullivan's Island, South Carolina

Poe's Tavern

A quirky Poe-themed joint on an island keen to celebrate its overlooked connection to the famous writer.
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Six Collection

A rare tour of an aristocrat's private home reveals valuable 17th-century paintings from artists like Rembrandt.
Oxford, England

C.S. Lewis's Grave

The beloved fantasy novelist is buried near a church containing a whimsical etched glass window full of Narnia favorites.
Moreton-in-Marsh, England

Four Shire Stone

The centuries-old obelisk may have inspired J. R. R. Tolkien.
Alexandria, Virginia

Mount Vernon Slave Cemetery

The graveyard holding the remains of George Washington's slaves was forgotten for nearly 200 years.
Dayton, Ohio

SAM 26000

You can walk through the first Boeing Air Force One, which famously carried JFK's casket from Dallas back to D.C.
Noble, Oklahoma

Timberlake Rose Rock Museum

A collection of beautiful crystals shaped like freshly plucked roses.
Szentendre, Hungary

Micro Wonder Museum

A collection of intricate sculptures so small they have to be seen through a microscope.
Jersey City, New Jersey

Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital

Now abandoned, the first public health hospital in the U.S. saw more than one million immigrants from around the world.
Ray, Ohio

Leo Petroglyph

A slab of sandstone covered with mysterious 1,000-year-old rock carvings from a vanished North American culture.
Oxford, England

Annora's Tomb

The weathered grave of a medieval anchoress who walled herself up in a cell attached to a church.
Ellicott City, Maryland

Daniels

An eerie, decaying ghost town destined to fade into the forest.
Fredericksburg, Virginia

Abandoned National Slavery Museum

An overgrown garden stands as a grim marker of an unrealized dream.
Madrid, Spain

Reverte Coma Forensic Museum

The morbid items in this small and hidden museum are not for the weak stomached.
Prague, Czechia

Saint Michael's Church

This charming wooden church was disassembled and moved not once but twice before settling in this Prague garden.