jonathancarey's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
Paris, France

The Last Original Standard Metre

An overlooked marble is the only surviving in-place 18th century example of the measurement that changed how we define distance.
Zugarramurdi, Spain

Cave of Zugarramurdi

This Navarrese cave's history of witchcraft and pagan ritual is not just embraced, but recreated each year.
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis Manhole Covers

Downtown Minneapolis mixed art and function by turning some of their sewer covers into works of art.
Bardstown, Kentucky

Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History

The history of whiskey and all of its boozy glory, from Colonial days to modern American cocktail culture.
Fredericksburg, Virginia

Monument to the Angel of Marye's Heights

The Kirkland Monument remembers a selfless Civil War hero who braved the battlefield to give water to his dying enemies.
New York, New York

Nero Wolfe's Brownstone

The home of one of America's most beloved fictional characters has become a real world landmark.
Graz, Austria

Styrian Armoury

The world's largest historic armory was established by independent citizens to defend themselves from the wars of larger forces.
Lusarat, Armenia

Khor Virap Monastery

The most visited pilgrimage site in Armenia once held a saint in a pit for 13 years.
Gainesville, Florida

Historic Haile Homestead

Over 12,500 words are scrawled across each room of this historic plantation house and no one knows why.
Osaka, Japan

Gakutensoku

Japan's first automaton went missing, only to be revived by the Osaka Science Museum.
Neuchâtel, Switzerland

Jaquet-Droz Automata

These magnificent 240-year-old machines are considered distant ancestors of the computer.
Washington, D.C.

Martha, the Last Passenger Pigeon

The remains of Martha, the last known passenger pigeon, serve as a tool to educate about conservation.
London, England

The House of Dreams Museum

This wildly-tiled artist's palace is a living and growing account of the creator's life, loves, and labors.
Stoke Row, England

Maharajah's Well

A well for a well, this anachronistically Indian-styled water pit was built in its small town home in gratitude for a similar favor.
Berlin, Germany

Ballhaus Riviera

The music is over at the Ballhaus Riviera Ballroom, but the ballroom remains in haunting disrepair.
Coober Pedy, Australia

Crocodile Harry's Underground Nest & Dugout

This eccentric cave dwelling is bizarre even by the standards of a subterranean town.
Walnut Creek, California

The Eye of Diablo

This mountaintop beacon is only lit three times a year but shines like some kind of all-seeing eye.
Taipei City, Taiwan

Modern Toilet Restaurant

Looking for a crappy restaurant? Pull up a porcelain bowl and enjoy your meal.
Grand Rapids, Michigan

The Abandoned Dioramas of the Old Grand Rapids Public Museum

The museum moved on, but the diorama remain.
Springfield, Missouri

World's Largest Fork

A 35-foot-tall fork stuck in the ground outside an office building in Missouri.
Prague, Czechia

Sex Machines Museum

The first museum in the world devoted to sexual gadgetry.
Isleta Village Proper, New Mexico

Saint Augustine Catholic Church of Isleta

This centuries-old pueblo church houses the body of a Franciscan friar who is said to be a rare "incorruptible" corpse.
Sunset, South Carolina

Sassafras Mountain

The highest point in South Carolina was once owned by an energy company that neglected it but now the state is taking it back.
Ruokolahti, Finland

Kummakivi Balancing Rock

Legend has this precariously placed rock was placed by giants. Science has another explanation.