lauraolivier's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Strasbourg, France

Château Musée Vodou

This fascinating museum in an old water tower holds the world's largest collection of Vodou artifacts from western and central Africa.
Paris, France

The Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital

Pitié-Salpêtrière was the dumping grounds for women who received the dreaded diagnosis of "hysterical."
Vienna, Austria

Wiener Pestsäule (Vienna Plague Column)

Baroque celebration of the end of the Great Plague of Vienna.
Lisbon, Portugal

Santa Justa Lift

This Industrial Age architectural and engineering gem helps visitors and residents alike traverse Lisbon, “The City of Seven Hills.”
Inachori, Greece

Elafonisi (Deer Island)

A small island with shimmering pink sands, home to loggerhead turtles and rare plants.
Heraklion, Greece

Phaistos Disc

This famous archeological mystery may be an ancient example of movable type.
Venice, Italy

Ponte dei Pugni (Bridge of Fists)

100 year tradition of fist fights, marked by marble footsteps.
Venice, Italy

Church of Santa Margherita

This deconsecrated church has seen many uses, from a tobacco storehouse to a cinema.
Venice, Italy

Ponte delle Tette

In the past, Renaissance sex workers were encouraged to entice customers on this bridge.
Paris, France

The Bouquinistes of Paris

The tradition of open-air secondhand and antiquarian bookselling in Paris dates back to the Renaissance.
Paris, France

Execution Site of Jacques de Molay

The approximate spot where the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar was put to death.
Edinburgh, Scotland

Camera Obscura & World of Illusions

360° views of the city plus five floors of optical illusions and hands-on science.
Edinburgh, Scotland

The Writers' Museum

This small museum in a 17th-century building honors three iconic Scottish writers.
Vienna, Austria

Naturhistorisches Museum

Beautiful Austrian natural history museum with carved ceilings and row after row of ancient taxidermy.
London, England

Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries

This long-hidden space above Westminster Abbey now displays the battle gear of the legendary King Henry V.
London, England

Shield of Parade

This magnificently macabre shield shows the power of chivalrous love in medieval times.
Bruges, Belgium

Torture Museum Bruges

Inside this former medieval prison is a collection of objects designed to inflict unbelievable pain and suffering on the human body and mind.
Bruges, Belgium

Frietmuseum

Potato-peeling mannequins, Inca art, and a dangling tuber mobile help trace the history of fries at this Belgian museum.
Bruges, Belgium

The Devil's Pants

A piece of stonework relief commemorates the site where the Devil's rage, and odd apparel, destroyed a house.
Paris, France

Bibliothèque nationale de France (National Library of France)

This massive library holds what was once the largest book collection in the world.
Paris, France

Le Comptoir Général

This Paris art space celebrates the creativity and ingenuity that springs from abject poverty, especially in Africa.
Paris, France

Montmartre Funicular

The water-powered carriages are long gone, but for over a century this funicular railway has been the fastest route to the highest point in Paris.
Paris, France

I Love You Wall

Paris' linguistic guide to the international language of, yes, love.
Edinburgh, Scotland

Surgeons' Hall Museums

A book bound in the skin of an infamous criminal, along with countless other specimens.