olaobrien's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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San Lawrenz, Malta

The Azure Window and the Blue Hole

Two geological phenomena in one precarious locale: a towering stone window, and a deep blue void.
Mdina, Malta

Casa Gourgion

This unique building in the main square stands out among the city's typically Baroque architecture.
Valletta, Malta

St. John’s Co-Cathedral Skeleton Tombstones

The floor of this spectacular Baroque sanctuary is covered in memento mori.
Mellieħa, Malta

Popeye Village

An abandoned set from the 1980 film "Popeye," claimed and repurposed as a theme park by creative locals.
Qrendi, Malta

Mnajdra

This Stone Age solar temple aligns with the sun on each equinox and solstice.
Paola, Malta

Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum

This subterranean necropolis holds three floors of antler-dug grave caves.
Rabat, Malta

Maltese Catacomb Complexes

Burial grounds for more than 1,000 bodies deep under the modern town of Rabat.
Iż-Żejtun, Malta

Secret Passage in St. Gregory's

A hidden tunnel of bones in one of Malta's oldest churches.
Rabat, Malta

Domvs Romana

The remains of a 1st-century aristocratic Roman town house featuring beautiful well-preserved mosaics.
Brussels, Belgium

Musée des Arbalétriers (Museum of Crossbowmen)

This charming, hidden guild museum holds some 700 years of crossbow history.
Caprarola, Italy

Villa Farnese

A lavish 16th-century mansion filled with spectacular staircases, fantastic frescoes, and gorgeous gardens.
Slack Head, England

Fairy Steps

These legendary stone steps were once used to haul coffins up the rockface.
Durango, Colorado

Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

This spectacular track has run continuously since 1882.
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.
Nottingham, England

The Caves of Nottingham

A labyrinthine underworld of tunnels and caverns hides beneath the city.
Genoa, Italy

Ascensore Castello d'Albertis-Montegalletto

This peculiar Italian elevator runs both horizontally and vertically.
Conwy, Wales

Quay House, The Smallest House in Great Britain

A former fisherman's hut deemed too small for habitation is now a delightful tourist draw.
Seoul, South Korea

Greem Cafe

Step into a cartoon at this Seoul café that aims to evoke a two-dimensional scene.
Tallinn, Estonia

St Nicholas' Church Danse Macabre

Only a fragment of this 15th-century Dance of Death survives today.
Naples, Italy

The Anatomical Machines of Cappella Sansevero

These "anatomical machines" are only one of the many strange items in this Italian crypt.
Prague, Czechia

Saint Michael's Church

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

Idiom Installation

A Jenga-style cylindrical tower of books that appears to go on forever.
Split, Croatia

UNESCO-Protected SPAR Supermarket

When a supermarket opened up shop within a medieval building it became protected by UNESCO on a technicality.
Split, Croatia

Froggyland

A wonderfully strange collection of 500+ stuffed frogs doing people things.