Atlas Obscura - Curiosités et ésotérisme

Marineland Melanesia in Green Island, Australia
The Marineland Melanesia crocodile habitat has 50 crocodiles dwelling on idyllic Green Island on the Barrier Reef, from those just hatched to the unrivaled colossal...

Fujinomiya Mermaid Mummy in Fujinomiya, Japan
With an elaborate origin story going back a century and a half, the hideous mermaid at Fujinomiya may be the oldest of its kind. According to the story, the mermaid...

House on the Rock in Spring Green, Wisconsin
During the 1940's, a man named Alex Jordan discovered a 60-foot chimney of rock in the beautiful Wyoming Valley - it was here he decided to build a house on the...

Palacio Salvo in Montevideo, Uruguay
Inaugurated in 1928, Palacio Salvo appeared in the city landscape as a strange creature, one that has both delighted and disgusted architecture buffs for decades....

Bude Castle in Bude, United Kingdom
This "castle" was actually the home of Victorian inventor Sir Goldsworthy Gurney. Built in 1830 for Sir Goldsworthy Gurney, this two-story house is both...

Christ of the Abyss in San Fruttuoso, Italy
While figures of the divine and the decorative abound in densely populated areas, rarely do you see honored artistry in the middle of nowhere. The Christ of the Abyss...

The Big Well in Greensburg, Kansas
Kansans, it seems, have dug themselves into a hole, and they couldn't be happier about it. Boasted as the world's largest hand dug well, and known as "The Big...

Roshen Fountain in Vinnytsia, Ukraine
By the totality of characteristics, Roshen Fountain in Vinnytsia is the biggest in Europe, and is said to be one of the top 10 beautiful and spectacular world...

22 Papal Hearts at Santi Vincenzo e Anastasio a Trevi in Rome, Italy
In 2002 Pope John Paul II gifted use of the building to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church but the hearts of the popes remain in the marble urns. The popes are listed to...

Young Pioneer Camp in Moscow, Russia
Abandoned sometime in the late 1980s, this bizarre children's camp now stands forgotten in a forest north of Moscow. The site is most notable for its striking...