houseofballs's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Venice, Italy

St. Mark's Clock Tower (Torre dell'Orologio)

Go inside to really appreciate this 500-year-old technological masterpiece.
Prague, Czechia

Prague Astronomical Clock

Macabre astrological automaton clock dating to the late 1400s.
Berlin, Germany

The DDR Museum

A fascinating insight into daily life in the Eastern Bloc.
Berlin, Germany

Marx and Engels Forum

One of downtown Berlin's last reminders of its Communist past.
Berlin, Germany

Design Panoptikum

A surreal museum of extraordinary industrial objects.
Växjö, Sweden

Växjö Echo Tower

The dome-shaped reservoir of this old water tower produces unique acoustic effects.
Malmö, Sweden

Turning Torso

Swedish skyscraper with a 90° twist.
Malmö, Sweden

Øresund Bridge

This chimerical bridge/tunnel appears to dead end right into the sea.
Berlin, Germany

Oberhafenkantine Berlin

A portable, wooden replica (minus the hyphen) of Hamburg’s iconic crooked coffee shop.
Venice, Italy

Church of Santa Margherita

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

Church of San Giacomo di Rialto

According to tradition this is the oldest church in Venice, but its actual age is a mystery.
Venice, Italy

Ponte delle Tette

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

St. Mark's Lost Third Column

Two stone columns flank the grand Venice square, but there were supposed to be three.
Venice, Italy

Portrait of the Four Tetrarchs

This Roman statue is missing a limb from when the Venetians stole it from Constantinople during the Crusades.
Venice, Italy

Monument to Niccolò Tommaseo

The pile of books behind the dignified writer gave the statue a most undignified nickname.
Venice, Italy

Giant Hands of Venice’s Grand Canal

A new sculpture calls attention to climate change in the centuries-old city it threatens.
Palermo, Italy

Cappella Palatina

Every inch of this chapel is covered in craftsmanship from across the world.
Palermo, Italy

Capuchin Monastery Catacombs

Thousands of well-dressed mummies below a monastery.
Belpasso, Italy

Mount Etna

The world's most active stratovolcano is almost always erupting.
Calcata Vecchia, Italy

Calcata

Medieval town turned hippie commune, once home to the secret foreskin of Jesus Christ.
Pompeii, Italy

Plaster Citizens of Pompeii

The last moments of the ill-fated Pompeiians, frozen forever in plaster.
Minneapolis, Minnesota

House of Balls

Funhouse of found art and participatory sculpture.
Austin, Texas

Cathedral of Junk

This unique structure in suburban Austin is made up entirely of other people's castaways, and constantly changing.
Carbondale, Illinois

Jeremy Rochman Memorial Park

In the loving memory of a tragically deceased role-player this Illinois park is decked out with both dungeons and dragons.