tapia's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Paris, France

Catacombes de Paris

The vast, legendary catacombs hold secrets much stranger than stacked bones.
São Paulo, Brazil

Beco do Batman

One of São Paulo's tight urban intersections has become a haven for graffiti artists ever since a single Batman started the trend.
Rome, Italy

Basilica di San Clemente

A Nesting Doll of Churches.
Tokyo, Japan

Oiteke Bori

This water goblin statue represents a 19th-century urban legend about a haunted canal that became a Japanese idiom.
Tokyo, Japan

Asakusa Underground Street

Stuck in a bygone era, the oldest subterranean shopping street in Japan hides beneath the popular Asakusa district of Tokyo.
Tokyo, Japan

'Magokoro Tennyo' ('Goddess of Sincerity')

Weighing nearly 7 tons, this massive sculpture was carved out of 500-year-old wood and decorated with thousands of jewels.
Tokyo, Japan

Gotokuji Temple

The legendary birthplace of the Japanese maneki-neko is dotted with hundreds of lucky beckoning cats.
Tokyo, Japan

Koukokuji Buddhist Temple

Inside the columbarium, thousands of colorful, high-tech Buddhas guard the ashes of the dead.
Sakai Ward, Japan

Daisen Kofun

One of the world's largest ancient burial mounds.
Osaka, Japan

Fudo Myo-o Statue

A moss-covered statue of a Japanese Buddhist deity stands at a quiet temple in downtown Osaka.
Kyoto, Japan

Sagano Bamboo Forest

The sound of swaying stalks in this stunning grove has been named a governmentally recognized sound.
Kyoto, Japan

Kimono Forest

An LED art installation composed of 600 poles wrapped in kimono fabric.
Kyoto, Japan

Ichimonjiya Wasuke

Established over a thousand years ago, this family-run teahouse continues to serve skewers of sweet rice cake to this day.
Kyoto, Japan

Funaoka Onsen

Have a soak at this retro bathhouse, where you will find Japan's first electric bath, tiling from Spain, and wood carvings representing the Japanese invasion of Manchuria.
Kyoto, Japan

Sanjūsangen-dō

1,001 carved statues of the Buddhist God of Mercy, each with a unique face.
Kyoto, Japan

Starbucks Ninenzaka Yasaka Chaya

This Kyoto Starbucks takes coffee drinkers back in time.
Kyoto, Japan

Yasui Kompira-gu Shrine

Crawl through the hole in the middle of this stone to break off a bad relationship or initiate a good one.
Kailua, Hawaii

Ulupō Heiau

Hidden behind a YMCA stands the remains of a ceremonial site that dates back hundreds of years, whose ground is still considered sacred to many Hawaiians.
Rancho Palos Verdes, California

Wayfarers Chapel

A Swedenborgian glass church surrounded by redwoods sits perched atop a massive landslide area.
Paris, France

Chez Aline

Grab a life-changing ham sandwich at this former horse butchershop.
London, England

Wellington Monument

This once-controversial and slightly confusing statue of Achilles was built out of captured cannons.
London, England

Coade Stone Caryatids

A measuring mishap led to these artificial stone ladies losing their stomachs.
London, England

The King's Cross Ice Well

A subterranean ice warehouse that has lain hidden beneath central London for over a century is now open to the public.
London, England

Platform 9 3/4

Kings Cross Station pays tribute to its role in Britain's best-selling book series.