Ashleysummer's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Venice, Italy

Libreria Acqua Alta

This Venice bookstore has resigned itself to constant flooding by keeping its books in bathtubs and boats.
Venice, Italy

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

Go inside to really appreciate this 500-year-old technological masterpiece.
Venice, Italy

Isola di San Michele

Venice's island of the dead.
Venice, Italy

The Mad Colored Houses of Burano

This community on a small Venetian island has taken to painting their houses in bright neon hues.
Florence, Italy

Galileo's Middle Finger

The middle finger of modernity.
Ercolano, Italy

Herculaneum

Pompeii's less famous neighbor is still revealing her secrets.
Pompeii, Italy

Plaster Citizens of Pompeii

The last moments of the ill-fated Pompeiians, frozen forever in plaster.
Rome, Italy

Sculpture of Giovanni Paolo II

A sculpture serving as an homage to Pope John Paul II.
Rome, Italy

The Dome Illusion

A master of trompe-l'oeil creates a stunning, tourist-fooling dome out of a flat ceiling.
Rome, Italy

The Wax-Encased Remains of Blessed Anna Maria Taigi

The mystic whose incorrupt corpse still attracts the faithful.
Vatican City

Vatican Necropolis

Hidden beneath the famous St. Peter's Basilica is a veritable city of the dead that may hold the remains of St. Peter himself.
Vatican City

Stufetta del Bibbiena

The Vatican's secret porn-festooned bathroom was painted in erotic murals by one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance.
Vatican City

Gallery of Maps - Galleria delle Carte Geografiche

Breathtaking and huge 430 year old maps of Italy.
Iceland

Skeiðará Bridge Monument

Twisted girders are all that remain of an Icelandic bridge that was wiped out by a combination of volcanic heat and glacial floods.
Iceland

HvannadalshnjĂşkur

Climbing Iceland's highest peak on the rim of the Oræfajökull volcano.
HamragarĂ°ar, Iceland

GljĂşfrabĂşi

This fantastical waterfall is hidden in a cave located in a cracked cliff.
Iceland

Drangurinn Rock

Icelandic folklore says this giant boulder was ripped from the mountains and placed at its current location, where it became home to elves.
Iceland

U.S. Navy DC-3 Wreckage

This wrecked airplane has been sitting on a black sand beach since the 1970s.
Vik, Iceland

Reynisdrangar

Three columns of volcanic rock shoot out of the ocean.
Iceland

Fjaðrárgljúfur

Strange rock formations tower above the river that snakes through this enchanting Icelandic canyon.
Iceland

Jökulsárlón

Iceland's largest lagoon is home to stunning multi-colored icebergs.
Iceland

Haukadalur Geothermal Field

This valley of hot springs and boiling mud pots is home to the record-holding "Geysir," which originated the English word.
Iceland

Gullfoss (Golden Falls)

If a glacial river suddenly diving into a sheer chasm via a dramatic, multi-stage waterfall isn't peak Iceland, it's certainly close.
Houston, Texas

Rothko Chapel

The peaceful space is adorned by paintings by the famed abstract artist Mark Rothko.