citharadraconis's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Naples, Italy

The Anatomical Machines of Cappella Sansevero

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

Gänseliesel

The Goose Girl of Göttingen, Germany might well be the most kissed girl in the world.
Eisenach, Germany

Wartburg Castle

The castle where Martin Luther secretly translated the New Testament from Greek to German while in hiding.
Miami, Florida

Vizcaya Museum and Gardens

Former villa and estate of James Deering developed to preserve native tropical forests.
Paris, France

Shakespeare and Company

This iconic Parisian bookstore doubles as the "Tumbleweed Hotel" for traveling writers.
Rome, Italy

Cloaca Maxima

The "Greatest Sewer" of ancient Rome is one of the oldest sewer systems in the world, and is still in use.
Reykjavik, Iceland

Harpa

This stunning concert hall has become a symbol of Iceland's national recovery.
Reykjavik, Iceland

Hallgrimskirkja

One of the tallest buildings in Iceland, and perhaps, the most visually impressive.
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Harvard Museum of Natural History

Three prestigious academic collections come together to create a world-class natural history museum.
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments Mark I

This massive World War II calculator hearkens back to the days when "computer" was a job title.
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Old Burial Ground

This cemetery served as the only official burial grounds in Cambridge for nearly 200 years.
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Longfellow House

One of America's most historic homes also holds a startling literary legacy.
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Blaschka Glass Flowers

Impossibly life-like natural history models created out of glass by a father and son.
Concord, Massachusetts

Walden Pond

"the sweltering inhabitants of Charleston and New Orleans, of Madras and Bombay and Calcutta, drink at my well . . . The pure Walden water is mingled with the sacred water of the Ganges."
Florence, Italy

Ospedale degli Innocenti (Hospital of the Innocents)

Renaissance hospital featuring a rotating door into which unwanted babies were dropped.
Florence, Italy

Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy

The oldest operating pharmacy in the world features 800-year-old recipes.
Florence, Italy

Galileo's Middle Finger

The middle finger of modernity.
Selçuk, Turkey

Brothel Advertisement at Ephesus

Carvings in Turkey's Marble Road may have directed ancient Romans to a hidden brothel.
Selçuk, Turkey

The Public Toilets of Ephesus

The ancient latrines of the Greeks, in all their public glory.
Lyon, France

Astronomical Clock of Lyon

For hundreds of years, automatons moving to metallic music have been marking the passage of time.
Geneva, Switzerland

Treille Promenade

One of the longest wooden benches in the world snakes around Geneva's Treille Promenade.
Hildesheim, Germany

The Thousand-Year Rose

The world's oldest rose is so tough it survived being bombed in World War II.
Rome, Italy

Sculpture of Giovanni Paolo II

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

Lacus Curtius

A mysterious chasm in the heart of the ancient Roman Forum, the Lacus Curtius was once believed to be a gateway to hell.