ljgarces's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Inuvik, Unorganized, Northwest Territories

The Smoking Hills

These hellish-looking cliffs in the Canadian Arctic have been burning for centuries.
Iceland

Námafjall

In Northeastern Iceland lies something of an oxymoron: a steaming desert.
Baku, Azerbaijan

Fire Temple of Baku

A shrine of fire worship built on top of a natural flame.
Baku, Azerbaijan

Yanar Dağ (Fire Mountain)

Mysterious hillside with a continuously burning natural fire.
Qirmizi Qasaba, Azerbaijan

Krasnaya Sloboda (Qırmızı QƏsƏbƏ)

What might be the largest completely Jewish town in the world outside of Israel now faces dwindling numbers and empty streets.
Atyrau, Kazakhstan

Atyrau Airport

At 72 feet below sea level, it's the lowest commercial airport in the world.
Shetpe, Kazakhstan

Valley of Balls

Mysterious spherical rocks in the semi-desert of western Kazakhstan.
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Colorado's Airplane Restaurant

This Boeing KC-97 tanker is now a restaurant for aviation lovers.
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Tuberculosis Huts

Small teepee-like houses built for TB patients have become sheds, studios, and bus stops around Colorado Springs.
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Starr Kempf's Kinetic Sculptures

The moving metal works of one troubled artist can still be viewed on his front lawn... for now.
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Cheyenne Mountain Complex

The superstar of Cold War nuclear bunkers has been featured in countless films but is now barely operational.
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Garden of the Gods

Strange red rock formations that have been attributed to a higher power for hundreds of years.
Arcadia, Greece

St. Theodora's Chapel

Seventeen oak trees sprout from the roof and walls of this tiny chapel without any visual evidence of roots.
Sparta, Greece

Mystras

The ruins of an abandoned medieval city where the last Byzantine emperor was crowned.
Kalamata, Greece

Church of Agioi Apostoloi (Church of the Holy Apostles)

The Greek War of Independence was declared at this medieval Byzantine sanctuary.
Jamestown, Rhode Island

'Moonrise Kingdom' Beach

The secluded beach getaway from Wes Anderson's dreamy summer romance.
Kiruna, Sweden

Icehotel

The world's first ice hotel is still one of the most elaborate and beautiful.
Chattanooga, Tennessee

Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel

This historic train station has been converted to a locomotive themed hotel.
Zaandam, Netherlands

Hotel Inntel Zaandam

Colorful and chaotic stacked hotel in North Holland.
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Mary Tyler Moore Statue

A bronze statue on a downtown corner honors Minneapolis's favorite career gal.
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Hahn/Cock

One of two giant blue cockerel statues erected with an intentional double meaning.
Saint Paul, Minnesota

Birthplace of F. Scott Fitzgerald

The literary king of the Jazz Age was born in this lovely Minnesota home which still honors his legacy.
Saint Paul, Minnesota

Marjorie McNeely Conservatory (Como Park)

Home to the Amorphophallus titanum "Corpse Flower," which is among the largest flowers in the world and also smells powerfully of rotting flesh when in bloom.
Lake Itasca, Minnesota

Headwaters of the Mississippi River

At this Minnesota state park you can easily wade across the source of the mighty Mississippi.