Meg's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
Raymond, Washington

Willie Keil's Grave

The founder of a utopian religious community based on the Golden Rule laid his son to rest on this grassy hill.
Bruges, Belgium

Halve Maan Brewery Beer Pipeline

A beer pipeline runs beneath Bruges.
Norrköping, Sweden

Kungens Rondell (King's Carousel)

This roundabout was renamed in honor of the Swedish king's royal fender-bender.
Detroit, Michigan

St. Agnes Church and School

This Detroit ruin was once a gothic bastion of its community, but now it stands as a haunting ruin.
Cartagena, Spain

Bateria de Castillitos

The two massive guns that defended Cartagena Bay.
Tofino, British Columbia

Canso Bomber Crash Site

The wreckage still sits at the exact spot the plane crash-landed in 1945, carrying 1,000 pounds of explosives.
Laoag City, Philippines

The Sinking Bell Tower

It is believed that the historic tower is sinking at a rate of an inch a year, though no one is completely sure why.
Sakakah, Saudi Arabia

Za'abal Castle

This fortress sits atop a centuries-old well system.
Somers, New York

Memorial to America’s First Circus Elephant

This high-perched pachyderm marks the memory of not one, but two elephants gunned down in small New England towns.
Namibia/South Africa

Ai-Ais—Richtersveld Transfrontier Park

A seemingly desolate park that belongs to two countries actually supports all kinds of wildlife.
Villa Baviera, Chile

Villa Baviera

Formerly a brutal Nazi colony, this Chilean village was remade as a (controversial) German-themed tourist trap.
Independence, Missouri

Independence Temple

This otherworldly church spire reaches up toward the heavens.
Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Abandoned Dome House

Rotting dome home spotted near Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Krakow, Poland

Kopiec Wandy (Wanda Mound)

An artificial hill and apparent calendric structure built in the Early Middle Ages immortalizes a legendary Polish princess.
Sekigahara-chō, Japan

Sekigahara War Land

One of the bloodiest and most important battles in Japanese history is recreated with kitschy concrete statues.
Tampa, Florida

Two-Headed Gator of Seminole Heights

"Bite or Smite" became the unlikely mascot of a Tampa suburb.
Sisters, Oregon

Lost Lake

This lake in the Cascades lives up to its name, disappearing down a hole every spring.
Baghdad, Iraq

Saddam Hussein's Blood Quran

A 605-page Quran penned in the blood of a dictator is locked away in a mosque.
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.
Belgrade, Serbia

Belgrade Aviation Museum

In the hinterlands of Serbia's capital, a giant reflective mushroom houses an aeronautical history of the former Yugoslav republic.
Chennai, India

San Thome Basilica

This Gothic-style church is reputedly built atop the remains of one of Jesus's apostles.
Providence, Rhode Island

Providence Athenaeum

A 19th century library favored by Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft, known by locals as "the Ath."
Denver, Colorado

National Ice Core Lab

Where scientists keep miles of very valuable ice from Antarctica and Greenland from melting.
Paris, France

Louis XIV's Globes

Two awe-inspiring globes from the reign of the Sun King hang from the ceiling of France's national library.