Melkor's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Hallstatt, Austria

Hallstatt Charnel House

An Austrian house of bones filled with hundreds of intricately painted skulls.
Halle, Belgium

The Blue Forest

Each spring, a dreamlike carpet of bluebells overtakes the forest floor.
Bonifacio, France

Amnesia Nightclub Ruins

Once the hottest nightclub in France, Amnesia now lies in ruins after a 2000 bombing.
Lisse, Netherlands

Keukenhof Gardens

Unsurprisingly, Holland is home to one of the most magnificent flower gardens in the world.
Vernazza, Italy

Cinque Terre

Five candy-colored villages on the Italian Riviera.
San Gimignano, Italy

Towers of San Gimignano

These medieval skyscrapers dominate the skyline of this small Tuscan town.
Bled, Slovenia

Bled Island and Castle

This one-time health resort was used by aristocrats around the world.
GrindavĂ­k, Iceland

Blue Lagoon

Medicinal spa created with the discharge from a geothermal energy plant.
Odda, Norway

Trolltunga

Walk 2,300 feet above the ground on the "Troll's Tongue."
Strand, Norway

Preikestolen

This "preacher's pulpit" once used for pagan ritual, is home to a new, and dangerous ritual.
Schwangau, Germany

Neuschwanstein Castle

The fairy tale castle of the "fairy-tale king."
PlitviÄŤka Jezera, Croatia

Plitvice Lakes

A chain of 16 wondrous lakes formed as a result of the gradual dissolution of soluble layers of bedrock.
Athens, Greece

Antikythera Mechanism

A 2,000-year-old computer demonstrates remarkable engineering and astronomical precision.
Argolis, Greece

Mycenae

This legendary city has been a tourist attraction for centuries.
Andros, Greece

Tourlitis Lighthouse

Perched on a spindly rock spire in a Greek archipelago, this lighthouse would make a perfect wizard's tower.
Zakinthos, Greece

Navagio Beach

Hidden in a secluded Greek cove is a pristine beach marred only by the rusting smuggler's hulk stranded on its shores.
Greece

Sami

A spectacular cave and a beguiling lake.
Greece

The Oracle of Delphi

The hallucinogenic center of the ancient world.
Tiberias, Israel

Zodiac Mosaic of Hammat Tiberias

The mosaic floor of a 4th-century synagogue features a pagan zodiac wheel alongside traditional images of a Torah ark and menorahs.
Rehovot, Israel

Machon Ayalon

Hidden beneath a washing machine in a fake kibbutz, this secret bullet factory has been preserved as a museum.
Jerusalem, Israel

Ades Synagogue

This "Jewish Sistine Chapel" was designed to reinvigorate Judaism's artistic legacy but was almost lost to misguided restoration.
East Jerusalem, Israel

Zedekiah's Cave

An ancient quarry rediscovered by a dog and claimed by biblical kings, a German cult, and the Freemasons.
Ayelet HaShahar, Israel

Tel Hazor

A Biblically notable site over the ruins of an ancient city that is now a protected World Heritage site.
East Jerusalem, Israel

Western Wall Tunnel

Descend 2,030 years into the past in an ancient tunnel built to support Jerusalem's most famous wall.