mlafreniere's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Montreal, Québec

Oratoire St. Joseph

City law dictates that this mountaintop cathedral containing the heart of a saint is to remain the tallest building in town.
Montreal, Québec

Notre Dame Basilica

A grand Gothic Revival basilica with stained glass depictions of Montreal's religious history has only one soul resting in its crypt.
Québec City, Québec

Château Frontenac

This lovely, if imposing, piece of Canadian gothic is possibly the most photographed hotel in the world.
Lisbon, Portugal

Rhinoceros of Belem Tower

A king's pet, a pope's gift, an artist's inspiration, and a tragic shipwreck.
Segovia, Spain

Segovia Aqueduct

One of the few remaining ancient aqueducts described by Frontinus as 'the most solemn testimony of the Empire.'
San Francisco, California

Palace of Fine Arts

The last remaining relic of San Francisco's glittering 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition.
San Francisco, California

Camera Obscura & Holograph Collection

A walk-in working camera obscura produces 360-degree live images of the San Francisco coast.
San Francisco, California

Alcatraz Island

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.
Seattle, Washington

Evergreen Point Floating Bridge

The longest and widest floating bridge in the world.
Seattle, Washington

Freeway Park

The first park built over a freeway is a brutalist masterwork.
Seattle, Washington

Gas Works Park

This former coal gasification plant found a curious second life as a popular public park.
Seattle, Washington

Museum of Pop Culture

A museum dedicated to the history and exploration of both popular music and science fiction.
Beijing, China

The Forbidden City

The most famous location in China was home to whole dynasties worth of imperial rulers.
Boston, Massachusetts

Copp's Hill Burying Ground

This landmark cemetery in Boston was created more than 300 years ago.
Boston, Massachusetts

Boston's Old Burying Grounds

Macabre headstones carved with winged skulls, dancing skeletons, and pithy reminders of impending death.
Los Angeles, California

Heritage Square Museum

Beautiful Victorian buildings from L.A.'s forgotten architectural past.
Los Angeles, California

Lummis Home ("El Alisal")

A castle that was built stone by stone by an eccentric journalist.
Los Angeles, California

Griffith Observatory's Tesla Coil

High on a hill overlooking Los Angeles lives a world famous, high power conical Tesla Coil.
Los Angeles, California

Bradbury Building

The legendary building that needed ghostly approval before being built.
Paris, France

Shakespeare and Company

This iconic Parisian bookstore doubles as the "Tumbleweed Hotel" for traveling writers.
Paris, France

Catacombes de Paris

The vast, legendary catacombs hold secrets much stranger than stacked bones.
Paris, France

Père Lachaise Cemetery

France's most famous cemetery, with some of its most curious tombs.
Republic of Nauru

Nauru

"The country that ate itself."
Panueli, Solomon Islands

Egg Fields of Savo Island

Megapodes incubate their eggs using the heat of an active volcano on this Pacific isle.