natashaolsen's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Paris, France

Père Lachaise Cemetery

France's most famous cemetery, with some of its most curious tombs.
San Francisco, California

Alcatraz Island

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

Prague Astronomical Clock

Macabre astrological automaton clock dating to the late 1400s.
Grass Valley, California

Empire Mine State Park

The Empire Mine is "one of the oldest, largest, deepest, longest and richest gold mines in California."
Florence, Italy

Ospedale degli Innocenti (Hospital of the Innocents)

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

The Relic of St. Antoninus

The mummified relic of St. Antoninus.
Florence, Italy

Fresco of John Hawkwood

In Florence's great Duomo, a 26 foot fresco honors a mercenary famous for attacking Florence.
Florence, Italy

Medici Hall of Maps (Sala delle Carte Geografiche)

Over 50 exquisite hand-painted Renaissance maps decorate a Medici storage room.
Washington, D.C.

Darth Vader Grotesque

The sci-fi villain is a little-known inhabitant of the U.S. capital's largest cathedral.
Arlington, Virginia

Rosslyn Metro Escalator

At 207 feet, one of the world's longest continuous escalators.
Flagstaff, Arizona

Lowell Observatory

This Arizona observatory is famous for investigations into Martian life, and as the place humans first spotted Pluto.
Mayer, Arizona

Arcosanti

An urban laboratory.
Phoenix, Arizona

Camelback Mountain

A geological mystery on Camelback Mountain.
New York, New York

Unicorn Tapestries at the Cloisters

Mysterious 500-year-old tapestries depict a unicorn hunt.
New York, New York

Grand Central Terminal Whispering Gallery

Whisper secrets in a busy station only to be heard on the other side of this acoustic arch.
New York, New York

The High Line

Elevated freight railway turned wildly successful urban park.
New York, New York

Union Square Metronome

The most confusing clock in New York.
New York, New York

'The Sphere'

This sculpture by artist Fritz Keonig survived the 9/11 attacks and now stands as a monument to the victims.