olympesilve's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
Loading map...
Kyoto, Japan

Ryōan-ji

The quintessential Japanese rock garden has existed for more than 500 years.
Kyoto, Japan

Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine

The 10,000 Torii shrine.
Tokyo, Japan

Hachiko

After a profound show of devotion for his master, a dog becomes the symbol of loyalty for an entire nation.
Tokyo, Japan

Akihabara Electric Town

Once a black market electronics marketplace, now an otaku shopper's paradise.
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.
Paris, France

The Recumbent Effigy of Victor Noir

How did a French journalist’s grave become the sexiest statue in the cemetery?
Paris, France

Montmartre Cemetery

A horde of stray cats rule in this secluded Parisian cemetery under a bridge.
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.
Paris, France

Montparnasse Cemetery

A Parisian cemetery where the elite and artistic are interred beneath an eccentric collection of tombs.
Paris, France

Montmartre Funicular

The water-powered carriages are long gone, but for over a century this funicular railway has been the fastest route to the highest point in Paris.
Paris, France

The Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital

Pitié-Salpêtrière was the dumping grounds for women who received the dreaded diagnosis of "hysterical."
Paris, France

Gallery of Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy

This museum houses an imposing skeleton army comprised of creatures great and small.
Paris, France

Grande Galerie de l'Évolution

Natural history museum celebrating biodiversity with a parade of taxidermy animals.
Paris, France

The Room of Endangered and Extinct Species

A haunting collection of the vanished and disappearing natural world.
Paris, France

Lion of The Botanical Gardens

A majestic lion statue guards this Parisian botanical garden, and feeds on an unsettling item.
Paris, France

Le Comptoir Général

This Paris art space celebrates the creativity and ingenuity that springs from abject poverty, especially in Africa.
Paris, France

Arènes de Lutèce

Remains of Roman amphitheater hidden in a sleepy quarter of Paris.
Paris, France

Bibliothèque nationale de France (National Library of France)

This massive library holds what was once the largest book collection in the world.
Paris, France

Thanksgiving Grocery

An all-American grocery store in Paris sells U.S. "cuisine" like Pop-Tarts and Heinz ketchup to homesick ex-pats.
Paris, France

Un Regard Moderne Bookstore

A counter-culture bookstore like no other hides in plain sight in the streets of Paris.
Paris, France

Shakespeare and Company

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

59 Rivoli

Notorious artist squat renovated into legal studios.
Paris, France

Julien Aurouze and Co.

A Parisian exterminator's shop whose storefront displays stuffed rats hanging from traps.