vanessamontalbano1's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Rome, Italy

The Mouth of Truth

The yawning maw of this pagan visage is said to bite off the hands of liars.
Rome, Italy

The Dome Illusion

A master of trompe-l'oeil creates a stunning, tourist-fooling dome out of a flat ceiling.
Sorrento, Italy

Valle dei Mulini (Valley of the Mills)

An Italian crevasse filled with abandoned buildings gives visitors a look at the world without humans.
Villemer, France

The Chairs of Maison Gatti

Since 1920, one small company has defined the distinctive chairs of Paris' sidewalk bistros.
Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste, France

Fêtes de l’Ours (Festival of the Bears)

Take black faced bears with giant clubs, white faced barbers wielding axes, hunters armed with shotguns, and mix in a lot of drinking.
Sers, France

Pic du Midi Observatory

This futuristic observatory at the top of the Pyrénées offers unrivaled views.
Albi, France

Albi Cathedral

A medieval church with largest and oldest collection of Renaissance frescoes in France.
Roubaix, France

La Piscine

Museum in a swimming pool where the water still flows.
Creissels, France

Millau Viaduct

The world's tallest bridge is also possibly the most elegant.
Pont-en-Royans, France

Suspended Houses of Pont-en-Royans

These quaint French houses dangle precariously over a precipice.
Valenciennes, France

Abandoned Eurostar Train

This is what trains will look like after the zombie apocalypse.
Aubeterre-sur-Dronne, France

Underground Church of Saint-Jean at Aubeterre-sur-Dronne

The largest underground church in Europe.
Aigues-Mortes, France

Salin Aigues-Mortes

This salt marsh in Southern France is as pink as the flamingos that inhabit it.
Saint-Jean-de-Boiseau, France

The Grotesques of the Chapel of Bethlehem

Do these monsters look familiar? The gargoyles on this church are all from pop culture.
Romont, Switzerland

Les Pleureuses

What this Good Friday parade lacks in baroque filigree it makes up in somber gothic imagery.
Zurich, Switzerland

Der Trauerautomat

An unusual vending machine designed to support mourners during funeral ceremonies at Zurich's largest cemetery.
Bourg-en-Lavaux, Switzerland

Lavaux

Swiss vineyards in a UNESCO heritage site.
Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

Schilthorn Piz Gloria

A cablecar-station-turned-revolving restaurant with 360-degree views of the Swiss skyline.
Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

Sphinx Observatory

A historic observatory precariously perched at the "Top of Europe."
Lucerne, Switzerland

Dance of Death Bridge

This historic covered bridge contains a series of macabre paintings that communicate one thing: everyone dies.
Geneva, Switzerland

CERN

Large Hadron Collider and the Birthplace of World Wide Web.
St. Gallen, Switzerland

Abbey Library of Saint Gall

This is not only one of the oldest collections in Europe, but also possibly the most beautiful.
Lucerne, Switzerland

Lion of Lucerne

This memorial commemorating fallen Swiss Guards of the French Revolution has been called the saddest stone in the world.
Obergoms VS, Switzerland

Hotel Belvédère

A once-thriving hotel in the Swiss Alps couldn't compete with climate change.