Probably one of the most bizarre places on the planet, this five-story castle on the top of a hill in Sosua is home to hundreds of unusual artworks, including alien-themed art, extraterrestrial messages, and at least four spaceships, as well as a sizable collection of exotic Haitian sculptures.

Rolf Schulz, a German artist, decided at the age of 51 that he would leave his hometown, Hamburg, to pursue his dream of building a castle in the Dominican Republic. And so the Castillo Mundo King was born.

The artist began this labor of love in 1990 and lived in the dwelling with no electricity or running water until he died, in January 2018. Before his death he would regale visitors with stories of UFOs and extraterrestrial life. His self-built palace now functions as an otherworldly art museum. 

The castle’s five floors are filled with several hundred pieces of surreal art, including an impressive collection of sculptures made by Haitian and Dominican artists (many of them exotic), as well as carvings in stone and wood, paintings, and murals. Those that climb the stairs all the way up to the top floor are met with a reward: The view looking out over the Bay of Puerto Plata is breathtaking.