petervanackeren's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Istanbul, Turkey

Meryem Ana Rum Ortodoks Kilesesi

It's believed that this small church was connected to the Hagia Sophia via a secret tunnel.
Istanbul, Turkey

Vlora Hanı

An Art Nouveau gem hides beneath the layers of city grime obscuring this once-magnificent building.
Yufu, Japan

Yufuin Floral Village

This amusement park brings a little slice of England to the heart of Kyushu.
Tongyeong-si, South Korea

Dongpirang Mural Village

This hillside village by the sea has been revitalized by street art.
North Pyongan Province, North Korea

North Korea's International Friendship Exhibition Hall

A bizarre collection of gifts to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il from the despots of the world.
Kyoto, Japan

Kimono Forest

An LED art installation composed of 600 poles wrapped in kimono fabric.
Nara, Japan

Buddha's Nostril

Devoted Buddhists can earn enlightenment in the next life by crawling through this symbolic nostril.
Hatsukaichi, Japan

Itsukushima Shrine

Japanese national treasure originally built in 593 CE.
Kyoto, Japan

Otagi Nenbutsu-ji

Twelve hundred stone carvings guard this off-the-beaten-path Buddhist temple.
Ramat Negev Regional Council, Israel

Makhtesh Ramon

A massive, heart-shaped, wind-carved crater in the middle of the Israeli desert.
Schwangau, Germany

Neuschwanstein Castle

The fairy tale castle of the "fairy-tale king."
Berlin, Germany

Humboldthain Flak Tower

These former Nazi anti-aircraft towers offer a singular view of the north of Berlin in the summer, and a sanctuary for bats in winter.
Berlin, Germany

Berliner Unterwelten (Subterranean Berlin)

A tour of underground Berlin takes you through WWII air raid shelters and tunnels used to smuggle people out of East Germany.
Green Valley, Arizona

Titan Missile Museum

America's only nuclear missile silo open to the public.
Sedona, Arizona

Chapel of the Holy Cross

A spiritual vortex among the red rocks in Sedona.
Jerome, Arizona

Jerome's Sliding Jail

A Wild West jailhouse that slid down the mountainside.
Phoenix, Arizona

Camelback Mountain

A geological mystery on Camelback Mountain.
Tucson, Arizona

El Charro Cafe

One of the oldest Mexican restaurants in the United States air-dries its trademark beef in a dangling outdoor cage.
Vilnius, Lithuania

The Mermaid of Užupis

Travelers who fall victim to this mermaid's charms are destined to stay in Užupis forever.
Vilnius, Lithuania

The Church of St. Anne

Legend has it that Napoleon Bonaparte fell in love with this Gothic church.
Vilnius, Lithuania

Palace of Concerts and Sports

An abandoned masterpiece of Soviet Brutalist architecture.
Fleury-devant-Douaumont, France

Douaumont Ossuary

This modern French ossuary contains the jumbled bones of 130,000 WWI soldiers.
Nara, Japan

Tōdai-ji Daibutsuden (The Great Buddha Hall)

This massive wooden building contains a giant Buddha, healing pillars, and tame deer wandering the grounds.
Hiroshima, Japan

Hiroshima's Hypocenter

A plaque marks the site directly below the mid-air detonation of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima.