Author: Ms. R.

Surrounded by prairie, farms, and wetlands, a modest ridge of woodland in southeastern Wisconsin might not seem noteworthy, but its story goes back about 430 million years and stretches across North America’s heart. To reach Brady’s Rocks, take a short spur off the 1,200-mile-long Ice Age National Scenic Trail, which leads up the ridge to a jumble of small cliffs, none much taller than the average hiker. Briefly quarried by an Irish immigrant named Michael Brady in the mid-19th……

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Japan is full of unassuming signs marking the sites of historical significance of varying degrees, from a samurai lord’s residence to a long-defunct elementary school, to the birthplace of some local delicacy. In the historic Tokyo downtown of Sumida City, there is a series of historical markers called Onihei Jokei, dedicated to fictional events that took place on the spot. Onihei Hankachō was a popular jidaigeki novel series written by famed author Shotaro Ikenami and serialized from 1967 to 1989. It……

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August Hermann Francke, the founder of the Francke Foundation, started to assemble art and natural history objects already during the 17th century. It was used as a school treasury and the objects were used as examples during the lessons. People were also allowed to view the whole collection as a museum like a set of wonders all over the world. The cabinet was kept and preserved over the years up to today and visitors can now see it in……

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Bat guano (dung) was an improbable boom commodity around the turn of the last century. It was an important ingredient in fertilizer before artificial nitrogen fixation had been invented. Every “bat cave” became the center of a burst of mining activity, and Nevada‘s Lovelock Cave was no exception. In their excavations, the miners encountered Native American artifacts, which they largely discarded in a heap outside the cave. Only when the artifacts started to hinder the operation did professional archaeologists……

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Bítov Castle was built on the site of an eighth-century Moravian hillfort above the confluence of the rivers Dyje and Želetavka. The castle was built in the 11th century, but its current appearance largely dates back to the 19th century. Apart from the history and beautiful views of the landscape, however, it is worth mentioning the large collection of taxidermy dogs, as well as other animals stylized into often obscure scenes. Baron Jiří Haas, who in his time transformed……

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The Callejón del Gato is a pedestrian passageway of about 150 meters nestled in the heart of old Madrid, a few steps from Puerta del Sol. In this alleyway, now full of restaurants and taverns, a shopkeeper installed two distorting mirrors at the beginning of the 20th century as a claim to attract customers. While the original funhouse mirrors were removed in the 1970s, new ones quickly replaced them. The original number of mirrors is uncertain—some say there were……

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In Arthurian lore, the Welsh town of Carmarthen—whose name apparently means “Merlin’s fort”—is said to be the birthplace of Merlin Ambrosius, King Arthur’s wizardly sidekick. So it should not come as a surprise that the town has some associations with him. Allegedly planted in 1659 or 1660 by a local schoolmaster to celebrate the Restoration of Charles II, Merlin’s Oak stood on the corner of Oak Lane and Priory Street. Local tradition has it that “when Merlin’s Oak shall……

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Silver Lyan occupies what was once the vault of the historic Riggs Bank. Today, the cozy space is lined with comfy red sofas. Its thick concrete walls are decorated with cabinets displaying trophies that glimmer in the low lighting. (The trophies are an unusual mix, including one awarded to “Last Place Champ.”) The vault’s original metal ceiling is still proudly on display. That room is perfect for larger groups, but if you just want to swing in and have……

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  While some house owners are content with landscaping their backyards with plants, garden gnomes, and perhaps a small pond, others set much higher goals. A perfect example of the latter was ambitious railroad worker-turned-brewer-magnate Christian E Nilsson a.k.a. “The King of Eslöv,” who in 1887 had the monumental Stenberget erected in his spacious yard. The structure, which resembles a truncated cone, consists of stacked rocks that were left over when Nilsson’s mansion was built. A path spirals around the outer edge……

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With a clear view down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol and a location just a few blocks from the White House, Freedom Plaza is a popular place for tourists and protestors alike. But casual visitors may not know that they’re walking on top of buried history. The open stone plaza at 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest was called Western Plaza when it was dedicated in 1980. But in 1988, it was given a new name in honor of……

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Listen and subscribe on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast apps. In this episode of The Atlas Obscura Podcast, listen as two hikers, a mother and son, trek through Michigan’s Isle Royale—the least-visited national park in the United States—to search for something they’d seen on Atlas Obscura: Moose Boulder. Except Moose Boulder probably doesn’t even exist. Our podcast is an audio guide to the world’s wondrous, awe-inspiring, strange places. In under 15 minutes, we’ll take you to……

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