Author: Ms. R.

Overshadowed by the more well-known temple towns of Atami, Ito, and Shimoda, the small town of Usami often gets lost in the shuffle. But several miles from the seaside, in the hills of Japan’s Izu Peninsula, sits one of the country’s largest seated Buddha statues. Perhaps it’s evading popularity due to its ambiguously public nature.  Making the up-hill trek from Usami station, you will find this striking temple complex, though you may or may not be welcomed—it is a……

Read More

This sculpture celebrating Larne’s tourism hay days was commissioned in November 2019 with a budget of £80,000. The eventual winning artist, Kevin Killen, crafted the stunning piece of art that pays tribute to famous local figures such as the hotelier and “Father of tourism” in Ireland Henry McNeil. The sculpture showcases a lone man riding a jaunting car with a steed horse pulling the vehicle along. The man and horse are covered in metallic words of famous local places……

Read More

The Guild Inn, or simply The Guild was a historic hotel in the Guildwood neighborhood of Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, and was once an artist colony. The surrounding Guild Park and gardens are notable for a sculpture garden that contains the rescued facades and ruins of various demolished downtown Toronto buildings. These include buildings such as the old Toronto Star building and the Granite Club. The park is situated on the Scarborough Bluffs with views of Lake Ontario….

Read More

Located in the heart of the capital city of Bissau, the pink-hued Presidential Palace has borne witness to much of the country’s history. Portuguese colonizers originally built the palace. At the time, it was one of the largest buildings in Bissau. But since Guinea-Bissau gained independence in 1974, the palace has been the home of the country’s sitting president. [Delete: When it was built, the palace was one of the largest buildings in Bissau. It long stood as a……

Read More

The history of lotteries in Japan can be traced back to Osaka around the 12th-century when a temple started hosting such games in an attempt to raise funds for its upkeep. While the prize was not money but a lucky charm, the practice gained popularity across the country by the end of the 17th-century. The national lottery was established at the end of World War II. Some have won tens of millions of yen, while many have lost, rendering……

Read More

Leuven is a reasonably densely populated city, especially in the student housing section. This piece of street art adds to that feeling, as the graffiti appears as though dozens of tiny people are living near the staircase of a student flat.  The art was created as part of the 2013 Concrete Festival, where several locations prone to graffiti were turned into art installations in collaboration with the university and youth center. The entrance to the Camilo Torres student flat was……

Read More

Also known as Billy Diamond’s Bridge Stone Circle, Glenquicken is an oval stone circle with a single central pillar standing 1.6 meters tall. The central stone is cobbled. The outer ring was originally formed from 29 stones, but today only 28 remain, with a gap to the western side indicating where the stone was removed. The circle has a 28-meter diameter, with the stones being taller on the southeastern arc. The British archaeologist Aubrey Burl has referred to Glenquicken as……

Read More

Eighteen lakes snake through the arid Ennedi region of Chad to form a breathtaking oasis in the middle of the Sahara Desert. Collectively they are known as the Desert Lakes of Ouianga, which make up the world’s largest permanent freshwater lake system in a desert environment. The first sketches of these lakes date back to 1913, when French colonizers launched a geographic mapping exercise of northern Chad. The exceptional flora and fauna that flourish here are rare, partly due……

Read More

Listen and subscribe on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast apps. In this episode of The Atlas Obscura Podcast, we visit Lake Natron in Monduli, Tanzania, which can leave welts and burns on human skin but is a bit of a paradise for another animal. Our podcast is an audio guide to the world’s wondrous, awe-inspiring, strange places. In under 15 minutes, we’ll take you to an incredible site, and along the way you’ll meet some fascinating……

Read More

When Madi Dermé touches down at Thomas Sankara International Airport in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, he is met by a phalanx of men on horseback with whom he rides through the city streets. Every year, the French-Burinabè equestrian artist trades the polished arenas of Europe, for the bustling streets and dusty hippodromes of his homeland—where his ancestors, who were blacksmiths and cavaliers, or traditional horsemen, rode steeds into battle and made them dance for kings. Dermé is one of the……

Read More