Author: Ms. R.

Shurijo Castle is a wooden structure constructed over 500 years ago. It was once the epicenter of the Ryukyu dynasty, set on a hilltop overlooking the City of Naha.  The entire grounds are surrounded by a stone wall and there are several staircases to get to the castle. The lookout at the top provides a beautiful view of the city below. The castle and its surrounding buildings are bright red and gold, complete with colorful accents and breathtaking ornate……

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What seems to be a small forest close to the Munich Olympic park is actually a small oasis of tranquility made possible almost entirely by a single person.  Timofei Wassiljewitsch Prochorow once transported coal on the railways when he was forced by German soldiers to use his wagon to smuggle them out, only to be released afterward. It was at that point that Prochorowsaid had his first vision of Mary. She told him to go to the west and……

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“Time and Tide Bell” was created by sculptor Marcus Vergette and bellmaker Neil McLachlan. With slight variations, it consists of a sculpture incorporating a bell, which was then placed directly above the water near the seashore, but in some cases above a river. At high tide, the bell rings with a sound unique to each location. The plan foresees for up to 16 of these sculptures to be placed in the United Kingdom as a statement regarding climate change…….

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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, The Sporkful host Dan Pashman brings listeners on a quest to find a fruit native to North America that has never been industrialized—but may be seeing a resurgence. 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……

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On an abandoned island off the coast of Virginia, fig trees sprout up on the grounds of a demolished lighthouse. Although human residents left the island in the 1930s, leaving scant ruins in their wake, the fig trees serve as a living remnant of a bygone era. Situated a few minutes away from Cape Charles, Hog Island has a long history of being inhospitable to humans. Before colonial settlement, Eastern Shore tribes used the land only during fishing and……

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Scotland is a country renowned for mountainous and rugged landscape and there are few peaks as iconic as Ben Arthur (Beinn Artair in Gaelic), more widely known as the Cobbler. This fine mountain is part of the Arrochar Alps, a group of summits located around the head of Loch Long, Loch Fyne and Loch Goil situated near the villages of Lochgoilhead and Arrochar. At a height of 884 meters (2,900 feet), the peak falls just short of Munro height……

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The Goffs Schoolhouse Museum and associated 75-acre site is an absolute throwback to 19th-century mining, 1914 grade school, World War II training camp (Camp Goffs), an original Route 66 stopover, and is considered the Gateway to the Mojave National Preserve. The one-room Goffs Schoolhouse was built in 1914. For 23 years it served as a school as well as a community center. The Mission-style building hosted dances as well as a branch of the county library. The school closed in 1937,……

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While many people know that Minneapolis is home to the Mall of America, the largest mall in the United States, most don’t know that the world’s first fully-enclosed modern shopping mall is just down the road in the suburb of Edina. Southdale Center was designed to challenge the car-centric culture that was taking hold in the U.S. in the years after World War II. Traditionally, large retailers like the J.L. Hudson’s Company, Sears Roebuck & Co. Montgomery Ward, and……

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In the lush mountains of Burundi, 70 miles southeast of the bustling city of Bujumbura, lies the southernmost source of the Nile River—maybe. There are, in fact, many sources of the Nile. But this mountain stream in Burundi is likely the southernmost source of the river, which cuts a winding course through several countries before it empties into the Mediterranean. Also, it has a pyramid.  At around 4,100 miles, the Nile is the world’s longest river. It has three……

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In 1914, the British War Office made a huge order with Reading-based biscuit (cookie) makers Huntley & Palmers. This order was not for any average sweet treat, however, but for a key ration for the army’s fight ahead. Huntley & Palmers response was a dense, square brick of nothing more than flour, salt, and water. Huntley & Palmers were able to cheaply produce these stocky slabs, given the fittingly plain name of Army No.4, all the way up to……

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In India, offering water is considered an extremely good deed. Therefore, once upon a time, when packaged drinking water was not available, it was the norm to construct drinking water fountains for public use, particularly in places that saw heavy footfall, to quench the thirst of people and animals. In Mumbai, such water fountains can be spotted in a number of locations. At a busy road junction in the Fort, the business district in South Mumbai, there is a……

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The Isle of Scalpay in the Outer Hebrides has a population of approximately 300 and is connected to the archipelago’s most populated region by an impressive bridge. Before the 1997 opening of the bridge, the 984 foot (300 meters) Sound of Scalpay waters could only be crossed by ferry (except for during the Ice Age, when sea levels were low enough to make the distance walkable). Since the early 1980s, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (the Western Isles Council) had……

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Listen and subscribe on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast apps. It’s easy to dismiss Bigfoot, the yeti, the Loch Ness monster, and other cryptids as fodder for the X-Files. But in this episode of The Atlas Obscura Podcast, we visit the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine, to show that when investigations into unknown creatures are done right, they can have real scientific value. Our podcast is an audio guide to the world’s wondrous, awe-inspiring, strange……

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