Issues with the site? Please let us know. About Us Work with Us Sign up / sign in Places prev next New Orleans, Louisiana House of Dance & Feathers 02 Jul 2015 Marfa, Texas Food Shark Museum of Electronic Wonders & Late Night Grilled Cheese Parlour 02 Jul 2015 Stockholm, Sweden Nobel's Blasting Bunkers 02 Jul 2015 Mariefred, Sweden The Lion of Gripsholm Castle 02 Jul 2015 Articles prev next Manhattan Was Almost Home to a 200-Foot-Tall Owl Mausoleum 02 Jul 2015 FOUND: A Chinese Coin From the 1700s Buried in Seattle 02 Jul 2015 Dish Blight: The Ruins of Satellite TV Are All Around 02 Jul 2015 Places You Can No Longer Go: Mars 2112 02 Jul 2015 Events prev next Obscura Society NY: Untold Secrets of Central Park July 11, 2015 Obscura Society LA: Graveyard and Homestead in the City of Industry July 11, 2015 Obscura Society LA: Rock Hunt July 12, 2015 Dining with the Dead July 16, 2015 Send a tip Sign in or Sign up to add a place, save your favorite entries, create a map of places you've visited, and more! Random Place Close your eyes and spin the globe. what: near: Amsterdam, Holland The Bar Where You Could Pay In Monkeys When sailors used to come to Amsterdam's In't Aepjen bar, they would pay in the only way they could. With monkeys. monkeys, bars, animals 100 Wonders: Where the Bridges Are Grown In our latest 100 Wonders video we take a look at the amazing root bridges of Cherrapunji by Dylan Thuras Dish Blight How the historical blip of satellite TVs created this urban scourge by Dan Nosowitz The Story of the Giant Owl Tomb Manhattan was almost home to a 200-foot-tall owl mausoleum built for a newspaper tycoon by Luke Spencer FOUND: A Chinese Coin Buried in Seattle A Qing Dynasty coin from the 1700s somehow made it all the way to Washington by Sarah Laskow Thomas Jefferson Built This Country On Mastodons Our founding father was obsessed with the American mammoth, and disproving the ideas of his French nemesis by Cara Giaimo The Mars Invasion of Times Square The life and death of a most unusual themed restaurant by Lucas Adams Illegal Eagles If you find any part of a dead bald eagle, you are legally obligated to mail it back to the government by Eric Grundhauser 13 Extraordinary Illustrations of Fireworks Drawings of fireworks displays put on by European monarchs that'll beat anything on your Instagram feed by Anika Burgess Tirana, Albania Albania's Crumbling Communist Pyramid This monument to the Communism that nearly crushed Albania is now a crumbling wreck pyramids, communist architecture, monuments Enroll in Rare Book School This extremely popular program in Virginia teaches students all about the world of beautiful rare books by Andy Wright Swedish Game Castles Invade America Boda Borg, Sweden's escape-the-room-style reality gaming compounds are finally coming to America by Eric Grundhauser Place Want to go on an adventure? Sign up to hear about our events! Go How to use the Atlas Obscura: 01 Explore our database 02 Read our articles 03 Go on an adventure 04 Add a place Don't have an account? Sign up! Sign in with your account or Facebook Recently Added Most Visited Popular New Orleans, Louisiana House of Dance & Feathers An endearing museum dedicated to preserving the heritage of Mardi Gras' most beloved underdog parades mardi gras, museums, museums and collections 02 Jul 2015 Marfa, Texas Food Shark Museum of Electronic Wonders & Late Night Grilled Cheese Parlour Museum mostly in name, and only a restaurant depending on the day, this place could only exist in Marfa electricity, food museums, restaurants, museums and collections 02 Jul 2015 Stockholm, Sweden Nobel's Blasting Bunkers The remains of Alfred Nobel's first nitroglycerine factory can still be found on the shores of a Swedish bay factories, nobel prize, science 02 Jul 2015 Mariefred, Sweden The Lion of Gripsholm Castle This wonky bit of historical taxidermy is experiencing a second life online castles, taxidermy, animals 02 Jul 2015 Dikwella, Sri Lanka Wewurukannala Vihara To gaze upon the visage of Sri Lanka's biggest Buddha, one must first pass through the Tunnel of Hell horror, giant buddhas, temples, statues 01 Jul 2015 Salses-le-Château, France Château de Salses This castle-fortress is a living example of the transition from medieval defenses to modern fortifications forts, fortresses, castles, architecture 01 Jul 2015 See all places Tweets by @atlasobscura Recent activity gmccuiston wants to go to In't Aepjen thematyism wants to go to Museum of the Great Patriotic War dee13 has been to International Independent Showmen’s Museum matimus has been to Museum of Communism katiepardiac wants to go to Biosphere 2 Narmer wants to go to Ruins of King Zog's Estate Articles Manhattan Was Almost Home to a 200-Foot-Tall Owl Mausoleum by Luke Spencer / 02 Jul 2015 Newspaper publisher James Gordon Bennett Jr. was obsessed with owls. Sculptor Greg Lefevre created a bronze owl sculpture for him in Herald Square. (Photo: Laura/flickr) In 1906, one of New York’s premier architects, Stanford White, received an unusual commission. The request came from his friend James Gordon Bennett Jr., the publisher of one of America’s most circulated daily newspapers, the New York Herald. The media tycoon asked White to design and build his tomb. But this was to be no ordinary mausoleum. Bennett Jr. had something fantastic in mind for his final resting place: a sarcophagus soaring 200 feet into the New York skyline in the form of an owl. Furthermore, Bennett wanted the owl to be hollow, and for his coffin to be suspended midway inside the owl’s body by iron chains. This enormous owl mausoleum was to be situated in Washington Heights, on a plot of land owned by the Bennett family. Still there today on 183rd Street, the area now known as Bennett Park comprises the highest point of land in Manhattan, 265 feet above sea level. Bennett’s instructions for White specifically called for a 75-foot pedestal, where an 125-foot owl would rest. This was no sealed-off gravesite, though. The monument was intended to be open to the public. The New York Times reported on the proposed design: “Through the interior of the tomb, a circular staircase was to ascend from the bottom of the pedestal, around the coffin and the great iron chains, up to the eyes of the owl, which were to be windows looking over New York City.” Read More Recent Popular 02 Jul 2015 FOUND: A Chinese Coin From the 1700s Buried in Seattle by Sarah Laskow 02 Jul 2015 Dish Blight: The Ruins of Satellite TV Are All Around by Dan Nosowitz 02 Jul 2015 Places You Can No Longer Go: Mars 2112 by Lucas Adams 02 Jul 2015 How to Make Your Dead Eagle A Legal Eagle by Eric Grundhauser 02 Jul 2015 13 Extraordinary Illustrations of Fireworks Displays From Days of Yore by Anika Burgess 02 Jul 2015 Thomas Jefferson Built This Country On Mastodons by Cara Giaimo 02 Jul 2015 100 Wonders: Where The Bridges Are Grown by Dylan Thuras 01 Jul 2015 Leave Your Screens Behind (Mostly) at Rare Book School by Andy Wright 01 Jul 2015 Sweden's Secret Quest Castles are Coming to America by Eric Grundhauser 01 Jul 2015 Watch 'Singles' on VHS with 1,000 Strangers in the Seattle Courtyard Where It All Began by Ella Morton More articles Like Us on Facebook X See Our Collection of Curious Facts Share: Tweet Refresh What is the Atlas Obscura? Atlas Obscura is the definitive guide to the world's wondrous and curious places. In an age where everything seems to have been explored and there is nothing new to be found, we celebrate a different way of looking at the world. If you're searching for miniature cities, glass flowers, books bound in human skin, gigantic flaming holes in the ground, bone churches, balancing pagodas, or homes built entirely out of paper, the Atlas Obscura is where you'll find them. Atlas Obscura is a collaborative project. We depend on our far-flung community of explorers (like you!) to help us discover amazing, hidden spots, and share them with the world. If you know of a curious place that's not already in the Atlas, let us know. There is plenty out there to discover, so let's start looking! This is what we believe: 01. There is something new under the sun, every day, all over the world. 02. Around the corner is something that will surprise the hell out of you. 03. Atlas Obscura is for people who still believe in discovery. Our Popular Destinations: California Spain Netherlands Wyoming Minnesota New York Alaska North Dakota Home About / Contact FAQ Join our team / Internships Terms of Use Privacy Policy © 2015 Atlas Obscura. All rights reserved. View Mobile Site close Sign In or Sign Up Sign in with Facebook or Email Password Forgot your password? Remember me close Sign Up already have an account? Sign In Sign up with Facebook or Email Password How many tentacles does an octopus have?