Atlas Obscura
Selections from the award-winning guide to the world's most wondrous places
Popina Memorial Park monument, Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia, 2015. Designed by architect Bogdan Bogdanovic, the monument “was created to honor the Republic of Uzice, the first sizeable liberated territory within the entire German Reich in 1941…[The monument’s] archetypal forms speak to us about the Revolution and the ideal society, while their orientation relative to the Sun addresses eternal themes of life, death, and sacrifice” (Architectuul). Photo: Vladimir2510986
Atlas Obscura (AO) is a U.S.-based online magazine and travel company that catalogs unusual and obscure travel destinations. Founded in 2009 by author Joshua Foer and documentary filmmaker/author Dylan Thuras, this “global community of explorers” has “created a comprehensive database of the world’s most wondrous places and foods,” aiming “to inspire wonder and curiosity about the incredible world we all share.” Experiences offered include “the world’s most unusual trips to the world’s most remarkable places;” Atlas Obscura Societies create “intimate, wondrous experiences for its community” in nine U.S. cities. AO’s first book Atlas Obscura: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders (Workman Publishing, 2016) was a No. 1 bestseller on Amazon and in The New York Times. In 2023, The Atlas Obscura Podcast won an iHeartRadio Podcast Award and a Signal Award. Atlas Obscura also offers tours of “the world’s most unusual trips to the world’s most remarkable places.”
Ahead of the summer months, HTI Open Plaza has curated unique Atlas Obscura stories that are of interest to our community.
PODCASTS
Robot Saints
We meet the robot saints – sculptures made of wood and wire, of cams and pulleys during medieval times – that might just help us understand this new AI age we all find ourselves living in. 10/17/2024
Texas Painted Churches
A series of churches in Texas that look unassuming from the outside in fact have some of the most intricately painted interiors. And for one of our listeners, these churches mean home – religiously and culturally. 8/15/2024
Minister’s Treehouse
The world’s biggest treehouse was inspired by a message from God. 4/9/2024
The Immovable Ladder
In a place where multiple world religions intersect, this unassuming little ladder is a symbol of the very delicate balance that keeps a church in Jerusalem running. 11/3/2024
It’s Getting Hot in Here
Let’s all go to hell. Seriously. Hell, Michigan, that is :) 8/29/23
The Complaint Tablet of Ea-Nasir
Turns out, complaining about bad service really is as old as time. Hear the story of an ancient Babylonian clay tablet that has launched a slew of modern memes. 7/12/2023
COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTIONS
Open Chapel Murals of Actopan (Mexico)
These nearly 500-year-old scenes are largely faded by the ravages of time, yet still maintain their power to horrify. 2/22/19
North mural of the Open Chapel of the temple and former convent of San Nicolás de Tolentino in Actopan, Hidalgo, Mexico, 2017. Photo: RubeHM
Rodef Shalom Biblical Botanical Garden (U.S.)
This Old Testament garden features 100 plants from biblical times. 2/15/17
Rodef Shalom Biblical Botanical Garden, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2010. Photo: Daderot
Pachacamac (Peru)
The remains of what was the most important religious complex in coastal Peru for over a millennium. 1/19/16
A view of the 'Nunnery' building at the sacred Andean site of Pachacamac, south of Lima, Peru, 2005. The 'Nunnery' provided accommodation for female priests and was built by the Incas when they took over the site in the late 15th century CE.
Photo: Bruno Girin
The Holy Land Experience (U.S.)
A mega theme park-wax museum mélange in Orlando, Florida containing all things biblical. 7/20/15
Church of All Nations at The Holy Land Experience, Orlando, Florida, 2017. Owned by the Trinity Broadcasting Network, the Christian amusement park closed in 2020. Photo: Zfigueroa
NYC’s Hidden Meditation Spots (U.S.)
Places of pause in a city that never sleeps. 8/20/14
Meditating at Brooklyn Bridge Park, Brooklyn, New York, 2011. Photo: Santos "Grim Santo" Gonzalez
Tierra Santa (Argentina)
Bible stories are brought to life with gloriously cartoonish kitsch in this South American theme park. 1/13/13
Muro de Los Lamentos (Wailing Wall) at Parque Tierra Santa, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2009. Photo: Roberto Ettore
ARTICLES
Decoding the Gun-Wielding Angels of Bolivia
The ‘angeles arcabuceros’ morphed from Catholic messengers to symbols of Indigenous independence. 11/30/23
Military angel (ángel arcabucero), artwork by unknown artist, dated
1600-1699, Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, Casabindo, Argentina. Source: ARCA
What’s So Special About Monk-Made Food?
The enduring appeal of beer, cheesecake, and ferments made at convents and temples. 12/14/21
Cookies in the form of nuns in Avila, Spain, 2015. Photo: Zorro2212
How a Librarian and a Food Historian Rediscovered the Recipes of Moorish Spain
When Spain was under Muslim rule (ca. 700-1200), Christians and Jews were free to worship and observe their dietary customs in what was known as Convivencia. A new cookbook is a translation of a rare, 13th-century volume. 10/15/21
Pages from Fiḍālat al-Khiwān describe recipes for meatballs, hare, and rabbit. Source: Qatar Digital Library
The Chocolate-Brewing Witches of Colonial Latin America
The Inquisition persecuted women who used cacao to entice lovers and spurn enemies. 1/27/20
Image of Aztec woman preparing chocolate, from the Codex Tudela. Source: Museo de América
The Sacred Afterlives of Buffalo’s Vacant Churches
The best way to preserve a church in a shrinking city is often to convert it to a mosque or temple. 11/4/19
A Buddhist temple in a former Catholic church, Buffalo, NY, 2015. Photo: Ashima Krishna
Alternating Currents
The rise and fall of Venezuela, as seen from a Colombia border city, its grand mosque, and the migrants and converts who worship there. 9/29/19
Mosque of Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, Maicao, Colombia, 2008. Photo: Yuri Romero Picon
An Ancient Ceiba Tree Blooms Once Again After Puerto Rico’s Devastating Storms
The island of Vieques is still struggling after the hurricanes of 2017, but its most famous tree offers hope. 3/6/19
300-year-old ceiba, Vieques, Puerto Rico, 2011. Photo: Jay Sturner
Inside a Brazilian Chapel Made Out of Wine
During a drought, church-builders mixed their mortar with the local vintage. 1/22/19
Igreja Matriz de Nossa Senhora das Neves (Chapel of Our Lady of the Snows), Ilha de Maré, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, 2018. Photo: Paul R. Burley
How a Jesus-Shaped Cake Incurred the Wrath of Argentina
The dessert, which was part of an art exhibit, caused an uproar when a politician had a slice. 5/31/18
Scene from BJ: The Life and Times of Bosco and Jojo (2022) of government intervention in a exhibit by Pool & Marianela exhibition, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2016. Photo: Sblapalma
A Visit to the Biggest Little Mosque in Honduras
The sky-blue building draws a diverse range of Muslims from hours away. 4/10/18
Members of the Centro Islámico de Honduras, San Pedro Sula, Honduras, 2024. Photo: Abu Ferreira
The Ghost Story Behind a Bucolic Catholic Retreat Center
A brief, true history of West Virginia’s Priest Field and “The Legend of the Wizard Clip.” 11/7/2017
Plaque of half-moon crescent and clippers repeated on several structures around the historic Civil War community of Middleway, West Virginia, 2010. Photo: Kilo22
The Practicalities of Transporting a 400-Year-Old Heart
How the traveling body parts of saints get through customs. 3/7/17
Reliquary of the alleged skull of St. Valentine at the Santa Maria in Cosmedin church, Rome, Italy, 2012. Photo: AlfvanBeem
The Powerful 1940 Map That Depicts America as a Nation of Immigrants
Produced by the Council Against Intolerance in the lead up to World War II, the map illustrates America’s unique ethnic and religious diversity by erasing state borderlines and showing the nation as one unit. 2/6/17
America—A Nation of One People From Many Countries (1940) by Emma Bourne. Source: Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education
The Sleepy Peruvian Town that Comes Alive Each Year to ‘Please the Virgin’
Demons, jokers, and colonial characters get together to celebrate tradition and faith with a raucous party. 12/13/16
Virgen del Carmen paraded through the town of Paucartambo, Cuzco, Peru, 2009. Photo: Tipene78
Celebrating Life While There’s Still Time
Halloween meets Mexico’s Days of Death. 10/20/14
Close-up view of a Santa Muerte south of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, 2007. Photo: El Comandante
