Hellingly Mental Hospital: the story of an asylum
We are in the village of Hellingly, in East Sussex, England. Here, on 20 July 1903, the Hellingly Mental Hospital was inaugurated: an asylum, the best in the area because, […]
St. Dunstan-in-the-East: one of the few remaining casualties of the London Blitz, this destroyed church has become an enchanting public garden.
We are on St Dunstan’s Hill, halfway between London Bridge and the Tower of London in the City of London.The church of St.Dunstan-in-the-East built here has survived a lot during […]
The leaning Lighthouse of Puerto Morelos, Mexico
We are in Puerto Morelos, located about halfway between the Riviera Maya hubs of Cancún and Playa del Carmen. Believe it or not, the small seaside town has had a […]
Chichen Itza Chirp: clapping at base of an ancient pyramid echoes the call of a sacred bird
Chichen Itza, a pre-Colombian archaeological site built by the Mayans in northern Yucatan, Mexico, is home to many architectural and cultural wonders, and one of this has baffled acoustics experts […]
SS United States and its unknown fate
SS United States is an ocean liner that still makes America proud, even though it is now fully docked and immovable. Historically, It was initially inspired by ships from the […]
Roosevelt Island Lighthouse: a little lighthouse in New York surrounded by mysterious stories of insanity-driven construction
Built in 1872 and known then as the “Blackwell Island Lighthouse”, the 15-meters-tall stone lighthouse at the northern tip of Roosevelt Island was constructed, if the legends can be believed, […]
Créac’h: the most powerful lighthouse in Europe
The Créac’h lighthouse, in Breton Tour-tan ar C’hreac’h (translated as Tour-tan: lighthouse and C’hreac’h: promontory) is a lighthouse in the island of Ouessant, in Brittany, France. It was built in […]
Yangzhou Zhongshuge: this Chinese library’s interior is designed to look like an infinite tunnel of books
We are in Yangzhou. The Chinese city is known for its graceful arched bridges, proximity to the Yangtze River and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. Architects kept these local features in […]
The legend of the haunted house known as Villa Clara
Each place has a more or less known heritage of curious stories, legends and mysteries, and Bologna, Italy, is no exception. Among these, the presumably haunted house in Casalecchio di […]
Buried at 2,000 meters high: the inaccessible sarcophagi of Karajia in Peru
Between the steep gorges of the Andes and the immense rainforests of the Amazonas region in Peru, there are surprising historical sites that document the history of the Chachapoya people, […]
Bangkok’s “David Beckham Temple”: one of the world’s weirdest religious buildings
Bangkok’s temples are truly a wonder to visit, but after a few days of battling the crowds, the appeal of gilded Buddha statues may start to lose interest. Thus, when […]
Ravi Hongal, the Indian photograher that has built his house in the shape of a camera
Can a passion become almost an obsession? Yes, apparently it is possible, and this Indian man confirms it: he is so fond of photography that he named his three sons […]
Moscowa Cemetery & Crematorium – Arnhem, Netherlands
This monumental cemetery was opened in 1876. It is located in north of Arnhem, Netherlands, and over the centuries it has grown into a park of more than thirty hectares. […]
Whitby Abbey: the gloomy ruins that inspired Bram Stoker to bring Dracula to life.
From Mina Harker’s diary, Chapter 6, Dracula by Bram Stoker: “Right over the town is the ruin od Whitby Abbey, which was sacked by the Danes, and which is the […]
Tourlitis Lighthouse: The magical Greek Lighthouse
We are off the coast of the Greek port city of Andros. Rising up out of the islet of Tourlitis, a weather-worn stone spire opposite the harbor at Chora, on […]
The strange story of why human urine was transported to quarries in North East Yorkshire
Since the days of the Roman empire, alum was used as a mordant or fixative that allowed textiles to be colored using vegetable dyes. Initially imported from Italy where there […]
Svörtuloftsviti – Skálasnagaviti: a lighthouse in Iceland that boasts magnificent coastal views
Svörtuloft (or the Black Ceiling) is a ruggedly beautiful place to visit. Despite the name sounds ominous, it stems from the cliffs being formed of pitch black lava, like in […]
The Aqueduct of Segovia, a glorious Roman heritage in Spain
If we speak about architecture, the Romans are among the greatest builders of the world’s history. Some of the surviving Roman buildings and monuments are magnificient still today, many centuries […]
Torre Argentina – the Roman Cat Sanctuary
As you probably know cats in Rome are very popular and they have always found shelter amongst the ancient city ruins. They are also protagonists of numerous postcards depicting them […]
Pidhirtsi Castle: one of the most valuable palace-garden complexes in the Ukrainian’s eastern borderlands—and one of the most haunted!
We are in Pidhirtsi, Ukraine. For believers, the country itself is filled with legends and mysticism, and Pidhirsti castle (Ukrainian: Підгорецький замок; Polish: zamek w Podhorcach) is also known as […]
Kościół w Kartuzach: the coffin-shaped church in Poland where monks once slept in coffins
Despite It’s hard to tell from the ground, if you take to the skies you’ll see that this 14th-century Gothic church is shaped like a coffin. Yes, really a coffin. […]
Łapalice Castle – The never completed derelict mansion of a Polish artist.
This eerie castle rots within the small village of Łapalice, Poland. It was abandoned before it was even completed, essentially doomed to exist as a shadow of what it could […]
Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, the mysterious disappearance of Muriel Trevenard and its haunted history
On a scenic basalt rock headland that juts into the Pacific Ocean stands a beautiful white lighthouse. At 28 meter tall, the Yaquina Head Lighthouse, located in Newport, Oregon, is […]
Everything you need to know about New Orleans’ Cities of the Dead~
There is no shortage of spooky graveyards in America, especially in the South and, it seems, when it comes to burying the dead no city does it better, and with […]
The abandoned Spitzer Castle in Beočin – Serbia
We are in the town of Beočin, on the slopes of Fruška Gora mountain, where rests a peculiar building, in ruins and long forgotten. Locally known as Spitzer Castle, the […]
Saint Mathieu Lighthouse | France
Located on Pointe Saint-Mathieu in Plougonvelin, around Brest in Finistère, Saint-Mathieu lighthouse was built in 1835 among the ruins of the ancient Abbaye Saint-Mathieu de Fine-Terre. The Abbey gives the […]
The surreal photos that show sanitation workers disinfecting historic monuments around the world
From the Giza pyramid complex, to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. These historic sites and others all over the world are usually teeming with tourists, vendors, and any sort of […]
The Cheboygan Point Lighthouse ruins and the lost town of Duncan – Michigan
Hidden among the trees in northern Michigan and along the shores of Lake Huron in the Cheboygan State Park lies the ruins of the old Cheboygan Point Lighthouse. When sailing […]
Fort Gratiot Lighthouse: Michigan’s oldest lighthouse
Fort Gratiot was built in 1814 during the War of 1812 to guard the juncture of the St. Clair River and Lake Huron. Named after the engineer who supervised construction, […]