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Paris, France
Chapel of Expiation
48.8737, 2.3233
Rīga, Latvia
Riga Ghetto and Latvian Holocaust Museum
56.9417, 24.1183
Cairo, Egypt
House of Egyptian Architecture
30.0325, 31.2583
Smygehuk, Sweden
Smygehuk Fyr
55.3386, 13.3528
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Steaming Tender Restaurant
Tiptree Jam Museum
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Where to See the World’s Most Famous Preserved Body Parts
Atlas Obscura’s Guide to America’s Most Haunted Cemeteries
It All Comes Together in Chattanooga
Sponsored By Chattanooga Tourism
The Best Haunted Hotels to Book for a Spooky Getaway
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113 Items Tagged
Disease
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Cave Creek, Arizona
Cave Creek Tubercular Cabin
The last such cabin in Arizona is a rare remnant of a bygone era of medical treatment.
Chigasaki, Japan
Ochobamba
An old woman cured cholera in the 1820s and now her grave is said to be the city’s most cursed object.
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Quarantainestation Heijplaat (Heijplaat Quarantine Center)
A 20th-century naval quarantine center is now a local park.
St. Augustine, Florida
Disease Vector Education Center
The United States' only educational center specializing in disease vectors and mosquitoes.
plague
Gas Trapped in Antarctic Ice Recorded the Mass Death of 56 Million People
Plagues, war, and genocide were literally frozen in time.
objects of intrigue
The Tale of the Mad Stone, the One-Time 'Cure' for Rabies
Before vaccines, pseudoscientific folks remedies for the deadly virus involved mysterious animal-vegetable-mineral hybrids.
Eyemouth, Scotland
Cholera Monument
A watchhouse constructed from tombstones, to make way for a burial pit, for the victims succumbing to a deadly disease.
Saranac Lake, New York
Saranac Laboratory Museum
A former infectious disease laboratory chronicles how tuberculosis shaped a village nestled in the Adirondacks.
graveyards
The Tombstone Sculptor Who Carved His Own Death in Granite
Nestled in Vermont’s Hope Cemetery, ‘The Dying Man’ tells the tragic tale of the area’s Italian gravestone carvers.
science
Podcast: The Ark of Citrus
A sweet archive of almost biblical proportions can be found at the University of California, Riverside.
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans AIDS Memorial
The neighborhood surrounding the memorial was the epicenter of the AIDS epidemic in Louisiana.
rats
Podcast: APOPO Rats
An episode that might have you rethink your stance on the humble rat.
Tokyo, Japan
Kimi-Chan
This sculpture bears a tragic backstory that may have inspired a hauntingly beautiful children's song.
vampires
The Real-Life Vampire Autopsies of the Victorian Era
When medicine and folklore collide, strange things happen.
Acharnes, Greece
Park of Souls
After a catastrophic forest fire, a Greek artist transformed scorched tree trunks outside an old sanatorium into this haunting sculpture garden.
spies
The Invisible, Afflicted Spy Who Led the U.S. Army Into Occupied Manila
As a woman with leprosy, Josefina Guerrero was ignored by Japanese forces as she carried messages of resistance in World War II.
animals
In Bhutan, a Rare Tiger's Mysterious Illness Had a Surprising Source
Local vets collaborated with an international team to figure out why the animal was dazed and wandering near the capital city.
quarantine
Podcast: International Cocoa Quarantine Center
Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
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