Explore 930 Religion Collections - Atlas Obscura
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outsider art

Sicanje, an Ancient Balkan Tattoo Tradition, Draws a New Generation

For millennia, women adorned their daughters, and sometimes sons, with symbols of belonging and protection. Then the practice vanished—until now.
Freya West November 16, 2022
Scott, Arkansas

Toltec Mounds

People of the Plum Bayou culture built these enormous mounds over 1,000 years ago.
Memorial Stupa of Helena Roerich
Kalimpong, India

Memorial Stupa of Helena Roerich

Outside a hilltop monastery in India, a monument to a 20th-century Russian mystic.
Positivist Temple
Porto Alegre, Brazil

Positivist Temple of Porto Alegre

One of the few remaining temples of the Religion of Humanity.
Medium Eusapia Palladino performs a séance at the French home of astronomer Camille Flammarion on November 24, 1898.
witchcraft

The Secret History of Female and Nonbinary Occultists

A new book examines how supernatural beliefs have often offered a voice, visibility, and vulnerabilities.
Sarah Durn October 25, 2022
Few knew the origins of the mysterious Kay's Cross in Kaysville, Utah, and ghost stories grew up around it.
haunted

The Strange, Awful Truth Behind Utah's Eerie Stone Cross

It's more bizarre than the urban legends.
Greg Christensen October 20, 2022
Great West Window
Winchester, England

The Great West Window

This cathedral's stained-glass patchwork of psychedelic colors and shapes was put in place long before the swinging 60s.
All illustrations: John Mata for Atlas Obscura
puzzles

Puzzle Monday: Living With the Dead in Madagascar

Alex Bellos October 10, 2022
An <em>aling-aling</em> is a half-wall opposite a gate that can keep spirits at bay.
architecture

How Homes in Bali Are Designed for Harmony—and to Keep Demons at Bay

All the subtle ways traditional dwellings offer spiritual security.
Ronan O'Connell October 6, 2022
Cell of the Anchoress of Shere
Shere, England

Cell of the Anchoress of Shere

In 1329, Christine Carpenter entered this small stone cell in the hopes of becoming a living saint.
Geneva, Switzerland

John Calvin's Chair

A plain wooden seat that once belonged to one of the most prominent figures of the Protestant Reformation.
Krujë, Albania

Sari Salltik's Shrine

A temple dedicated to the 13th-century Alevi Turkish dervish credited with bringing Islam to the Balkans.
Port McNicoll, Ontario

Martyrs' Shrine

Within the church are the relics of the martyrs St. Jean de Brébeuf, St. Gabriel Lalemant, and St. Charles Garnier.
churches

Podcast: Friendship Park

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team August 11, 2022
The flatness and long torsos are Byzantine-inspired.
Buffalo, New York

Calasanctius Mural

A Byzantine-style concrete artwork pays tribute to a 17th-century saint.
Interior.
Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo Camii & Turkish Culture Center

Tatar Russian in origin, the largest mosque in Japan is now an Ottoman-style Turkish culture center.
Mosque during renovation- this is how the facade looks today
Kodungallur, India

Cheraman Juma Masjid

Inside India's oldest mosque, a lamp is said to have burnt for 1,000 years without going out.
The main prayer hall at Taksim Mosque, Istanbul.
Istanbul, Turkey

Taksim Mosque

One of the newest mosques in a city filled with thousands.