Places Edited by Luke Thomas

A mountain pass in Bulgaria's Balkan Mountains was the site of four historic battles.

"There's nothing there," and other lies the KGB told us.

Built to house a chapter of the Knights Templar, this grandiose building is a relic of Freemasonry in Chicago a century ago.

The most magnificent bottle house in a town strangely full of them.

This renaissance château was home to an infamous witch hunter who sent a hundred suspected witches to their deaths.

In the heart of Brigham Young's promised land sits a festering plot of industrial ruin that has been claimed by society's outcasts.

Over the centuries, this island paradise has done it all, from providing monks with ecclesiastical respite to sheltering an exiled Leon Trotsky.

Countless grotesque faces stare out from this eerie Prague art wall.

This disappearing geyser has been attributed to witchcraft, but really it's all about rainfall.

A renegade art installation in a small Vancouver park is now officially sanctioned by the City Parks Department.

A fantastic Christmas tradition where defecation meets the manger.

Catalonia Tradition: Beating the hollow Christmas log until it defecates in your fireplace.

This burger joint is named after everyone's favorite carnival prize and is adorned with a giant one over the door.

Once a year, at exactly 11:11 a.m., this monument comes to life.

Warsaw's fantastically preserved gasworks...almost.

Preserving the remains of Native American cultures which otherwise would have been submerged behind Hoover Dam.

Since the 1700s, this old barrel has acted as a post box that relies on the kindness of travelers.

A small square plaque marks a failed assassination attempt that could have changed history.

This knobby, drooping New Orleans oak is a favorite place both for climbing and for meeting giraffes.

This home of a taxidermy hoarder is among the grandest and most singular of historic English estates.

Lebanon's highest point offers expansive views, martian terrains, and eerie ski lifts.

This automated sculpture of two men peeing will spell out text messages with their micturition.

This amended headstone marks the grave of a participant in one of the most successful military deceptions of all time.

This historic Amsterdam bar used to accept sailor's monkeys as payment.