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Profile image for Michael J Bielawa

Michael J Bielawa

Joined Atlas Obscura in 2018

Michael Bielawa’s explorations take him to northeast America's most mysterious, and abandoned, sites. He’s shared his findings on TV, radio and in print: including reanimating the dead in New England with NPR, long-lost 19th century baseball fields with Major League Baseball, Men In Black and the Lake Champlain Creature with the Connecticut Post and attempts to pilfer P.T. Barnum's corpse with London’s Fortean Times. Bielawa lectures throughout Connecticut and his Wicked Walks, each October for The Barnum Museum (and in 2018 co-sponsored by Atlas Obscura), documents Bridgeport, Connecticut as one of America’s most paranormal downtowns. He is the author of Wicked Bridgeport and Wicked New Haven.
Michael J. Bielawa, Author

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405

Places I've been

Places this traveler has marked as been there.

A cat in Parque John F. Kennedy

Lima, Peru

Cats of Parque Kennedy

In the upscale neighborhood of Miraflores in Lima, a pretty little park is home to dozens of cats.

'Angels Unawares'

Vatican City

'Angels Unawares'

The first statue to be added to Saint Peter's Square in over 350 years is an ode to migrants and refugees around the world.

The gallery of maps, showing the ceiling

Vatican City

Gallery of Maps - Galleria delle Carte Geografiche

Breathtaking and huge 430 year old maps of Italy.

Spaghetto taratatà is named for the sound of rattling sabers.

Rome, Italy

Giano Restaurant

Inventive Sicilian specialties are executed with flair at this restaurant overseen by chef Ciccio Sultano.

The lower basilica of San Clemente.

Rome, Italy

Sisinnius Fresco in the Basilica San Clemente

A rather vulgar example of the transition from Latin to the Italian vernacular.

Basilica di San Clemente

Rome, Italy

Basilica di San Clemente

A Nesting Doll of Churches.

Jesus' footprints in the basilica

Rome, Italy

The Catacombs of San Sebastian

Jesus' footprints and the first catacombs in the world.

(WikiCommons)

Rome, Italy

Via Appia

2300-year-old Roman road connecting the empire.

Crypt of the Three Skeletons.

Rome, Italy

Santa Maria della Concezione Crypts

The crypts of Capuchin friars decorated with the bones of over 4,000 friars, including an entire "crypt of pelvises."

The balcony.

Rome, Italy

Mussolini's Balcony

The spot where the fascist dictator made some of his most famous speeches including declaring war on Britain and France.

Temple of Hercules Victor

Rome, Italy

Temple of Hercules Victor

This curious, round temple is the oldest still-standing marble building in Rome.

The Mouth of Truth

Rome, Italy

The Mouth of Truth

The yawning maw of this pagan visage is said to bite off the hands of liars.

Beckley Furnace Industrial Monument

North Canaan, Connecticut

Beckley Furnace Industrial Monument

The last blast furnace to close in New England offers a rare window into the region’s once-thriving iron industry.

The American Shakespeare Festival Theatre Site

Stratford, Connecticut

The American Shakespeare Festival Theatre Site

Markets and festivals take place at this former home of a 1,500-seat theater, which burned to the ground in 2019.

Beckley Iron Furnace

North Canaan, Connecticut

Beckley Iron Furnace

The last surviving 19th-century blast furnace in Connecticut.

The Old Leatherman's Cave

Watertown, Connecticut

The Old Leatherman's Cave

The rocky occasional overnight accommodations of a Connecticut folk legend.

Hubbard Park

Meriden, Connecticut

Hubbard Park

Home of the Daffodil Festival, Castle Craig, and a ghostly hound.

The Pinchot Sycamore

Simsbury, Connecticut

The Pinchot Sycamore

This sycamore is Connecticut's largest tree, New England's largest sycamore, and among the largest of its kind nationwide.

Babe Ruth Birthplace

Baltimore, Maryland

Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum

The childhood home of the Sultan of Swat is just a line drive away from Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

The angel's face.

Natchez, Mississippi

'Turning Angel' Statue

This monument to the victims of a tragic explosion is said to turn and look at passing cars.

The grave of Florence Irene Ford.

Natchez, Mississippi

Grave of Florence Irene Ford

Florence’s mother built a stairway down to her daughter’s coffin so she could comfort her during storms.

Mammy's Cupboard

Natchez, Mississippi

Mammy's Cupboard

This racially troublesome eatery thought a new coat of paint could erase its offensive connotations.

Mike the Tiger looking all cute and stuff!

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Mike the Tiger

The LSU mascot lived on the college campus in one of the most impressive tiger habitats in the country.

The Luling Mansion today.

New Orleans, Louisiana

The Luling Mansion

Despite the ever pressing encroachment of urban sprawl this grand New Orleans manse still stands.

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