Places Edited by Rachel James

A massive ultra-modern church presents a science-fiction view of Catholicism's inclusive future.

A retired military stronghold on the rolling green coast of Donegal.

This abstract roadside poultry was saved from demolition by outraged drivers and pilots.

A former major munitions plant that has been converted into a sprawling art space.

Long before guestbooks and hotels, frontier travelers signed their names on this rock face.

A 1914 beaux arts auditorium that sat shuttered for 20 years, restored and reopened in 2026

In the town of Třeboň, carp is king.

Rumored to be the famed pirate's lookout tower, this historic stone structure is now just watching for tourists.

You thought Santa Claus didn't exist, but it turns out you were wrong.

An authentic replica of an Asian temple and garden hidden amongst the natural beauty of Hawai'i.

A rapidly disappearing authentic bit of the old south.

143 feet of leaping muskie whose mouth can be used as a wedding venue.

This prison-turned-museum is a remnant of the Old West's grizzly, violent past.

The private island of Yale's elite Skull & Bones society is kind of a dump.

An Italian geologic wonder that served as the inspiration for the landscape of Dante's hell.

European castle ruins in an American state park are actually the product of death and grief.

The artist James Turrell is repurposing an extinct volcano crater as an observatory to experience the cosmos.

A towering work of stone and philosophy that was constructed using ancient Hindu science.

A condom-covered Thai restaurant that is more concerned with birth control than food.

The largest stone circle in the world has ended up bringing up more questions than it has answered.

A glacier pocked with ice caves and surrounded by rainforests.

A 1:20 scale piece of the Netherlands commissioned by a queen lets visitors take a stroll as giants.

The ravine where Jesse James supposedly performed an impossible jump to evade capture.

A century-old tradition has culminated in a small but singular collection of feline effigies.