Sure, you’ve heard of and maybe even seen the Taj Mahal, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and the Great Wall of China. Now, you’re looking to see some sights off the beaten path that are, well, a little weird.
In this list, you’re not going to find museums full of famous artwork or anything on the new list of the wonders of the world, but you will find chandeliers carved from bones, trees full of dolls, and a toilet museum.
Read on to see the seven most bizarre tourist attractions that you could — and should — go see.
From the outside, the Sedlec Ossuary looks a bit like any other small, Gothic medieval church. But the ossuary is also known as the Church of Bones: Inside, the skeletons of over 40,000 people make up everything in sight. Coats of arms, pyramids, chalices, and much more are all made of bone that was bleached and carved by a local woodcarver in the late 1800s.
The pièce de résistance is the church’s chandelier, which is said to incorporate every bone in the human body at least once; large white pillar candles sit atop skulls. The town where the ossuary is located, Kutná Hora, is one of 17 World Heritage sites in the Czech Republic.
If you’re afraid of rodents, stay far, far away. This temple, built in 1530 AD and rebuilt in the early 1900s to honor the Hindu goddess Karni Mata, is full of over 20,000 rats that are considered to be holy.
Karni Mata is believed to be the incarnation of Durga, the goddess of power and victory; according to legend, when her stepson drowned, Karni Mata begged Yama, the god of death, to bring him back. Eventually, Yama relented with a caveat: He and any male children would be brought back as rats until they could be reincarnated into human form.
The temple is considered an important pilgrimage site, and the rats are cared for by temple staff who consider them to be kin. Visitors must be barefoot inside the temple — if one of the rodents scurries across your feet, it’s considered to be good luck. Be careful not to step on one, though. If you accidentally kill a rodent, you must replace it with a rat made of solid silver or gold.
The origins of Stonehenge might be a mystery, but the origins of Carhenge aren’t. Jim Reinders built the monument in 1987 in memory of his father, who lived on the farm where Carhenge now stands. Reinders arranged 39 vintage American automobiles that were spray-painted gray in positions similar to those at Stonehenge and in a circle with an almost 100-foot diameter.
Three non-American cars were buried beneath a sign that reads, “Here lie three bones of foreign cars. They served our purpose while Detroit slept.” Other artwork has been added to the site to create the Car Art Reserve — car art sculptures covered in colorful spray paint.
More than 600 feet in the ground, within the tunnels of an abandoned salt mine, exists… a Roman Catholic church. In 1932, salt miners carved an underground church where they’d ask the saints to protect them during the day’s work. In 1950, larger construction began, and a few years later, the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá — made of three naves and a cross — was inaugurated.
The church was closed in the 1990s due to safety concerns but was reopened a few years later after a massive construction project. Today, the cathedral has three main sections: the Stations of the Cross (with 14 churches carved from salt), the Dome, and the three naves. There are four columns to represent the Four Evangelists. The cathedral is part of the larger Salt Park complex, and it hosts a Mass every Sunday.
Legend has it that in the mid-1900s, Don Julián Santana Barrera found the body of a young girl floating in the canals of Xochimilco and was unable to save her. He then found a doll drifting in the water and, believing it to be hers, hung it up in a tree on his chinampa in the Laguna de Tequila to honor her and ward off evil spirits. Believing the island to be haunted, Barrera started collecting more and more dolls, hanging them over the island — until, in 2001, he was found drowned in the canal in the same spot where he reportedly found the girl.
Today, visitors can see the Island of the Dolls (La Isla de las Muñecas) via gondola-like boats, although not all rowers are willing to take passengers to the island. Some visitors leave dolls, while others report seeing the dolls move and open their eyes and hearing them whisper.
Let’s get down to business: In 2012, the world’s first toilet theme park opened around a toilet-shaped home that once belonged to the former mayor of Suwon and the founding president of the World Toilet Association, Sim Jae-duk, a.k.a. “Mr. Toilet.” Reportedly, he was born in an outdoor toilet and was teased about it as a kid.
Visitors to Mr. Toilet House, also called the Haewoojae Museum, are greeted by a giant gold sculpture of a piece of fecal matter. Inside, permanent exhibitions showcase the history of toilets — traditional Korean squat toilets, European bedpans, and so on. A children’s experience teaches young visitors about the digestive process of the human body.
“Welcome to hell.” That’s how visitors are welcomed to the Wang Saen Suk Hell Garden, a Buddhist temple where larger-than-life statues depict the types of torture you can expect to suffer in hell if you commit various sins. Just inside the garden, guests are warned, “If you meet the Devil in this life, don’t postpone merit-making which will help you to defeat him in the next life.” Donation boxes are placed next to each installation to encourage penance through charity.
The post The 7 most bizarre tourist attractions that are real — and worth visiting appeared first on Quartz.
