Mereja

Author: Dylan and Henry

  • Don Justo’s Self Built Cathedral

    Image of Don Justo's Self Built Cathedral located in Comunidad de Madrid, Spain

    Don Justo’s Self Built Cathedral

    A huge cathedral single-handedly constructed by one eccentric monk

    It is, at its simplest, an ex-monk’s act of faith. After eight years in a Trappist order–and just prior to taking his vows–Don Justo Gallego Martinez was obliged to leave, considerably weakened by tuberculosis. Without formal permission or permits, Don Justo began laying the foundations of a great cathedral with his own hands on a plot of land bequeathed to him by his parents.
    Today the frame of a large building, with a 40-meter-tall dome modeled on St. Peter’s in Rome, towers over the town of Mejorada del Campo. Like the cathedrals of old, it will not reach completion during the lifetime of its 81-year-old architect. What will happen to the building after Martinez’s death remains an open question. No one has yet stepped up to take over the project.

    Read more about Don Justo’s Self Built Cathedral on Atlas Obscura…

    Category: Curious Places of Worship, Outsider Architecture
    Location: Comunidad de Madrid, Spain
    Edited by: Dylan, Henry

  • The Death Scented Rafflesia Flower

    Image of The Death Scented Rafflesia Flower located in Tumbang Takunoi, Indonesia

    The Death Scented Rafflesia Flower

    The world’s largest flower, which smells like rotting flesh

    The Rafflesia arnoldii, a rare and endangered plant known as the “giant panda of the plant world” bears the world’s largest flower. A parasitic plant, the Rafflesia lives most of its life within the roots of another plant. Eventually a blossom breaks through the root, grows up to three feet wide, and smells almost exactly like a dead body.
    Known as the corpse flower or carrion flower, the Rafflesia releases a scent that smells like a rotting corpse, and the flowers petals bear a similar coloration to that of rotten meat. And while the flower smells terrible to humans, it smells like dinner to the carrion beetles and flesh flies, which swarm all over the corpse flowers and help them pollinate.

    Read more about The Death Scented Rafflesia Flower on Atlas Obscura…

    Category: Extraordinary Flora
    Location: Tumbang Takunoi, Indonesia
    Edited by: Dylan, Henry

  • Mystery Castle

    Image of Mystery Castle located in Phoenix, Arizona, US

    Mystery Castle

    A self-built castle made by a mysterious man

    Mystery Castle was built by Boyce Luther Gulley over a 15 year period. The mystery in Mystery Castle, is what compelled Gulley to abandon his job, wife, and his one year old daughter and set off to build the castle.
    Gully disappeared altogether for three years before turning up in Phoenix and beginning work on the castle. The Castle is said to be held together by a combination of mortar, cement and goats milk, and built from a wide range of materials including stone, adobe, automobile parts, salvaged rail tracks and telephone poles. Despite having 18 rooms, 13 fireplaces and numerous parapets, until recently, the castle had no running water or electricity.
    In 1945, Gulley’s abandoned wife and daughter received a call from a lawyer. They learned of Gulley’s recent death, the first they had heard of Gulley since his disappearance, and of the castle he had built, which was now rightfully theirs.
    Today, Gulley’s daughter lives in the castle and she and her granddaughter give tours.

    Read more about Mystery Castle on Atlas Obscura…

    Category: Eccentric Homes, Outsider Architecture
    Location: Phoenix, Arizona, US
    Edited by: Dylan, Henry

  • Musee Dupuytren

    Image of Musee Dupuytren located in Paris, France

    Musee Dupuytren

    Weird wax anatomical models reside here, as do other anatomical specimens

    This collection of thousands of anatomical waxes, pathology and terratology specimens was almost lost to history. The museum’s collection was started by French chemist and father of toxicology Mathieu Orfila in 1835, in an unused part of a convent. 102 years later, by 1937, the museum was broke and was forced to shut down. It sat neglected and rotting for the next 30 years before it was saved by Jacques Delarue in 1967.
    While during those years a number of pieces were lost or destroyed, the museum still has an impressive collection of 17th and 18th century specimens. Of particular note are the the brains of aphasic patients, preserved in alcohol, and still used in brain function research.

    Read more about Musee Dupuytren on Atlas Obscura…

    Category: Medical Museums
    Location: Paris, France
    Edited by: Dylan, Henry

  • Rhinestone Cowboy House at the JMK Arts Center

    Image of Rhinestone Cowboy House at the JMK Arts Center located in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, US

    Rhinestone Cowboy House at the JMK Arts Center

    A bedazzeld house and crown “jewel” of outsider artist Loy Allen Bowlin.

    Loy Allen Bowlin was known for his shuffle-step dancing, jokes and off-key singing.
    He was, of course, most well known as the “Rhinestone Cowboy” for his artistic rhinestone creations, including his rhinestone polyester leisure suits, rhinestone cowboy boots and rhinestone hats. Bowlin even had rhinestones embedded in his dentures. He didn’t stop there, covering every inch of his house in his sparkling rhinestone art. His house, which was in Missouri, has been moved in an effort to preserve it and now is on display at the Kohler Arts Center in Wisconsin.
    The John Michael Kohler Arts Center specializes in outsider artists, or environmental builders; while there be sure to check out the work of Nek Chand, Tom Every, and Sam Rodia, all wonderful outsider artists in their own right.

    Read more about Rhinestone Cowboy House at the JMK Arts Center on Atlas Obscura…

    Category: Outsider Architecture
    Location: Sheboygan, Wisconsin, US
    Edited by: Dylan, Henry

  • Bory Castle

    Image of Bory Castle located in Szekesfehervar, Hungary

    Bory Castle

    Hungarian self-built castle

    One of two self-built castles in Hungary (the other is the much more ramshackle Tarodi Var), Bory Castle was the work of Hungarian sculptor and architect Jeno Bory. Bory built the castle between 1923 and 1959 with the help of several of his students.
    The building features a range of architectural styles–from Scottish to Romanesque to Gothic–all eccentrically combined. You can freely climb the towers and walk among the garden’s sculptures, which were all created by Bory. Inside are several galleries featuring Bory’s paintings, many of which are of his wife, for whom the castle was built.

    Read more about Bory Castle on Atlas Obscura…

    Category: Architectural Oddities, Eccentric Homes, Outsider Architecture
    Location: Szekesfehervar, Hungary
    Edited by: Dylan, Henry