A – Z Cities with Mysteries – Real & Fictional

 

Zurich, Switzerland

Queen of the Night Cactus

 

The Swiss botanic center in Zurich showcases one of the world’s largest and most important collections of succulents.

During the summer, visitors are treated with a special nocturnal event: the rare bloom of the Selenicereus grandiflorus, a cactus dubbed the “Queen of the Night”. Each flower blossoms for just one night per year and is withered the next morning.

The ‘Queen of the Night’ is a spineless cactus with aerial roots and large fragrant flowers. The large, white, trumpet-shaped flowers have a heady, sweet fragrance (think chocolate & vanilla scents) and are pollinated by hawk moths.

A – Z Cities with Mysteries – Real & Fictional

 Yamagata, Japan

 

Snow Monsters

The juhyo effect is a sustained cycle of ice accumulation that changes the scrubby fir trees into towering surreal oddities of snow and ice.

This unusual natural phenomenon occurs on the tip of Mount Zao every winter from late December to the middle of March. Harsh Siberian winds travel across the North Japan sea and the western plains of Yamagata. They batter the wooded mountainside. The freezing winds drop two to three meters of snow on the ground and glaze the fir trees with freezing condensation.

Zao Onsen ski resort is one of the few places where spooky snow monsters appear mid-February.

Alpine trees bombarded with heavy snowfalls and icy winds grow into tall, monster-like creatures.

 

 

 

A – Z Cities with Mysteries – Real & Fictional

 

Xi’an, China

Xi’an Confronts an Unusual Challenge: a Surfeit of Ancient Tombs

China wants to protect its historical relics from new urban development projects. But that’s no simple task in Xi’an — a city where imperial tombs are seemingly everywhere.

In 2013, archaeologists in the city of Xi’an made an incredible discovery while conducting surveys for a new road-building project: a 1,300-year-old tomb belonging to one of the most powerful female politicians in Chinese history, Shangguan Wan’er.

Shangguan had served as the de facto prime minister to Wu Zetian, China’s sole female emperor. But after Wu’s death, she was killed in a bloody coup, and her final resting place had remained a mystery for centuries.

Despite decades of research, archaeologists in Xi’an still haven’t located the tombs of several emperors, let alone those of many other historical figures who lived in the city.

 

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A – Z Cities with Mysteries – Real & Fictional

 

Wiltshire, England

The home of Stonehenge. Archaeologists believe it was constructed from around 3000 BC to 2000 BC. One of the most famous landmarks in the United Kingdom, it is owned by the Crown.

 

This prehistoric monument was built by a culture that left no written records.

Several scholars’ theories about its function:

A burial site

A ceremonial site

A religious pilgrimage destination

An astronomical calculator to mark the seasons

A place of healing

A final resting place for royalty

 

 There is no absolute evidence revealing the construction techniques used by the Stonehenge builders.

A – Z Cities with Mysteries – Real & Fictional

 Venice, Italy

 

Mysterious Curse?

The painter Giovanni Bragolin is known for his Crying Boys series of oils. Rumor has it the painting is cursed. (And rumor also has it that there is no such Italian painter.)

 

 

This painting of a young boy was set on the walls of multiple homes throughout Europe. People in many of the homes ended up being victims of fires or explosions. The painting, itself, was always found to be intact in the aftermath.

The painter was told by a priest that the wandering orphan’s parents had died in a house fire. When the painter took the boy into his studio to paint him, the studio caught fire and burned down.

A – Z Cities with Mysteries – Real & Fictional

 Ukhta, Russia

Fossils of a 372-million-year-old, early tetrapod called Parmastega aelidae, with a crocodile-like skull and eyes positioned high on its head, were discovered near Ukhta, Russia, suggesting an aquatic, surface-cruising lifestyle.

These fossils come from the Sosnogorsk Formation, a limestone formed in a tropical coastal lagoon, which is now exposed on the banks of the Izhma River.

These fossils aren’t mere fragments—when the limestone was dissolved with acetic acid, perfectly preserved bones from the head and shoulder girdle were revealed, piecing together into a three-dimensional reconstruction of the animal (by far the earliest for any tetrapod).

Tetrapods are the group of animals which made the evolutionary transition from water to land, ultimately becoming the ancestors of amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.

 

A – Z Cities with Mysteries – Real & Fictional

 

Toronto, Canada

Leslieville is a quiet neighborhood. Most of the single family homes have well-tended gardens in front, but there is one particular garden that’s tended a little differently.

It’s known as the Doll House, and the owner collected stuffed and plastic critters for over twenty years since her husband passed away.

The Doll House is not just dolls—there are toys, stuffed animals, plaques, and signs, some hung from the fence, some mounted on wooden stakes, and some lining the porch and eaves. Together they create a landscape cacophony that attracts Toronto tourists and shutterbugs alike.

 

 

 

Update:

The Leslieville dollhouse has been sold to a new owner and the dolls have been removed.