Atlas Obscura

In this episode of , we visit the oldest (maybe) swimming pool in Iceland, a stunning oasis built into the side of a lush hill. Join us daily, Monday through Thursday, to explore a new wonder with cofounder Dylan Thuras and a neighborhood of Atlas Obscura reporters. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Sign up for our newsletter and enter to win the second edition of our book, Atlas Obscura: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Hidden Wonders. Atlas Obscura and our trusted partners use technology such as cookies on our website to personalise ads, support social media features, and analyse our traffic.

Christiansø is a small Danish island, part of the archipelago known as Ertholmene, which is located 18 kilometers (11 miles) northeast of the island of Bornholm. With an area of just 55 acres, this small rocky outcrop in the middle of the Baltic Sea hosts a permanent population of some 90 people. The small island has everything the community needs: a restaurant, commerce, a police station, and even a school for children to attend until 7th grade. Christiansø is now also linked to Frederiksø, an even smaller island, by a small pedestrian bridge over the harbor, which was built quite recently in Danish history.

If you look closely, you can find a little star embedded in the wall of the Mosque-Cathedral in Córdoba. Known to some as the Estrella de los Deseos (Wishing Star), this star exactly is located in a corner of the Cathedral-Mosque, next to Torrijos street. Despite the alleged magical properties that have been attributed to it by the ordinary people, the wishing star is just a common fossil typical of the calcarenite stone used in the façade of the building, which was hidden when the pillar was carved and used to build the wall. The fossil that now can be seen completely is a type of an equinoideo, and the shell of a Clypeaster, a type of marine sea urchin.

Among the winners is Arlette Magiera from Germany, who got a bronze award in the same category for her picture of a kongoni, or hartebeest, moving through Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda. Approaching Tanjung Puting National Park, the trees got too dense for the boat to pass, so he continued on foot, hiking through muck and tree limbs, while trying to keep himself and his camera gear safe in crocodile-infested waters. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Sign up for our newsletter and enter to win the second edition of our book, Atlas Obscura: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Hidden Wonders. We'd Like You to Like Us Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed.