Joel Cusumano's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
Leaderboard Highlights
Joel Cusumano's activity rankings
1st
Places visited in Pozzuoli, Italy
1st
Places added to Palermo, Italy
1st
Places edited in Matera, Italy
2nd
Places added to Naples, Italy
2nd
Places edited in Ravenna, Italy
2nd
Places edited in East Jerusalem, Israel
3rd
Places edited in Naples, Italy
3rd
Places edited in Valladolid, Mexico
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Places edited in Morro Bay, California
Naples, Italy

Church of Santa Maria la Nova

Does this church in Naples hold the true tomb of Vlad the Impaler, the notoriously cruel figure who inspired Bram Stoker's Dracula?
Ravenna, Italy

Mausoleum of Galla Placidia

An incredible mosaic-lined monument said to have held the remains of an ancient Roman empress.
Ravenna, Italy

Baptistery of Neon

Psychoanalyst Carl Jung reported a paranormal experience after visiting this mosaic-lined Roman baptistry.
Ravenna, Italy

Arian Baptistry

A medieval, mosaic-lined baptistry built by a heretical Christian sect.
Uayma, Mexico

Santo Domingo de Guzman Church and Convent

This one-of-a-kind convent boasts a kaleidoscopic exterior of stars and double-headed eagles.
Venice, Italy

'Dragon Bones' of Santa Maria e San Donato

Hanging within this medieval church are the bones of a beast allegedly slain by a fourth-century saint.
Selçuk, Turkey

Basilica of St. John

This crumbling medieval basilica once attracted pilgrims by the thousands to collect a miraculous dust that formed above the saint's tomb.
Mexico

Cuzamá Cenotes

Three sinkholes filled with warm, crystal-clear water reached by a horse-driven cart on an old train track through the jungle.
Palermo, Italy

The Martorana

This mosaic-lined medieval church was built by the world's first admiral and still holds mass in ancient Greek.
Palermo, Italy

Santa Maria dello Spasimo

This skeletal, unfinished Gothic church once housed a miraculous masterpiece by Raphael.
Palermo, Italy

San Giovanni degli Eremiti

Behind medieval walls in a corner of bustling Palermo is a breathtaking former mosque once inhabited by a wolf-taming hermit.
Kiryat Tiv'on, Israel

Beit She'arim Necropolis

A sprawling ancient Jewish cemetery with over 30 rock-hewn burial caves.
Tiberias, Israel

Zodiac Mosaic of Hammat Tiberias

The mosaic floor of a 4th-century synagogue features a pagan zodiac wheel alongside traditional images of a Torah ark and menorahs.
Palermo, Italy

Arabic Inscription of Palermo Cathedral

Why a column on the entrance is inscribed with a verse from the Quran is one of Sicily's many mysteries.
Sparta, Greece

Mystras

The ruins of an abandoned medieval city where the last Byzantine emperor was crowned.
Naples, Italy

Catacombs of Saint Gaudiosus

The burial place of an obscure North African saint was turned into a macabre body preservation factory for the 17th-century Neapolitan elite.
Istanbul, Turkey

Viking Runes at Hagia Sophia

A small etching on the white marble parapet was written in runic script by a Viking mercenary.
Naples, Italy

The Arm of St. Thomas Aquinas

The remains of the left arm of the levitating philosopher-saint are kept in a 13th-century Neapolitan basilica.
Catania, Italy

Elephant Fountain

A mysterious ancient elephant said to possess magic powers is now the symbol of a Sicilian city.