Minneapolis: There are more than 20 lakes within the city limits.

Cedar Rapids: home of the oldest mosque in North America (at least, the oldest mosque that was built specifically to be a mosque).

Brno: There's Church of the Finding of the Holy Cross in Brno... under this church is crypt with mummified monks (I am not making this up)... they weren't mummified intentionaly, but because of very dry air in this crypt and when it was later found by monks who owned the crypt, they arranged some of the corpses into scary looking decoration... It's not as big as ossuary in Kutná Hora, but in Kutná Hora, they have only thousands of bones and skulls, while in Brno we have mummies...

Brno also has ships (about five I think) as part of public transport service, these "sail" local dam...

The term "skid row" originated in Seattle, where it referred to what is now Yesler Way, a long steep road leading to the water that was originally a log run.  Later the area became populated by transients and homeless, thus creating the association between the term "skid row" and a decrepit urban area heavily populated by homeless and transients.

Seattle: A many-storied underground city lies buried beneath downtown, housing a vast population of morlocks and troglodytes.

!i!

Montevideo: A huge (and infamous) prison was turned into the most prestigious shopping mall in the country.

Quote from: Ian Absentia;225249Seattle: A many-storied underground city lies buried beneath downtown, housing a vast population of morlocks and troglodytes.

Oh, how I wish that second part were true.  It would make the tour so much more interesting.

Seattle: The original business district that became the heart of the city and ensured it's eventual dominance over Tacoma was funded primarily by money from brothels.  This established a long and cherished history of whores in office.

Bend is one of only two cities in the US with a former volcano inside city limits.

It's actually just outside my window.

Portimao: Old as the hills, it was founded by the Carthaginians as one of their Mediterranean colonies. Hannibal himself made a stop there on his march to attempt to destroy Rome.

Robert Byrd, the senior U.S. Senator from West Virginia since 1959, was born in North Wilkesboro.

In a very known park of Madrid you can find the Statue of the Fallen Angel, which is, unless I'm mistaken, the only monument in the world dedicated to Satan.

Quote from: Jackalope;225282Oh, how I wish that second part were true.  It would make the tour so much more interesting.

Hell, I wish just the first part was true -- that's how they portrayed it on "Kolchak: the Night Stalker" back when I was a kid.  In real fact, it's the former first floor of an entire downtown neighborhood that was filled in following a major fire.  For quite some time after the fire, the sidewalks and entrances to the businesses remained at the original level, while the streets were filled in and built up to the second storey level.  Eventually, proper sidewalks were built at the new street level, and buildings retrofitted their second storeys to create new entrances.

Oh, and here's another fun fact about Seattle:  In South Downtown, much of the sanitary sewer system is built at sea level.  Yes, yes, do the math -- at particularly high tides, things can get...rank.  In the olden days with gravity-flush toilets, peoples' commodes would apparently erupt with effluvia from time to time.

!i!

Thanks for the warning. Should I ever visit Seattle I'll make sure to seek accomodation away from South Downtown.

Seattle is world famous as a major site for heroin use, and it's most famous landmark is a giant needle.

Quote from: Fritzs;225206Brno: There's Church of the Finding of the Holy Cross in Brno... under this church is crypt with mummified monks

I've seen the exhibit, and it is quite inspiring (if macabre). Nice gothic church atop the hill, too.

Pécs: Beneath the inner city, there is a multi-level tunnel system, some of it constructed for wine storage, other parts leftovers from the Turkish occupation and later used to store munitions. One time when I was digging a deep hole in my garden to install a trellis, I hit a vault from above. Most of the tunnels are choked with debris, though, so only a few sections are currently in use - ranging from restaurants through wine cellars to the underground Museum of Mining.