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Apr 2, 2024 13 tweets 6 min read Read on X
Art or Reality?

Let us explore Earth's most extraordinary secrets of nature's marvels, where the surreal landscapes defy not only the imagination but science itself! 🧵⤵️ The Door to Hell, a burning natural gas field in Derweze, Turkmenistan. By Tormod Sandtorv - Flickr: Darvasa gas crater panorama, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18209432
Thor's Well in USA

Often referred to as the "drainpipe of the Pacific," Thor's Well is a seemingly bottomless sinkhole that swallows the seawater around it. The sheer force with which the water is drawn in and expelled creates a dramatic spectacle, especially during high tide or stormy conditions. This natural wonder is actually a sea cave that has collapsed, with its roof now gone, allowing water to fill it from the bottom.Credit: Nigel Ten Fleming @TenFleming on X
Danakil Depression in Ethiopia

Known for being one of the hottest places on Earth with temperatures that often soar above 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius), the Danakil Depression is also one of the lowest points on the planet, dipping more than 100 meters below sea level. This desolate landscape is dotted with acid pools, lava lakes, and mineral deposits in neon colors, a result of volcanic activity and salt mining.Credit: @beyzhive on X
Vinicunca in Peru

Also called the Rainbow Mountain, Vinicunca is famous for its multi-colored strata, which are the result of various mineral deposits that have been exposed by erosion. The stunning hues of red, yellow, purple, and green make it seem as if the mountain was painted. This visual phenomenon becomes particularly vibrant after a rainfall.Image
Zhangye Danxia in China

These are the Rainbow Mountains of China, known for their otherworldly colors that mimic a marbled painting. Layers of different colored sandstone and minerals pressed together over 24 million years and then buckled up by tectonic plates have created this natural masterpiece.Credit: Weird Science - @weird_sci on X
Lake Hillier in Australia

This pink-colored lake on Middle Island is one of the most striking natural phenomena. The distinctive color of the lake is due to the presence of the organism Dunaliella salina, which produces a pink pigment as part of its photosynthesis process, and possibly in combination with the presence of halophilic bacteria in the salt crusts.Credit: Nature Is Weird - @NaturelsWeird on X
Pamukkale in Turkey

Known as "Cotton Castle" in Turkish, Pamukkale's terraces are made of travertine, a sedimentary rock deposited by mineral water from the hot springs. The cascading white pools with warm waters are not just a visual delight but also a popular spot for therapeutic bathing.Image
Darvaze Gas Crater in Turkmenistan

Nicknamed the "Door to Hell," this burning natural gas field collapsed into a large cavern, which geologists set on fire to prevent the spread of methane gas, and it has been burning continuously since 1971. The fiery pit is a surreal sight, especially at night.Image
Rainbow River in Colombia

The Caño Cristales, often called the "Liquid Rainbow," gets its multicolored appearance from the unique plant species that line its floor. Different colors, including red, yellow, green, and blue, are visible at different times of the year, thanks to the reproductive process of the plants.Image
Chocolate Hills in Philippines

Over 1,200 uniformly cone-shaped hills dot the landscape of Bohol. During the dry season, the grass-covered hills dry up and turn chocolate brown, giving them their name. Their formation is still a subject of debate, with theories including oceanic volcano eruptions, uplift of coral deposits, and a combination of erosion and weathering.Credit: https://www.matteocolombo.com/media/b696b84e-ae59-4555-82da-20f6612b3c3a-dramatic-light-over-chocolate-hills-bohol-philippines
Sand Pyramids in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Formed through the natural phenomena of erosion, the Sand Pyramids are spire-shaped formations that resemble a landscape straight out of a science fiction novel. They are created as the softer material around the pyramids is washed away by rain, leaving only the harder stone spires.Wikimedia Commons
Red Beach in China

Located in Panjin, this beach is covered with a type of seaweed called Suaeda salsa, which turns bright red in autumn. It's a vibrant and unusual sight, differing from the typical sandy beach, and also serves as a nature reserve for hundreds of species of birds and other wildlife.Image
Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia

The world’s largest salt flat, it was formed as a result of transformations between several prehistoric lakes. It's covered by a few meters of salt crust, which is exceptionally flat. The flatness and the bright white of the salt make it a surreal landscape, and when covered with a thin layer of water, it becomes the largest natural mirror on Earth.Image

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More from @CultureExploreX

May 8
Most stories entertain.

Dante’s Divine Comedy does something else.

It drags you through Hell, exposes every lie you believe, and rebuilds your soul from the ruins.

It’s the most terrifying and hopeful poem ever written. This is why Dante still haunts us today? 🧵👇 Dante and Virgil, a painting by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1850), which depicts Dante and Virgil in the eighth circle of Hell, observing two damned souls in eternal combat in Hell.
Before you can glimpse Heaven, Dante forces you to stare into Hell.

Not symbolically—viscerally.

He shows you sin, layer by layer, until you can’t look away.

At the center isn’t fire. It’s ice.

Where Satan sits frozen, chewing on the worst traitors in history. Lower Hell, inside the walls of Dis, in an illustration by Stradanus; there is a drop from the sixth circle to the three rings of the seventh circle, then again to the ten rings of the eighth circle, and, at the bottom, to the icy ninth circle
Image
Illustration by Sandro Botticelli: Dante and Virgil visit the first two bolge of the Eighth Circle
Dante didn’t dream this up from nothing.

He built a cosmos.
Using a 2nd-century map by Ptolemy:
• Earth at the center
• 9 circles of Hell below
• 9 spheres of Heaven above

And everything—everything—has meaning. Image
La materia della Divina commedia di Dante Alighieri, Plate VI: "The Ordering of Paradise" by Michelangelo Caetani (1804–1882)
The Paradiso assumes the medieval view of the Universe, with the Earth surrounded by concentric spheres containing planets and stars.
Read 16 tweets
May 7
You’ve seen photos of the Sistine Chapel, the site of the Papal conclave.

But what else does the Vatican holds?

Rooms so beautiful they feel illegal.
Manuscripts so rare they were once guarded by swords.
And art that made you weep.

Let me show you what you’ve missed… 🧵👇 The Sistine Chapel in Vatican City
The Vatican Museums aren’t just a tourist stop.

They’re a labyrinth of 54 galleries, 20,000 artworks, and secrets buried in brushstrokes and stone.

But what’s hidden beyond the crowds?

And what’s locked in the Vatican Library? Here’s the story no one tells. The Vatican Library
Start with the Raphael Rooms.

Most visitors walk past without knowing:
This was where the Renaissance reached its peak.

Where Pope Julius II had a private study painted not for politics but for truth. Room of the Signatura
Room of Heliodorus
Room of the Fire in the Borgo
Hall of Constantine. Wikimedia CC
Read 18 tweets
May 6
Inside a locked room, men starved, wept, and cursed each other.

One Conclave dragged on so long the roof was torn off to speed it up. Another one ended with two popes...

You’ve never seen power struggles like this... 🧵👇 Cardinals walking into the Sistine Chapel for the start of the Conclave
Forget the white smoke.

Behind the most sacred ritual in Christianity lies a history of backroom deals, bribes, riots, and betrayals.

Here are the conclaves that nearly broke the Church and the world.

It only gets darker from here… Image
First, understand what a conclave is:
From the Latin cum clave—“with a key.”

Once cardinals enter, the doors are locked until a new pope is chosen.

But in history, locking the doors didn’t stop the chaos… 2013 Conclave
Read 17 tweets
May 5
Most people think Cinco de Mayo is just tacos and tequila.

But the real story is written in stone on the walls of Mexico’s most breathtaking buildings.

Let me show you the side of Mexico they never teach in school... 🧵👇 The Palacio de Bellas Artes is a prominent cultural center in Mexico City.
Behind every dome, plaza, and cathedral lies a story of defiance, beauty, and forgotten genius.

And once you see what Mexico built… you’ll never reduce it to a holiday again. Museo Nacional de Arts Photo: Shutterstock
Start in Puebla.

The city where Mexican troops crushed a European empire in 1862.

But few realize—Puebla is also a jewel of colonial architecture. Mexican cavalry charge at the Battle of Puebla
Read 18 tweets
May 3
When Notre-Dame caught fire in 2019, Parisians wept in the streets.

Not because a building burned—but because something sacred was bleeding.

That’s Paris.

A city where beauty is always one spark away from ruin. The painful, defiant beauty of Paris... 🧵 👇 Paris | France - Notre Dame - Apostles Balance on the Central Spire By Marcus Frank on Flickr r_marcus_frank/39030088842/in/photostream/
Paris has never just been a postcard.
It’s a survivor.

Built on bones, crowned in blood, reborn in art—again and again.

This thread isn’t about travel. It’s about how the world’s most beautiful city keeps rising from its own ashes. Napoleon commissioned the Arc de Triomphe in 1806 to celebrate his victories, and today it stands as a proud sentinel over Paris’ most famous avenue. Credit:  Richard Joly on Flickr
Sainte-Chapelle isn’t just a church.

It’s a 13th-century jewel built by King Louis IX to house the Crown of Thorns—bathed in over 1,000 stained-glass windows.

Step inside, and it feels like God Himself lit the walls from within. Credit: @JeremyTate41
Read 17 tweets
May 2
Most people think Leonardo da Vinci was just a painter.

But what if I told you the Mona Lisa was the least of his brilliance?

He died on this day, May 2nd, 1519.

And the world still hasn’t caught up to his mind. Let’s dive into why... 🧵 The Death of Leonardo da Vinci by 	Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1818) Francis I Receives the Last Breaths of Leonardo da Vinci
The deeper you look, the more impossible he seems.

He painted like a god, dissected corpses, sketched flying machines, and wrote entire treatises… backward.

Here’s the story of a man who tried to understand everything. Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci or Leonardo with workshop participation
Virgin of the Rocks  1483–1493 Louvre version
Lady with an Ermine, c. 1489–1491 Czartoryski Museum, Kraków, Poland
Antique Warrior in Profile, c. 1472. British Museum, London
He was born illegitimate.

No formal education. No family title. No inheritance.

Yet he outshined kings, popes, and scholars.

His weapon? Curiosity sharpened into obsession. Image
Read 19 tweets

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