Weird Chicago Tours

Weird Chicago Tours Ghosts, Gangsters, Mystery & Mayhem of the Windy City! Chicago's BEST tour! Ghosts, Gangsters, Mystery and Mayhem of the Windy City!
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This isn’t just another ordinary tour — it’s an urban adventure that makes the past truly come alive!

The Temple of Hephaestus or Hephaisteion (also "Hephesteum" or "Hephaesteum", and formerly called in error the Theseion ...
02/03/2025

The Temple of Hephaestus or Hephaisteion (also "Hephesteum" or "Hephaesteum", and formerly called in error the Theseion or "Theseum"; is a well-preserved Greek temple dedicated to Hephaestus; it remains standing largely intact today. It is a Doric peripteral temple, and is located at the north-west side of the Agora of Athens, on top of the Agoraios Kolonos hill.
📸©d.tzankatian

Mausoleum of Halicarnassus.Mausolus was a king who held power in Caria (377–353 BCE), a small kingdom on the Anatolian p...
02/03/2025

Mausoleum of Halicarnassus.
Mausolus was a king who held power in Caria (377–353 BCE), a small kingdom on the Anatolian peninsula. The city from where he ruled his kingdom was Halicarnassus.
To create the great city, Mausolus imposed large taxes, which allowed him to embellish streets, squares and raise buildings and statues with a strong Hellenistic influence. 24 years after his rise to power Mausolus died, leaving his wife, Artemisia II of Caria, in power.
His wife Artemisa, devastated, made the decision to erect on the highest hill in the city the most impressive funerary monument that had ever been built. For this she used all the tax revenues that her husband had collected to build Halicarnassus. Gathering together the best artist of the time the result was nothing less than one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
The mausoleum had a quadrangular floor plan, with the sides facing east and west slightly longer than the other two. It rested on a huge 38×32 meter podium, made of bricks covered with marble plates, on which 117 columns were placed. Ionic style in double row, which supported the roof in the form of a stepped pyramid. Ionian-style columns had base and capital with elaborate scrollwork. Although the general structure of the Mausoleum corresponds in general lines to the Greek style, some details are clearly influenced by the Persian construction styles.
In the ornamentation of the tomb, both in the carving of reliefs and in the making of statues, the best sculptors of the Greek world of that time worked: Briaxis, Timoteo, Leucastes and the famous Scopas of Paros left their mark on the magnificent work , making, in addition to the reliefs, more than 400 statues to be included in the building; many of the reliefs have the theme of the Amazons. At the top of the pyramidal roof, a statue of a chariot (chariot pulled by four horses) was placed, of which some horses survive in museums, and also the Statues of the Satrap Mausolus and his Wife.
It is unknown exactly when and how the Mausoleum came to ruin. It was probably destroyed by an earthquake in the 13th century AD, and then plundered by the Knights of St. John. Most of its suitable stones were used to build Bodrum (previously Halicarnassus) Castle. A lot of recovered bas-reliefs were used to decorate the new building, much of the marble was burned into lime.
Photo: then and now. Bodrum, Türkiye

Amazing photo of Athens from 1900.
02/03/2025

Amazing photo of Athens from 1900.

A rendering of what Ancient would have looked like: Curetes Street in ancient Ephesus. Curetes Street is one of three ...
02/03/2025

A rendering of what Ancient would have looked like: Curetes Street in ancient Ephesus. Curetes Street is one of three main arteries in the ancient city of Ephesus, with its marble paving running from the Celsus Library up to the Hercules Gate. It was the heart of ancient Ephesus, lined with fountains, temples, shops under long porticoes, and the large houses of the city's most elite citizens. The facades and sidewalks of Curetes Street are filled with works of marble and mosaic tiles.
The city of Ephesus dates back 3,000 years to the 10th century BC and became most famous for The Temple of Artemis, completed in 550 BC, which was one of the seven Ancient wonders of the world. It came under Roman control in 129 BC during the days of the Roman Republic. !!

Ephesus Great Ancient Theater.
02/03/2025

Ephesus Great Ancient Theater.

Theater of Epidaurus (340 BC) , Argolis/Greece©pallisd.
02/03/2025

Theater of Epidaurus (340 BC) , Argolis/Greece
©pallisd.

700 year old house in Iran
02/03/2025

700 year old house in Iran

Helen Mirren at 25 and 70.
02/03/2025

Helen Mirren at 25 and 70.

Egyptian women walking down a busy street in Cairo, Egypt 1950's
02/03/2025

Egyptian women walking down a busy street in Cairo, Egypt 1950's

Control room for a German submarine, 1918.
02/03/2025

Control room for a German submarine, 1918.

Somewhere In Time / Jane Seymour & Christopher Reeve.
02/03/2025

Somewhere In Time / Jane Seymour & Christopher Reeve.

Michelle Pfeiffer.
02/03/2025

Michelle Pfeiffer.

Vintage Camping.
02/03/2025

Vintage Camping.

Meryl Streep in the 1970s.
02/03/2025

Meryl Streep in the 1970s.

King George VI of England enjoying a slide, 1925.
02/03/2025

King George VI of England enjoying a slide, 1925.

This bride and groom were photographed in the 1860s
02/03/2025

This bride and groom were photographed in the 1860s

Portrait of a young grumpy girl from the 1850s.
02/02/2025

Portrait of a young grumpy girl from the 1850s.

A wealthy family celebrates a child’s birthday. Upper East Side, Manhattan, New York, USA. 1906.
02/02/2025

A wealthy family celebrates a child’s birthday. Upper East Side, Manhattan, New York, USA. 1906.

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WHEN THE SHOW DIDN'T GO ON.. THE IROQUOIS THEATER FIRE Join Weird Chicago on December 30 for the anniversary of the and see if you're brave enough to experience haunted "Death Alley" -- http://weirdchicago.com/ On December 30, 1903, one of the most devastating fires in American history occurred at Chicago’s new Iroquois Theater during a standing-room-only matinee performance starring the popular comedian Eddie Foy. The fire claimed the lives of more than 600 people, including scores of children, who were packed into the place for the afternoon show. The Iroquois Theater was much acclaimed, even before it opened. In addition to being “absolutely fireproof”, it was a beautiful place with an ornate lobby, grand staircases and a front façade that resembled a Greek temple with massive columns. The theater was designed to be safe. It had 25 exits that, it was claimed, could empty the building in less than five minutes. The stage had also been fitted with an asbestos curtain that could be quickly lowered to protect the audience. All of this would have been impressive if any of it had actually been installed – and if the staff actually had any idea how to use the safety devices that did exist. And those were not even the worst problems. Seats in the theater were wooden and stuffed with hemp. “Unattractive” safety doors were hidden from site and gates were locked across the entrance to the balcony during the show so that those in the “cheap seats” wouldn’t sneak into the main theater. The building had no fire alarms and a myriad of other safety equipment had been forgotten or simply ignored – leading to the ever-popular “Chicago pay-offs” to officials who allowed the new theater to open on schedule anyway. As crowds filled the theater on that cold December day in 1903, they had no idea that how close they were to meeting their deaths. Read the rest of the story on the American Hauntings blog at http://troytaylorbooks.blogspot.com/2012/12/when-

WEIRD CHICAGO FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON! Make it a Very Scary Christmas this year with our award-winning tours, gift certificates and Windy City experiences! See http://www.weirdchicago.com for more!

http://s.ripl.com/926ays #halloween via Ripl.com

WHEN THE SHOW DIDN'T GO ON.. THE IROQUOIS THEATER FIRE Still spots left for tonight's anniversary of the fire tour at http://weirdchicago.com On December 30, 1903, one of the most devastating fires in American history occurred at Chicago’s new Iroquois Theater during a standing-room-only matinee performance starring the popular comedian Eddie Foy. The fire claimed the lives of more than 600 people, including scores of children, who were packed into the place for the afternoon show. The Iroquois Theater was much acclaimed, even before it opened. In addition to being “absolutely fireproof”, it was a beautiful place with an ornate lobby, grand staircases and a front façade that resembled a Greek temple with massive columns. The theater was designed to be safe. It had 25 exits that, it was claimed, could empty the building in less than five minutes. The stage had also been fitted with an asbestos curtain that could be quickly lowered to protect the audience. All of this would have been impressive if any of it had actually been installed – and if the staff actually had any idea how to use the safety devices that did exist. And those were not even the worst problems. Seats in the theater were wooden and stuffed with hemp. “Unattractive” safety doors were hidden from site and gates were locked across the entrance to the balcony during the show so that those in the “cheap seats” wouldn’t sneak into the main theater. The building had no fire alarms and a myriad of other safety equipment had been forgotten or simply ignored – leading to the ever-popular “Chicago pay-offs” to officials who allowed the new theater to open on schedule anyway. As crowds filled the theater on that cold December day in 1903, they had no idea that how close they were to meeting their deaths. Read the rest of the story on the American Hauntings blog at http://troytaylorbooks.blogspot.com/2012/12/when-show-didnt-go-on.html and even more detail in the book, AND HELL F

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Weird Chicago Tours

THE BEST TOUR IN CHICAGO! Join Weird Chicago for the best tour in the city! We take you to both famous and little-known spots and behind the scenes of the greatest events in Chicago’s rich and wonderfully weird history. From haunted places to gangster hangouts, vanished history and crime scenes, we take you where no one else can. This isn’t just another ordinary tour — it’s an urban adventure that makes the past truly come alive! Come expecting the unexpected!

WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM A WEIRD CHICAGO TOUR? We’re not like any other tour in the Windy City — we’re the tour that other companies come to when they’re looking for ideas. Why don’t we offer an itinerary of our stops? Because we always want to want to keep you guessing! Plus, our tour often changes so that we can keep offering you a unique and exciting experience! We've been voted the "best tour in Chicago" for a reason, so see the schedule at http://weirdchicago.com and join us soon!