Weirdest Statues From Around The World

Ever since mankind first learned to whittle, humans have been making statues nonstop. Some of these sculptures have been incredible works of art, while others don't exactly live up to da Vinci. But in between the good, the bad, and the ugly, there's a whole lot of weird. After all, artists are an odd bunch, and as a result, the world is covered with incredibly strange statues, from horrific horses and menacing messiahs to stray dogs and goat-headed demons.

Peter the Great hated Moscow. In fact, the tsar hated the city so much that he decided to build St. Petersburg and make it the new Russian capital. So he probably wouldn't be pleased that there's a 308-foot-tall statue of him in the Moscow River. According to the Washington Post, this thing weighs 1,000 tons, and it depicts an oversized Peter standing in a ship, dwarfed by a gigantic mast. Weirder still, the ship rests atop a pillar made of smaller boats, and the whole thing rests on a manmade island.

Yeah, it's a pretty tacky statue, and those Christopher Columbus vibes aren't just your imagination. No, sculptor Zurab Tsereteli originally wanted to make a Columbus statue. However, when a long list of American cities turned his idea down, he took the same design concept but went with Peter the Great instead. (Tsereteli did eventually make a Columbus memorial for Puerto Rico.) The statue was unveiled in 1997 to mark the 300th anniversary of the Russian navy, but when the sculpture was finally revealed, the locals didn't think it was all that great.

Moscow citizens have dubbed the monument "The Moscow Monster," and one disgruntled citizen described it as "the ugliest statue of the end of the 20th century." And with all the hatred aimed at Peter the Great, there's been a lot of talk about taking it down and shipping it off to St. Petersburg. But moving this monstrosity could cost over $30 million, so Peter is still standing there to this day, guarding the waterways and offending everyone who walks by.

It was November 1954, and Ann Hodge was just minding her own business. A resident of Sylacauga, Alabama, Hodge was sleeping on her couch when something crashed through the roof of her house. It ricocheted off her radio and hit the poor woman in her thigh, leaving a nasty bruise. But what had come hurtling into her home?

Well, it was quickly determined the object was a meteorite. The thing weighed nearly 9 pounds, and according to National Geographic, Ann Hodge had just become the only confirmed person who'd ever been struck by a stone from outer space. Sadly, the incident led to a legal battle where Hodge's landlady attempted to get the meteorite for herself. After settling out of court, Hodge tried to draw in curious customers who might want a gander at the galactic rock, but no one ever showed up.

Out quite a bit of cash from the settlement, Hodge gave the meteorite to the Alabama Museum of Natural History. But the story of the Sylacauga meteorite doesn't stop there. Later on, an artist named Don Lawler drove into town, hoping to buy some marble for a project, and he learned about the 1954 incident. Inspired, he created "Falling Star," a sculpture of a white meteorite that looks like it's some sort of otherworldly octopus. Today, the statue sits outside the Sylacauga city hall, commemorating the day when Ann Hodge made history by napping in the wrong place at the wrong time.

On a little river island in Massachusetts, there's a 30-foot-tall monument of a pioneer woman named Hannah Duston. Built in 1874, this striking sculpture is the oldest statue of a woman in U.S. history. But despite its significance, few people visit the little island, and according to the podcast 99% Invisible, the memorial has fallen into disrepair. That probably has something to do with what Duston is holding in her hands. In one, there's a hatchet, and in the other, she's got a fistful of scalps.

See, in 1697, the real Hannah Duston was kidnapped by Abenaki warriors, along with her nurse, Mary Neff, and newborn child. According to the story — though some dispute this part — one of the natives murdered Hannah's baby by slamming it against a tree. Eventually, the raiding party left Hannah and Mary with two native families, comprised of two men, three women, and several kids. These natives also had a young white boy named Samuel, and one night, Hannah plotted an escape plan with her fellow slaves.

Of course, her getaway involved killing her captors. At night, Hannah and her co-conspirators armed themselves with hatchets and attacked the natives in their sleep, killing ten people, including six children. Only a grandmother and a little boy escaped, and it's believed that Hannah did almost all the dirty work. After the killings, Hannah then scalped her victims, and when she returned to her town of Haverhill (where she became something of a superstar), she sold the scalps for enough money to buy some primo real estate. So yeah, the Hannah Duston story is pretty controversial, as is her monument, and with those problematic politics at play, it's easy to understand why nobody ever visits the blood-soaked statue.

It's safe to say the Denver International Airport is the weirdest airport on the planet.  Ever since opening in 1995, it's been the center of pretty much every conspiracy theory imaginable. Some claim it's the HQ for the New World Order, others say it has ties to the Third Reich, and some believe there are aliens scuttling back and forth in underground passageways. Sure, it's all nonsense, but the artwork around the airport has provided crackpots with a whole lot of ammo.

For example, there are gargoyles hanging around the baggage claim areas, and there are murals depicting burning buildings and machine gun-wielding thugs. But things get especially weird when you're driving to the airport and spot a gigantic blue horse rearing up on its hind legs. Standing 32-feet-tall and weighing 9,000 pounds, this statue is officially called "Blue Mustang," but the locals know it by names like "Demon Horse," "Satan's Steed," and best of all, "Blucifer."

And honestly, the statue does look pretty freaky, especially with its eyes that glow red at night. Artist Luis Jimenez fitted the horse with LEDs, supposedly to honor his father who made neon signs for a living. But in addition to its demonic facade, the horse has an incredibly twisted history. Blucifer was supposed to be ready in 1995, but it took over a decade for the statue to show up. Complicating things was the fact that Jimenez was killed in 2006 when a chunk of the horse fell on his leg and severed an artery.

So when the horse finally went up in 2008, some claimed it was cursed, with others describing it as "horrible" and "disturbing." But even though some wanted Blucifer torn down, the horse is still standing today, frightening travelers from around the world and possibly warning people about freemason-reptilian-apocalyptic conspiracy.

Located in the Thai city of Bang Saen, the Wang Saen Suk Hell Garden is full of plaster and concrete statues being tortured in all sorts of horrible ways. It's a sadistic little slice of the Buddhist underworld, and it's all part of a plan to scare you into following Buddhist law, because if you break the rules, you might get sawn in half, chopped up with axes, or have your head knocked off with a metal bar.

But before you witness the torture, first you have to walk past the Preta, giant statues of hungry ghosts with incredibly long tongues. And beneath the ghosts, you'll spot a number of humans with animal heads, with each beastly face representing some sort of sin. The jealous become rabbits, thieves turn into monkeys, the ungrateful morph into tigers, and the corrupt become pigs. Further in the garden, you'll find statues of alcoholics being served boiling hot oil and a drug dealer having his throat cut. A woman who had an abortion is being pressed with a vice, and one unlucky guy has a throwing star sticking out of his head.

And then there are the nude statues climbing thorn-covered trees, hoping to escape the angry animals below. Of course, the walking tour ends on an upbeat note, with statues showing that if you follow the rules, you'll get your own magical tree, one that will provide anything you want when you're reincarnated. Just make sure you donate some money before you go, and you're all set for the afterlife.