In the early 1900s, Robber Barons brought dozens of old European buildings to America

ATLAS OBSCURA
By Brianna Nofil and Jake Purcell

Saint-Michel-de-Cuixa, late 1800s, prior to parts of it being dismantled and shipped to New York, where is makes up part of The Cloisters. (Photo: Bibliothèque de Toulouse/flickr)

There are two Americans to thank for the strange fact of a 12th century Spanish monastery’s existence only a few miles from Miami Beach: notorious plutocrat William Randolph Hearst, and his art dealer, Arthur Byne —one of several dozen centuries-old buildings imported to the U.S. in the early 20th century. They lie scattered around the country, a hidden patchwork of mostly-illegal monasteries and mansions whose history has been largely forgotten. [Map]

The exterior of St Bernard de Clairvaux, Miami. (Photo: Jorge Elías/flickr)