Atomic Bomb Dome
Skeletal ruin of a domed exhibition hall, left standing since nineteen forty-five as a memorial to the atomic bombing.
This guide to the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima opens with a survivor's memory of the blinding flash at 8:15 on the morning of August 6, 1945, and the building that stood almost directly beneath the blast. You'll hear how thirty workers inside died instantly while the surrounding blocks were flattened, and why the dome's iron ribs alone stayed upright when everything else came down. It then follows the argument that split the city for two decades afterward, over whether the ruin should be torn down or kept exactly as it was. Listen for how that decision, once made, has been maintained ever since.
Audio guides are written and narrated by AI.