Places aRedLetterLife Wants to Go

A rare survivor from the age of plagues.

The indecision over what to place in this square was immortalized with a plaque.

Also known as "Hell Alley," this tiny street in Imola gained its name in a bloody episode in the 16th-century.

Chester Cathedral is home to a unique painting crafted on a canvas of cobwebs.

This infamous execution site inspired the beginning of Japan's modernization in the late 18th-century.

The world's only above water sand volcano, believed to once be the bathtub of a priest.

A cheeky reminder about the value of art dangles above one of Olomouc's busiest streets.

This beautiful medieval Serbian monastery is home to frescoes, peculiar sculptures, and historical curiosities.

A whimsical European-style chateau that calls the coast of Chile home.

This seaside Italian village doesn't just look Escher-esque, it actually inspired the mind-bending artist.

In the early 1900s, hundreds of Black Americans found opportunity in this now-abandoned rural community.

A small Wyoming town is home to the state's oldest-operating soda fountain.

A unique Shinto shrine filled with bunnies and wordplay.

Even Henry David Thoreau found this glacial pothole irresistible.

This scenic fortress dates back at least 2,400 years to the time of Magna Graecia.

This fountain tucked away in a park is the focal point of the only "Green Basilica" in Germany.

A legendary ghostly hound supposedly left dark marks on a place of worship.

Three large boulders covered in mysterious carvings and graffiti.

This mysterious cliffside carving of an ancient Hittite deity has baffled scholars for centuries.

This column celebrates Rome's victory over the Goths, and may be the oldest Roman monument in Istanbul.

Carvings in Turkey's Marble Road may have directed ancient Romans to a hidden brothel.

This ancient city—home to nine civilizations—is soon to be buried under 200 feet of water.

Unfinished monument to peace between Turkey and Armenia, long divided by a dispute over genocide.

The ancient latrines of the Greeks, in all their public glory.