This massive wooden building contains a giant Buddha, healing pillars, and tame deer wandering the grounds.

A raised Japanese building has preserved 8th-century artifacts for more than a millennium, earning this log cabin a reputation as the "world's oldest museum."

A moss-covered statue of a Japanese Buddhist deity stands at a quiet temple in downtown Osaka.

Surreal giant face-pillars welcome visitors from across the globe to this hotel.

Experience park where visitors are told to expect the unexpected.

The patron of this extravagant Art Nouveau confection insisted that nothing less than a boat should project from its facade.

The home of the Dead Sea Scrolls is an abstract modernist dream.

This synagogue is covered in beautiful mosaics that explore the history of the Jewish people.

Oldest Protestant church in the Middle East, designed to resemble a synagogue.

Giant cauldrons overflow with Uzbekistan's favorite rice dish at this cavernous dining hall.

Looking for a unifying history, Uzbekistan finds its answer in a 14th Century Turco-Mongol conqueror... despite the fact he wasn't Uzbek.

An underground world of gorgeous, palatial metro stations designed as a nuclear shelter complex.

Prowl through this sprawling bazaar under a massive Soviet-era dome for delicious eats.

The Avenue of Mausolea is a series of grand palatial tombs.

Light still pours into the ruins of this ancient Islamic observatory.

Ancient barriers wrap around what was once an important stop along the Silk Road.

This "tower of death" has acted as an observatory, a religious hub, and an executioner's lair.

After sunset the heart of Zanzibar's historic Stone Town neighborhood transforms into a culinary playground.

Freddie Mercury's childhood home is now a monument to the iconic Queen rockstar.

In Zanzibar, a historic 19th-century palace is a reminder of the world's shortest war.

A Jenga-style cylindrical tower of books that appears to go on forever.

The hidden lair of an alchemist rediscovered in a 2002 flood.

A steampunk-styled three-floor factory churning out art, activism, and electronic beats.

This spooky statue sits outside a famous Prague theater.