A small etching on the white marble parapet was written in runic script by a Viking mercenary.

An old drug store full of mortars and pestles, pill-making machines, and medicines reputed to cure most any illness.

The fanciest public restroom in New York City boasts fresh flowers, art, and a classical music soundtrack.

One of the world's tallest statues is also one of its most hated.

A museum in the former home of Marxist revolutionary Leon Trotsky.

Frida Kahlo's childhood home, now a museum of her life and works.

An island filled with hundreds of hanging, decomposing, decapitated dolls.

Two identical statues by Fernando Botero, one blown to pieces in a terrorist bombing, the other donated as a gift for peace.

This elegant Colombian fortress was one of the torture headquarters for the Spanish Inquisition.

The Andean town where every single building is decorated with a brightly colored frieze.

A 10 million-ton rock once worshiped by the Tahamies Indians, accessed by an astounding staircase.

The only castle in North America to ever house European sovereigns.

Part bookstore, part café, and part forest.

A jaw-dropping "megalibrary" that turns book-browsing into a geometric adventure.

The oldest housing complex in Riga is a mini timeline of architectural trends.

A replica of a 7th-century church hides in plain sight in the middle of the concrete jungle.

These colorful French islands spent a stint bootlegging booze during American Prohibition.

Now abandoned, the first public health hospital in the U.S. saw more than one million immigrants from around the world.

The world's oldest grape-producing vine has survived four centuries of turmoil and even has its own anthem.

There are millions of temples in India, but only one prominent temple dedicated to the Hindu creator god.

The gorgeous entrances into the city's underbelly look more like grand halls than subway stops.

Two stone columns flank the grand Venice square, but there were supposed to be three.

A powerful tribute to the victims who suffered under Ethiopia's most devastating regime.

A Gothic-style abode built to accommodate the church's three resident peacocks.