This space rocket-like Buddhist stupa sits atop two giant arches and can be seen from out at sea.

The trunk of this 700-year-old tree measures more than 60 feet around, making it the oldest and largest baobab in Sri Lanka.

These abandoned ruins in the middle of Jaffna have withstood centuries of tumultuous power struggles.

A massive fallen water tank bombed by the Tamil Tigers in the final stages of the long Sri Lankan Civil War.

This rural Sri Lankan village hides a cluster of small, enigmatic stupas.

This sacred fig tree with a link to the Buddha is one of the oldest human-planted trees in the world.

This stone tower was built to protect Crete from incoming pirates.

According to myth, Zeus himself was hidden in this cave to escape being eaten by his dad.

This little Greek plateau is home to thousands of rustic, white-sailed windmills.

This famous archeological mystery may be an ancient example of movable type.

This small, ingenious cannon once helped regulate Parisian life.

An "inside out" building in the historical center of Paris, featuring Europe’s largest modern art museum.

This iconic Parisian bookstore doubles as the "Tumbleweed Hotel" for traveling writers.

Site of a classic 19th-century physics experiment to prove the earth is rotating.

The remaining relics of the patroness of Paris lie in a chapel under a striking double spiral staircase.

A giant silver apple a day keeps the perils of capitalism away.

A horde of stray cats rule in this secluded Parisian cemetery under a bridge.

The water-powered carriages are long gone, but for over a century this funicular railway has been the fastest route to the highest point in Paris.

Ordinary art transforms to extraordinary thanks to locals' quirky sense of humor.

A glamorous hotel that once accommodated French resistance fighters and concentration camp survivors.

A poem by Arthur Rimbaud is inscribed on the wall of a street that, while it is only one block long, plays a key role in multiple novels.

A museum dedicated to linguistics, from how babies learn to talk to endangered and extinct languages.

This 18th-century sundial was designed to calculate the date of Easter each year.

An unusual number plate signifies the building's saucy past.