Places Edited by Sarah Brumble

Remnants of an exploded schooner and wrecked submarines form a breakwater.

Bright, rebellious indigenous murals dating back to the Spanish Conquest inexplicably cover the walls of this Catholic church.

This precariously balanced boulder is said to be a hunk of stolen butter dropped by the gods.

A mega theme park-wax museum mélange containing all things biblical.

"Portugal's Stonehenge" is made up of nut-like stones aligned with the heavens.

According to the local folklore, the myriad colors of this lake are the result of a lovelorn wizard's blunder.

This old-fashioned carhop restaurant gave the world the waffle cone.

A Borgesian work of art that may blur the line between fiction and reality a little too convincingly.

A haunting, yet lovingly hand-hewn potters' field full of graves that flood with each heavy rain.

The last bastion of Roman presence north of the Alps looms over a German town.

A grotto replicating one of the world's most famed Marian apparitions sits across the ocean from the original.

The highest monastery in the world operates a tiny guesthouse with doors open to all.

The grandest stage for the world's foremost masters of invisible instruments.

This tiny church near Sleepy Hollow contains Henri Matisse's last work, a rose window, and nine windows by Marc Chagall.

The site of a devastating modern-day mud volcano eruption that buried parts of a village.

A rancher expanding a natural spring for his cattle came up with bones – lots and lots of them.

An unphotographable nightly march of tens of thousands of "fairy penguins" from sea to shore.

A private museum dedicated to preserving the heritage of Mardi Gras' most beloved underdog parades, open by appointment.

Museum mostly in name, and only a restaurant depending on the day, this place could only exist in Marfa.

To gaze upon the visage of Sri Lanka's biggest Buddha, one must first pass through the Tunnel of Hell.

The world is full of swimming holes, but few compare to Samoa’s idyllic To Sua ocean trench.

Once the private home of China’s most legendary tycoon, getting inside this stunning mansion no longer requires an elite pedigree or acts of daring.

A magical, macabre wax museum, beloved by locals, uses real artifacts to depict an assassination from the French Revolution.

An impactful museum ensures notorious war crimes disguised as "medical experimentation" won't soon be forgotten.