A rare festival blending religion, blacksmiths, vagina dentata, sex workers, and the straight-up facts of life.

Leave it to Key West to drop a real-live drag queen instead of a ball to mark the arrival of the New Year.

There is nothing like a religious festival celebrated with blow-up sledgehammers.

A spectacular annual festival centers around humans throwing molten iron against a wall at night.

This mysterious Sardinian festival sees a horde of blank-faced equestrians compete for tin stars.

The tiny Belgian town's ancient version of Mardi Gras involves eerie wax masks, sticks for warding off evil, and ostrich plume hats.

An annual festival celebrating Colorado's most famous frozen corpse.

Rendering of a comic-book hero turned Luxembourg national symbol.

A miniature train-ride through Slovenia's largest cave system.

The "dragon babies" of southeastern Europe.

Today this former Nazi concentration camp stands as a poignant memorial to the victims of fascism, and a warning from history.

The castle was reconstructed to fit Kaiser Wilhelm II's romanticized vision of the Middle Ages.

The birthplace of the builder of the Statue of Liberty is now a museum dedicated to his work.

A copy of the Statue of Liberty greets visitors to the birthplace of Auguste Bartholdi.

A charming little museum founded by the designer of the Statue of Liberty.

This unusual piece of Renaissance art depicting the bodily horror of crucifixion and skin disease may have been inspired by fungus-induced hallucinations.

Synagogue built from the stones of Solomon's temple contains the golem of Prague.

A surreal statue honoring Prague's favorite literary son.

Old ships and machinery fill a historic harbor in the city that's home to Europe's largest port.

The oldest skyscraper of Europe now stands dwarfed by the surrounding structures.

These slanted cubic abodes are a creative if odd solution to a zoning pickle.

A once-magnificent collegiate church is falling into ruin.

This giant urban staircase was built to keep the city's brave fighting men from getting waylaid in the red light district.

This seemingly humble work of art—a block of limestone—conceals a daring story and an artistic tour de force.