Florentine Renaissance style building in Switzerland, home to the world's largest taxidermy Great White Shark.

A public urinal so pretty, it was declared a national monument.

The world's first zoo for microbes collecting the horrible and wonderful things living on and around us.

This strange statue features a bust of the famous composer plopped atop a woman's body.

This Austrian museum celebrates the work of famous forgers and their inimitable imitations.

The "Prussian Versailles" that is as glorious today as when it was built.

When a medieval fire claimed the original St. Stephen’s Cathedral, it sparked a pattern of unquenchable organ building.

This lurid German fountain plots the sad course of marriage from dating to death.

A castle from the Holy Roman Empire that hosts traveling youth... in its stables.

This demon atop the Notre-Dame de Paris looks utterly bored.

The tradition of open-air secondhand and antiquarian bookselling in Paris dates back to the Renaissance.

In France, a medieval-style home pays homage to an intrepid explorer who discovered Québec.

Natural history museum celebrating biodiversity with a parade of taxidermy animals.

Paris' fabled purveyor of exotic taxidermy and natural history curios.

Known as the "Dodo Manège," this carousel features a herd of animals that have disappeared—or may be gone soon.

This museum houses an imposing skeleton army comprised of creatures great and small.

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

A mechanized clock where a man fights off a dragon, crab, and rooster.

A haunting collection of the vanished and disappearing natural world.

This massive library holds what was once the largest book collection in the world.

France's most famous cemetery, with some of its most curious tombs.

The vast, legendary catacombs hold secrets much stranger than stacked bones.

Do these monsters look familiar? The gargoyles on this church are all from pop culture.

This plaza is home to a number of works, including Montpellier‘s own Arc de Triomphe.