Places Edited by Rachel James

The largest statue in the world towers at 420 feet high atop another 66 feet of pedestal.

An extraordinary "City of Caves" carved from solid stone.

Two monstrous faces loom over a village in Czechia.

One of the oldest and certainly best preserved Cistercian abbeys still in existence.

The summer home and later final residence of acclaimed American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens.

"You can only scalp a customer once, but you can give him a haircut every two weeks"-Barber's Maxim.

In the St. Francois Mountains in the Ozarks at 1,772 feet above sea level, Taum Sauk Mountain is the highest (and possibly oldest) peak in Missouri.

Minnesota's highest point is a scenic vista marked by a plaque and armies of mosquitoes.

The highest point in New Jersey is marked by a massive, if simply named, obelisk.

The largest body of water in Massachusetts annihilated four small towns just to slake Boston's thirst.

This series of rope-style bridges brings visitors into a jungle layer that is usually reserved for birds and monkeys.

A devastated ruin in the south of Belize where British explorers claimed to unearth the Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull.

The greatest collection of New Orleans masking and processional traditions covering everything from Baby Dolls to Skull and Bone gangs.

This shack nestled in a 120-acre forest of maple trees in Mont-Rigaud is a wonderland of sugary syrup.

A fake town founded by Western movie stars is now becoming a hip desert community.

Artifacts showcasing the witchy history of Zambia.

The Titanic sails again in one Scotland man's backyard.

The world's first nuclear power plant is open to visitors looking to role-play a meltdown.

Odd stone and concrete monuments in the "Poet of the Sierras" eclectic folly garden.

Forgotten and then destroyed by fire, this was once one of the largest saltwater swimming pools in the world.

The oldest living organism in New York City. Maybe.

A remarkably intact castle that once was the largest in Ireland.

This cheerfully-named branch of the Chicago River is the fetid result of years of blood, entrails, and meatpacking waste.

A cathedral resurrected from the ashes of one of Europe's greatest urban fires.