Places Edited by Samir S. Patel

Heralded as the world's first theater, these ruins are often overlooked as they reside in the shadows of the Acropolis.

A "house to which to flee" for settlers in colonial Pennsylvania.

During its heyday, 72 one-ton buckets from this dredge bore into the Powder River excavating vast gold deposits.

This collection of ancient, mountaintop, underground tombs was once hidden by decades of bloodshed.

One of the only places where Earth’s mantle lies above water.

These paved rills bring freshwater into Altstadt and could spell wedding bells for whoever stumbles into the waters.

In a boatyard near Aberdyfi is a nautically inspired work of art.

These 12th-century catacombs carved into a mountainside were a place of mysticism and Christian hermitages.

The suspected burial mound of legendary Viking Björn Ironside.

The longest manmade tunnel in Queensland is now a beautiful trail, home to a special colony of bent-wing bats.

Part of this hotel resides in Switzerland, the other in France, and the border splits the honeymoon suite.

The oldest home in Huntington Beach, the farmhouse is a monument to the region's pioneer past.

This unusual statue overlooking the Royal Mile has an interesting backstory.

This pop-culture shop also offers the chance to become part of their favorite tv show or movie.

The palace for King Gustav III was never completed, but the foundation remains tucked away in this city park.

When he found his hometown was no more, Lowell Davis decided to recreate a "new" ghost town from scratch.

Founded by members of the Tohono O’odham Nation, this one-room joint's James Beard–winning fry bread is light as a cloud.

Europe's official "zero-level," the equator of elevation.

Inside this faux cave, visitors can learn how some of their favorite fantasy characters were created.

Where else would a linchpin of post-colonial Native American cuisine anchor the menu but a museum?

Sample cuisine inspired by the Great Plains indigenous people who have been gathering at this sacred Canadian Heritage Park for 6,000 years.

It's gunky, it's gross, and it's been freed from the sewer and put on display.

Thousands of mounted insects, and some live ones, hide within an otherwise ordinary shopping mall.

San Gennaro, the patron saint of Naples, greets pedestrians between these narrow city streets.