A grotesque Fiji merman dwells within this traditional Dutch-style building.

The artist James Turrell is repurposing an extinct volcano crater as an observatory to experience the cosmos.

Philadelphia boasts one of the best — and most often overlooked — traditional Japanese gardens in North America.

This museum boasts a bucket of teeth and tells the tale of a 20th-century dental circus.

The oldest surviving presidential residence in the United States.

This 17th-century fort, built by the Dutch to control a piece of the international spice trade, is now a city park.

The remote island home of the overlooked explorer who co-discovered the theory of evolution by natural selection.

A massive statue depicts Jesus as if he's about to take off in flight.

Where cemeteries are carved into the side of cliffs and infants are buried in the hollows of trees.

The unique funeral practices of the Toraja can be seen here with graves carved into caves and hung off cliffs.

These 40,000-year-old stenciled hands are older than the famous cave art in France and Spain.

Three wildly colorful calderas top this otherworldly volcano chain.

A fiery crater has been burning in the Karakum Desert since 1971.

Turkish adventurer antiques in the heart of the Grand Bazaar.

This column celebrates Rome's victory over the Goths, and may be the oldest Roman monument in Istanbul.

No one is sure if the world's fourth-largest diamond had been found in a rubbish heap or was pawned by Napoleon's mom.

1513 Turkish world map, full of European state secrets and snarky commentary.

A section of the long chain that blocked enemy ships from entering Constantinople.

Quite possibly the oldest love poem known to humankind.

A small etching on the white marble parapet was written in runic script by a Viking mercenary.

Five sultans and their families rest in eternal splendor, teeming with overlooked beauty and drama.

Legend says if you stick your thumb in the hole and it gets wet your wish will be granted.

A marvel of Byzantine engineering under the streets of Istanbul.

This crucial gathering spot along the "hippie trail" still displays old notes between traveling beatniks and backpackers.