An abandoned beach resort in Normandy reclaimed by artists.

An abandoned Victorian-era amusement park is rusting away amidst luxury houses.

Back in 1952, you could get a mushroom cloud chaser with your atomic cocktail.

The shell of a medieval fortress offers commanding views of the area it once protected.

This enormous sports car themed amusement park is home to the world’s fastest roller coaster.

This collection of hand fans doubles as a history of femininity.

A secret hatch containing two parchments was discovered in this statue over 40 years after its installation.

A Cuban artist reclaimed his impoverished neighborhood as a dreamy folk art kingdom.

More tin toys than you can shake a clapping monkey at.

A forensic lab dedicated to fighting crimes against wildlife.

One of the last free public hot springs is decorated with hippie art.

The legendary birthplace of the Japanese maneki-neko is dotted with hundreds of lucky beckoning cats.

Bringing back the art of handmade custom coffins.

Where scientists keep miles of very valuable ice from Antarctica and Greenland from melting.

A 19th century library favored by Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft, known by locals as "the Ath."

In the hinterlands of Serbia's capital, a giant reflective mushroom houses an aeronautical history of the former Yugoslav republic.

This valley of hot springs and boiling mud pots is home to the record-holding "Geysir," which originated the English word.

A 605-page Quran penned in the blood of a dictator is locked away in a mosque.

This lake in the Cascades lives up to its name, disappearing down a hole every spring.

One of the bloodiest and most important battles in Japanese history is recreated with kitschy concrete statues.

"Bite or Smite" became the unlikely mascot of a Tampa suburb.

Rotting dome home spotted near Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

This high-perched pachyderm marks the memory of not one, but two elephants gunned down in small New England towns.

The wreckage still sits at the exact spot the plane crash-landed in 1945, carrying 1,000 pounds of explosives.