This impressive collection of rare books on ancient mysticism inspired author Dan Brown.

An Amsterdam street lined with antique shops each one dedicated to a different obscure collection.

An alchemist's "magic door" stands in the middle of a Roman park.

A 16th-century horror show built in a lovely Italian garden.

This Paris art space celebrates the creativity and ingenuity that springs from abject poverty, especially in Africa.

An art world insider finds himself battling for his artistic home.

For hundreds of years, automatons moving to metallic music have been marking the passage of time.

Skeletons, medical artifacts, and other obscure and precious treasures all displayed in a wooden pharmacist's cabinet.

Monsters and miniatures are held in equal esteem at this wondrous museum.

An antique curios dealer and hybrid taxidermist.

The curious underground history of keeping Paris clean.

One of the greatest maze designer’s greatest mazes.

The only remaining collection of flayed figures made by French "madman" Honoré Fragonard.

Behind the pink curtain, Au Bonheur du Jour, an art gallery of erotic archives.

A museum of magic with a Sadist past.

A counter-culture bookstore like no other hides in plain sight in the streets of Paris.

The oldest stone house in Paris was built by its most famous alchemist.

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

The macabre collection of Jacques Sirgent, an expert scholar on the undead and all of their trappings.

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

This museum tells the story of lake dwellers from 4000 BC to 850 BC, replete with stilt houses and goats.

As lake waters recede, a German village reemerges after more than a hundred years.

In addition to fine dairy products, the world's most beautiful milk shop also offers a feast for the eyes.

This ancient ruined monastery has been destroyed by fire so many times that it seems like God hates it.