In this brilliant blue spring in Germany, legend has it that a sad mermaid learned to finally laugh.

Six times a day a train runs right through the middle of this Thai street market, sending vendors scrambling.

One of the largest Chinese cemeteries outside of China spent years overgrown and forgotten.

A narrow passage next to a cafe leads to a courtyard exploding with murals, tags, and paste-ups.

A remarkable range of flora and fauna are represented in this Dominican nature preserve.

A bas relief commemorates the "Nuns of the Battlefield" who cared for soldiers on both sides of the conflict.

An artificial hill and apparent calendric structure built in the Early Middle Ages immortalizes a legendary Polish princess.

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

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

This Gothic-style church is reputedly built atop the remains of one of Jesus's apostles.

Dramatic sea stacks adorn the coast of this small village on the Adriatic coast.

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

Graffiti covers the walls of a room where university students through the centuries have waited nervously to defend their theses.

The second building of its name to occupy this location might be the finest flatiron building in San Francisco.

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

Giant origami sculptures tucked into desert scenery beckon passers-by to explore further.

A glacial pothole was once a hideout for a notorious Scottish outlaw.

This snug medieval lane is one of the narrowest streets in the world.

An obsolete, vanishing traffic device warns Cincinnati drivers away from middle-of-the-road obstructions.

An open-air museum in a mountain valley features works designed to blend in with—and disintegrate back into—their natural surroundings.

A massive cave complex boasts some of the clearest water (and most charming bats) in the world.

Once the product of an inexplicable gold strike, this ghost town is now home to one man and his love of classic machines.

A significant cache of prehistoric valuables is on display in an unassuming museum tucked inside a town hall.

A peculiar family mausoleum built by a German nobleman captivated by the occult.