An abandoned masterpiece of Soviet Brutalist architecture.

Legend has it that Napoleon Bonaparte fell in love with this Gothic church.

Travelers who fall victim to this mermaid's charms are destined to stay in Užupis forever.

This micro-nation may be some sort of prank, but its constitution sure seems official.

Things aren't quite what they seem at this mind-bending museum.

The beloved war-time celebrity spent time in the area before retiring to the Edinburgh Zoo.

This abandoned, partly demolished building is now home to beautiful graffiti and murals.

An important Mayan religious and trading center dating back to 200 BC.

This charming Latvian lane doubled as Baker Street on the Soviet Union’s version of Sherlock Holmes.

A small museum contains one of the largest collections of ethnic and traditional headgear in the world.

A stone marker and sculpture in the city of Riga stake a claim for the very first community Christmas tree.

A preserved oak tree about 3,500 years old found in Riga, Latvia.

The oldest housing complex in Riga is a mini timeline of architectural trends.

A black cat protests the City Guild in Riga's Old Town.

Flamboyant architecture from the turn of 20th century.

This 8th-century Bavarian monastery is home to an exquisite Baroque-era library.

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

This intricately spiralling forest was created as a monumental work of art.

This honeycomb-textured tafone looks like a petrified troll head.

This cairn marks the only place where Central European Time, Eastern European Time, and Further-eastern European Time meet.

Finland's oldest astronomical observatory once played a crucial role in seafaring and timekeeping.

A lumberjack in Finnish Lapland did not want to cut down his Arctic pines, so he offered them up to be adopted by nature-lovers.

A cathedral resurrected from the ashes of one of Europe's greatest urban fires.

The tiny, studious rodents greet visitors to the National Archives of Finland.