Now a retreat center for the faithful, it once provided training for clergy—but it began as a farm owned by a famed financier and his opera singer wife, who built a surprise in the backyard.

Deceased nuns were placed on stone chairs to decompose, while the surviving nuns prayed near the lifeless bodies.

One of Oxford's greatest treasures likely belonged to the legendary King Alfred the Great.

This nondescript building was the birthplace of Morris cars.

The fantastic charm of England's oldest botanical garden has made it a place of writerly inspiration for centuries.

This slice of 1960s Danish modernism does not conform to the Oxford college stereotypes.

The remains of an abandoned dinosaur theme park litter the woods just off the highway.

A theme park that suffered massive flooding during Katrina was abandoned, and now proves irresistible to trespassing explorers.

A crumbling wizard is one of the final reminders of a roadside Middle Earth.

Ruined pieces of stone and a swimming pool are all that remain of an amusement park swept away by a flood.

A semi-abandoned replica of Prince Edward Island's Avonlea—in Japan.

This public space is speckled with the eerie remnants of a defunct amusement park.

In a sleepy village in Oxfordshire, the visionary English writer's gravesite attracts a yearly pilgrimage.

Four miles of pipelines form the model of still-functioning retro-tech efficiency.

This modest post office sits on the site of H.H. Holmes' famous murder castle.

An ancient iron pillar in Delhi that seems to be rustproof.

The world's second-largest sundial, made entirely out of stone.

This quaint funicular has been ferrying people up and down an English valley since the Victorian era.

Mother Nature outdoes herself with this stunningly beautiful set of caves carved into marble.

These layered sandstone mountains in China look like they are made of pressed crayons.

Climb down into the largest sinkhole in Qatar.

A massive natural rock arch gives the Tuscan mountain its own window to the sky.

An ancient Scottish rock formation said to be the gravesite of a giant remains ensconced in legend and intrigue.

Islanders once used this dramatic, otherworldly landscape to hide their cattle from Viking raiders.