An ancient instrument used to measure the waters of the Nile so Egyptian farmers would know whether to expect famine or flood.

This bridge was constructed from the rubble of the infamous Bastille.

Indents in the pavement are all that remain from a grisly death machine in Paris.

The ruins of a Duke's bucolic dream, where camels once roamed alongside "Dutch" windmills and faux-Italian vineyards.

This statue was given to France by the United States to commemorate the centennial of the French Revolution.

A series of abstract, silly sculptures represent the works of a great modern classical composer.

A favorite Paris bar for U.S. expats, including Gershwin, Hemingway, and James Bond.

Twelve grave-faced marble angels guard the emperor's tomb at Les Invalides.

These spartan apartments are provided to clergymen visiting Vatican City.

Architectural monsters are devouring this palace's every door and window.

One of Catholicism's four major basilicas has a series of papal portraits that are said to predict the end of the world.

The mystic whose incorrupt corpse still attracts the faithful.

A treasure trove of Renaissance-era funerary art in a Roman church built on top of Nero's grave.

The martyr's wax-enhanced skeletal remains lie preserved in a glass case in the Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome.

Dozens of feral felines rule a segment of Hollywood's only graveyard.

This "synagogue" is not what it seems to be.

A common entry point to the Griffith Observatory trail holds its own wonders.

A long-vacant Scottish Rite temple in Hollywood has been converted into an art museum filled with Masonic relics.

Large but largely ignored, these 42 life-size Liberty Bell replicas were a peculiar, unexplained feature on the facade of a Macy's department store.

Though tiki culture has gone in and out of fashion, the Tonga Hut has always been flying the flag in Los Angeles.

Dozens of lights dangle from the branches of what may be the brightest tree in Los Angeles.

This traditional garden in the San Fernando Valley doubled for Star Fleet Academy, and is irrigated entirely by wastewater.

This star-studded Old Hollywood restaurant is where fettuccine Alfredo made its United States debut.

A cobblestone alley with an interesting past.