Tenacious mummies survived dental problems, eternal entombment, and more than their fair share of devastating fires.

This shop and studio is dedicated to the art of the book, from letterpress to bookbinding.

Half of a house.

The remains of a ruined mansion memorialize the 1906 earthquake.

In this century-old literary safehouse, print is alive and well.

A pair of slides and a tree-lined stair corridor have been an urban oasis for nearly 40 years.

Visible below the waves are memorials to the city's Gold Rush dead.

A modern mechanical planetary system, part of a 10,000 year clock.

The one-time watch house for incoming ships at the Golden Gate now stands abandoned and hidden in trees.

A walk-in working camera obscura produces 360-degree live images of the San Francisco coast.

This shop specializes in oddities and Victorian-inspired wonders.

A winding path built in secret on the edge of the continent.

The only theatre in the world constructed specifically for sound movement.

An artsy hidden staircase leads to breathtaking views of San Francisco.

A huge musical instrument played by the ocean.

Former hunting lodge of a duke who was an avid collector of impressionist works.

A curious collection of locks and keys.

This museum in a Paris apartment gives a unique look at the iconic French singer's life.

In this Parisian garden's grotesque former life as a zoo it fed exotic animals to the bourgeois and put humans on exhibit.

The personal library of the founder of modern neurology is open to visitors.

A museum which takes visitors to the côté obscure of Paris.

This charming cobbled backstreet is the most Instagramable street in Paris, much to the residents' annoyance.

Saintly bones pressed into a wax effigy of a Catholic superstar.

Exquisite wall sculptures carved in secret by an early quarryman in an obscure corner of the Paris Catacombs.