A beautiful Arctic museum and nature center preserves the culture of the Sámi people.

Sacred waters rescued from the wrath of a volcano.

This sacred cave temple is home to thousands of bats and according to legend, a giant snake king.

Two stone columns flank the grand Venice square, but there were supposed to be three.

This palatial spiral staircase was so unusual the name "snail" was given to the noble family who built it.

One of the world's largest tanks mimics the experience of watching rare whale sharks, giant rays, and deep sea creatures from the ocean floor.

A network of sandy streets lined with verdant fukugi trees weaves throughout this tiny seaside town.

A 17th-century mosque that was used for war more than worship.

This grand Pakistani mausoleum can only be accessed via an almost 1,000 foot long alleyway.

This peaceful Sikh gurudwara serves around 50,000 free meals every day within its gilded walls.

Rusty industrial city full of oxidized distillation towers.

An ancient underground cultic temple where sunlight penetrates on the summer solstice.

Ancient rock-cut tomb? Definitely. That of a great Median king? Unlikely.

The ancient necropolis houses the immense rock-cut tombs of four Persian kings.

China’s breathtaking futuristic library is lined floor to ceiling with fake books.

A desert that rolls right up to the ocean, where it's so dry animals live off the fog.

An abandoned boat that's been stranded mysteriously for decades.

The inky volcanic sand leads to reefs teeming with aquatic life waiting to be discovered by snorkelers and divers.

Far from the shore, this sandy victim of the Skeleton Coast looks like it was plopped in the middle of the desert.

A perfect turquoise lake colored with glacier dust.

A glacier pocked with ice caves and surrounded by rainforests.

The glacier tucked within a New Zealand rainforest.

A New Zealand communications tower stands as the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere.

The platform atop this verdant volcano was built with the help of a royal elephant.