This iconic L.A. bookshop is housed in an abandoned bank—both symbolic and chic.

Historic funicular railway, believed to be the shortest railroad in the world.

Crypt mausoleum in cathedral's basement contains relics of third century Roman martyr, Saint Vibiana.

Magical-looking cottages that inspired one of the most famous animated films ever.

Church and home-museum of a 1920s female revivalist preacher with a very sordid past.

A cult following celebrates the legend that belies this curious podiatrists' office sign which has worked its way into song, literature, animation, and the visual arts.

Over 300 taxidermied animals in a Californian restaurant make for a taxidermist's dream and an animal lover's nightmare.

Pitié-Salpêtrière was the dumping grounds for women who received the dreaded diagnosis of "hysterical."

Hundreds of hidden passageways weave through the old quarters of Lyon.

An architectural oddity of six stories, accessed by graceful ramps.

For hundreds of years, automatons moving to metallic music have been marking the passage of time.

San Francisco's newly reopened hands-on science museum.

This French ghost town from World War II has been left as a memorial to German atrocities during World War II.

19th century pendulum and a clock restored by a rogue group of guerilla artists.

A Parisian cemetery where the elite and artistic are interred beneath an eccentric collection of tombs.

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

An increasingly eccentric apartment building, topped with winged beasties.

The largest collection of two headed animals in the world.

In a city filled with Frank Gehry buildings, one stands out as one of the architect's weirder works.

Medical and zoological curiosities for sale.

Once strictly off-limits, this lower level housing curious and priceless vehicles of the Petersen Automotive Museum is now open to the public.

The last of its kind in the country.

Iconic Los Angeles residence famous for its 19 statues of Michelangelo's David.

A grand Gothic Revival basilica with stained glass depictions of Montreal's religious history has only one soul resting in its crypt.