This unauthorized stone mermaid was secretly carved out of public stone before being permanently preserved.

This whimsical Oz-themed park had a wonderful impact on the surrounding neighborhood.

Wall to wall taxidermy at Denver's oldest and most exotic steakhouse.

This 38-year old fish became a casualty of changing trends.

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

San Francisco's oldest operating hotel, with a Victorian atmosphere and a "haunted" fourth floor.

Since 1973, this block has been home to the most concentrated collection of murals in San Francisco.

San Francisco's oldest surviving monument and meeting place for 1906 survivors.

An open-air "garden" of mural art that changes weekly.

One of Europe's largest supercomputers is housed inside of a disused chapel.

The studio of Catalonia's most famous theatrical designer remains exactly as he left it.

Gaudí's famously flamboyant architectural style is on full display in this sprawling park and garden.

The doodles of a genius line the walls of a secret room under the Medici Chapel, where they were hidden for nearly 500 years.

An incredible menagerie of more than 3 million taxidermied animals at the oldest science museum in Europe.

Fragments of a massive unfinished sculpture sit near the main quad of the University of Illinois.