This Brazilian town built by Freemasons is full of colonial Masonic architecture and symbolic imagery.

This massive wooden building contains a giant Buddha, healing pillars, and tame deer wandering the grounds.

The quintessential Japanese rock garden has existed for more than 500 years.

Shrine dedicated to boars that is believed to cure foot and leg injuries.

The cemetery houses the remains of Jun’ichirō Tanizaki, one of Japan's most famous novelists.

Japan's largest and oldest annual procession of floats, begun in 869.

This 700-year-old street food market features baby octopus and soy donuts.

When this massive wooden temple ran out of rope, they made one out of devotees' hair.

1,001 carved statues of the Buddhist God of Mercy, each with a unique face.

A shrine contains nearly 200 statues of the Buddhist deity Jizo, dressed in bibs by parents who have lost a child.

The 10,000 Torii shrine.

Devoted Buddhists can earn enlightenment in the next life by crawling through this symbolic nostril.

Birthplace of the Tendai sect and home to the marathon monks.

An abandoned Santa park is as far as this proposed theme park kingdom got toward completion.

This massive Brazilian church is built like an angular, technicolor pyramid left by Mayans from the future.

This Brazilian astronomy museum allows guests to gaze at the stars through their telescopes each weekend.

Eduardo Kobra’s breathtaking 32,300-square-foot graffiti wall took over Rio’s Olympic Boulevard.

This stunning Brazilian library contains the largest collection of Portuguese texts outside of Portugal itself.

The largest library in Latin America owes its existence to an Old World earthquake and a Napoleonic invasion.

Crumbling remnant of Rio's colonial past tucked behind Corcovado mountain in the neighborhood of Cosme Velho.

Try not to get lost in this picturesque Brazilian labyrinth of the dead.

After the Cuban Revolution, the famous rum company had to leave their swanky headquarters behind.

Once a favorite playground for the world's most illustrious guests, Hotel Nacional's secret weapons and bunkers reveal a more menacing side to its golden history.

A focal point of the Cuban government, this city square features one of the most iconic images in the country.