The approximate spot where the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar was put to death.

Notorious artist squat renovated into legal studios.

A Parisian exterminator's shop whose storefront displays stuffed rats hanging from traps.

A 16th-century fountain marks the site of a lost medieval cemetery once filled with mass graves.

This little-known relic crypt holds stolen parts of a Roman Empress.

With a history of slaughter, feast, and famine, remnants of the pork industry decorate this area--even its church.

The spiral staircase hidden inside this giant Parisian column was likely built for Catherine de Medici's astrologer.

Noirish green neon marks the location of one of the oldest private detective agencies in France.

This small, ingenious cannon once helped regulate Parisian life.

A grotto-like lodge decorated with gilded mosaics, rocks and a noisy waterfall was the setting for the most sumptuous pleasure house of 1900s Europe.

This off-limits room in the National Library of France is home to a system of pneumatic tubes, once used to bring books to readers.

This massive library holds what was once the largest book collection in the world.

Beggars were miraculously "cured" of their fake ailments when they returned home to this 17th century Paris slum each night.

The oldest stone house in Paris was built by its most famous alchemist.

A mechanized clock where a man fights off a dragon, crab, and rooster.

A series of abstract, silly sculptures represent the works of a great modern classical composer.

A lone cannonball remains lodged in the walls of the Hotel de Sens as a sober reminder of a revolution.

An off-the-beaten-path boutique stuffed with an eclectic collection of upcycled goods.

The final resting place of the "father of special effects."

How did a French journalist’s grave become the sexiest statue in the cemetery?

The tomb of history's greatest potato promoter is surrounded by tubers.

France's most famous cemetery, with some of its most curious tombs.

Indents in the pavement are all that remain from a grisly death machine in Paris.

Massive puppet-automaton machines created by French artist collective Machines de l’Ile.