Europium, May, 22

Lavish royal estate punctuated with heated greenhouses.

The Devil’s own choice when he needs a drink in Brussels.

Three floors of musical instruments coming from all corners of the world and hundreds of years of musical history.

This modern arts center is built around a gem of late-Baroque architecture.

This recently restored crypt was once plagued by liquefying coffins and exploding caskets.

A little sculpture with a large wardrobe.

A fantastical 13th-century fortification sandwiched by a modern hotel in central Brussels.

This Greek temple, open only an hour a day, was the site of a war of tastes between an architect and an artist.

A wonderfully kitsch bookstore the size of a supermarket.

The Belgian royal family's private depot now stands abandoned and forgotten alongside the tracks.

Drink among marionettes at this pub inside a historic puppet theater.

Nature is slowly overtaking this disused cemetery on the outskirts of Brussels.

Only museum in the world devoted to bookbinding and book arts holds a permanent collection representing five centuries.

Dummies recreate radiological discoveries from history.

This charming, hidden guild museum holds some 700 years of crossbow history.

Head underground and take a tour of the city's working sewer system, and see the underground river Senne, which defined Brussels for centuries before being covered in the 19th century.

A shining memorial to a Belgian hero is said to bring luck to anyone who touches it.

This whimsical statue dumps water on its head to symbolize knowledge flowing into his brain. Or maybe booze.

The Belgian library displays burned books that were salvaged from the fires of both world wars.

A giant bug impaled on a 75-foot-tall needle.

Banished from town, this local jester concocted a clever return.

A tiny metropolis resides inside this student housing complex.