The possible imprisonment of Vlad the Impaler here earned the medieval castle its nickname, "Dracula's Castle."

Unchanged for centuries, this medieval library keeps its books in chains.

A seven-century-old jail tells a not-so-pleasant history of crime and punishment.

This beautifully designed star-shaped fort was the premier defense system of the late 1500s.

This small town in the Netherlands has no roads but instead, miles of canals and over 100 bridges.

Cat art as far as the eye can see.

This amazing example of Valencian Art Nouveau looks more like a cathedral than a public market.

A little slice of Japan and its aesthetics in London's Holland Park.

Giant, friendly pelicans in Central London, the most unlikely of places.

An easily overlooked stretch of ornate window fronts and gaslight lamps that could be right from the pages of Dickens.

Vibrant street art created with mixed media.

This mosaic-lined medieval church was built by the world's first admiral and still holds mass in ancient Greek.

A church that bred legends, and served as an inspiration for the Da Vinci Code.

On Japan's Tashirojima Island, cats are king.

The birthplace of an eccentric alchemist and possible inspiration for the fictional reanimator of monsters.

The fairy tale castle of the "fairy-tale king."

An ancient and majestic fortress that played an integral role in Portugal's road to independence.

This eccentrically decorated palace is replete with grottoes, fountains, tunnels, and caves.

This unreal Portuguese palace looks as though it's made from a pile of different castles.

This museum houses an imposing skeleton army comprised of creatures great and small.

The macabre collection of Jacques Sirgent, an expert scholar on the undead and all of their trappings.

Behind medieval walls in a corner of bustling Palermo is a breathtaking former mosque once inhabited by a wolf-taming hermit.

Bold black and white motifs of life and death add a dramatic flair to this 17th-century crypt.

This South London cemetery holds the remains of more than 15,000 people.