The compass on its front was a handy tool for 17th-century merchants who needed to know the direction of the wind.

A 250-year-old timepiece-automaton adorned with golden mechanical birds, which still sing to this day.

The oldest museum in Russia is home to a fascinating collection of nearly two million anthropological artifacts and anatomical curiosities.

Cold war icon and onetime "hole" in the iron curtain.

A 12th-century fortress containing some of Berlin's oldest buildings.

Berlin's old airport.

On the Spree bank, discover one of the last reminders of a symbolic wall that divided, and was torn down by the people.

Thousands of coffin-like pillars make up this controversial Holocaust memorial.

The most visited, and possibly most controversial, museum in Germany.

Started as a kitchen garden, now the second largest botanical garden in the world.

A whimsical and twisted animatronic monster tour beneath the streets of Berlin.

An eerie, derelict amusement park in Berlin.

Whisper secrets in a busy station only to be heard on the other side of this acoustic arch.

This fairytale castle was built as a show of power but was nearly torn down thanks to its history of torture.

This gruesome biblical parade celebrates the one day a year that a bit of Jesus' blood turns to liquid.

A taxus-tree to which Julius Caesar reputedly tied his horse.

A beer pipeline runs beneath Bruges.

The tiny Belgian town's ancient version of Mardi Gras involves eerie wax masks, sticks for warding off evil, and ostrich plume hats.

Christ's blood preserved in a Belgian town.

A little sculpture with a large wardrobe.

A Belgian self-built tower inspired by the Bible and ancient civilizations.

This former Masonic lodge has been transformed into part museum, part bar, all awesome.

A magical and peaceful ruined Cistercian abbey in what is now southern Belgium.

Lavish royal estate punctuated with heated greenhouses.