Quito's historic, main square dates back to the 16th century.

Legend says if this neo-Gothic basilica is ever officially completed, the world will come to an end.

One of the oldest medical collections in Europe focusing on rare surgical instruments.

An overlooked marble is the only surviving in-place 18th century example of the measurement that changed how we define distance.

The recovered bones of martyrs slaughtered during The Terror are on display in this church crypt.

Saintly bones pressed into a wax effigy of a Catholic superstar.

A popular shrine where the Blessed Virgin allegedly appeared in 1830, displaying a holy armchair and two incorruptible remains of Lady Saints.

Paris' fabled purveyor of exotic taxidermy and natural history curios.

An iconic and eccentric bar for "Manouche" Jazz music keeps expanding its space—and its influence.

A museum of magic with a Sadist past.

This charming cobbled backstreet is the most Instagramable street in Paris, much to the residents' annoyance.

Medieval museum built over Roman baths that features famous tapestries of a lady and a unicorn.

The very center of Paris is surrounded by a bevy of strange good luck rituals.

A gruesome combat between a hunter and a furious momma bear.

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

Natural history museum celebrating biodiversity with a parade of taxidermy animals.

A haunting collection of the vanished and disappearing natural world.

A majestic lion statue guards this Parisian botanical garden, and feeds on an unsettling item.

Hidden away in a modern library are the remains of one of the 18th century's most celebrated wunderkammers.

This recessed garden protects thousands of mountain plants by creating its own microclimates.

Known as the "Dodo Manège," this carousel features a herd of animals that have disappeared—or may be gone soon.

The remaining relics of the patroness of Paris lie in a chapel under a striking double spiral staircase.

The video game-themed street art first popped up in the French city.

A 400-year-old church covered floor to ceiling in ex-voto offerings from the faithful.