This staircase in a lush tropical grotto was built by enslaved laborers and renamed to honor Queen Victoria's role in ending slavery in the British Empire.

Nature took her revenge on the "Wickedest City in the World."

A neo-Gothic church built to thank God for saving the Emperor of Austria from an assassination.

This massive tea kettle was once a promotional stunt for the Oriental Teashop.

These small sculptures pay homage to the lovable star of an iconic Argentine comic strip.

The modern birthplace of Irish freedom.

The original burial place of this preeminent 18th-century Jewish philosopher was razed by the Nazis.

Built in 1870 at the bridge that connected Buda and Pest, this spectacular incline railway was almost lost forever during World War II.

Remnants of the most densely packed city in world history, that thrived on anarchy for 30 years.

Rimmed by white crusts of salt on every edge, Lac Assal is one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world.

Fortune tellers, snake charmers, poets, and storytellers all gather on this historic square in Morocco.

Exquisite wall sculptures carved in secret by an early quarryman in an obscure corner of the Paris Catacombs.

The bizarre visions of H.R. Giger, tucked away in a Swiss medieval city.

Watch cheese-flipping robots in action at this factory and museum.

The charmingly disheveled clock tower of Tbilisi's puppet theater.

"Holy Wisdom" overlooks the city that became its namesake.

Monument to a suicide protesting the Soviet invasion.

This building holds the embalmed remains of the leader of the Bolshevik Revolution.

On any given day this sprawling market houses literally tons of government-regulated gold, gems, and precious metals.

A faithful reproduction of Al-Jazari's enormous water clock.

This spectacular mosque houses the second-largest chandelier in the world.

A gift from the Soviet Union in the 1980s, this is the only statue of the Soviet dictator in Southeast Asia.

An entertainment center in a huge transparent tent.

A modern tower, symbolizing the legend of a golden egg on top of the tree of life.