Drinkslinger is an unlikely vocation for a Buddhist monk, but at this Tokyo bar the enlightenment is served in a martini glass.

This bizarre residential building is the masterpiece of Von Jour Caux, the “Gaudí of Japan.”

Inside the columbarium, thousands of colorful, high-tech Buddhas guard the ashes of the dead.

Losing lottery tickets are deposited at this shrine in hopes of better luck.

A small sanctuary carved into the mountainside near the tallest point in continental Portugal.

This roadside shrine to an unofficial saint has welcomed the wishes and prayers of local believers for generations.

An LED art installation composed of 600 poles wrapped in kimono fabric.

On the walking path from Monterosso to Vernazza, a small shrine dedicated to feline friends.

Only recently added to the shrine, this googly-eyed snail demon of unknown origin is said to have eye-healing powers.

This small Japanese street is lined with figures, sculptures and a shrine dedicated to frogs.

A small shrine dedicated to a god of lightning and electronics.

This historic castle is one of the oldest and most impressive in all of Japan.

This traditional Japanese shrine is dedicated to four Shinto deities.

A unique shrine dedicated to the deified skull of a 17th-century Tokyo courtesan.

This cozy café is housed in a repurposed pharmacy originally built in 1927.

This museum is dedicated to the cultural history of tobacco and salt, once monopolized in Japan.

Though this bridge was originally built in the 12th century, only one of its 10 arches dates back that far.

The former "holiday home" for monks at the Durham Cathedral.

A massive mammoth bone has been on display inside this church since the 18th century.

This cemetery holds the remains of an accused witch and the man that ensured her freedom.

A totem pole of heads to represent the different stages of life.

According to local legend, this church was built with two doors, so that residents of two rival villages had their own entrances.

A pirate is laid to rest at St. Nicholas Church.

An open-air museum exhibiting a total of 52 century-old buildings, recreating Hokkaido’s “pioneer village.”