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Tallinn, Estonia
Restoran Olde Hansa
This Tallinn restaurant bans potatoes, tomatoes, and chocolate—only ingredients available before 1492 make the cut.
From the CommunityClassic Facades
The stunners contained within this theme scream AWA. Guess what, they are all real places, each with a story to tell. We invite you to explore some of the most "classic" spots around the globe.
Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Queen’s Arcade
Before the arcade, the site belonged to Belfast's harp-playing doctor who taught blind children music and founded a hospital.
From the Community
Uayma, Mexico
Santo Domingo de Guzmán Church
Built from stones of dismantled Maya temples, this church took priests over 100 years to convince locals to enter.
From the Community
Savannah, Georgia, United States
Lucas Theatre for the Arts
Savannah's Lucas Theatre reunited with its Wurlitzer organ after a 50-year separation.
From the Community
Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica, Chile
Torres del Paine National Park
British ranchers shipped prefab buildings to Patagonia's edge, where puma hunters were once paid per kill until 1980.
From the Community
London, United Kingdom
Royal College of Music
The future King Edward VII opened a music college in 1883 where talent mattered more than birthright.
From the Community
Weymouth, Massachusetts, United States
Jefferson School
After designing 140 churches, architect Shepard S. Woodcock finally built something you could skip on Sundays.
From the Community
Stockholm, Sweden
Stockholm Palace
Stockholm's Royal Guards rotate in from across Sweden for week-long shifts, and once doubled as the city's firefighters.
From the Community
London, United Kingdom
Chelsea Embankment
How a river too putrid for Queen Victoria became one of London's most pristine waterfronts.
From the Community
Oamaru, New Zealand
Oamaru Opera House
The architect designed it in 1907, then sailed to Australia in 1911 and never returned to see it age.
From the Community
Tabriz, Iran
Sound & Music Museum
Forty years of collecting led to Iran's first sound museum, where fruit-core instruments share space with oil-powered radios.
From the Community
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Slovenian School Museum
Slovenia's oldest specialist museum once lived in a bar and a castle before finding its permanent home in 1938.
From the Community
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Tabriz, Iran
Imam Khomeini Mosalla
Tabriz's forever-unfinished prayer hall has been accused of undermining its ancient neighbor.
From the Community
Belgrade, Serbia
Zeleni Venac Market
Belgrade built Zeleni Venac in 1926 to banish illegal ox-wagon vendors and accidentally created the "Queen of the markets."
From the Community
Nancy, France
Grand Nancy Métropole Meurthe-et-Moselle
Built in 1908 by refugees from German-annexed Alsace, Nancy's Chamber of Commerce married art with industry as cultural resistance.
From the Community
Kerry, Ireland
Dan Foley’s Pub
The most-photographed pub in Kerry was run by a member of the Magic Circle- and yes, "it's an illusion."
From the Community
Paris, France
Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre
Sacré-Cœur's travertine stone self-cleans with every rainstorm, releasing calcite that recoats the basilica white.
From the Community
Creemore, Ontario, Canada
Creemore Springs Brewery
Mauled by a tiger during the Depression, sold a brewery for $25 million at 74.
From the Community
Geneva, Switzerland
Bijouterie CD I Love You
A jewelry store in Geneva’s neighborhood where love is the local specialty.
From the Community
Luxor Governorate, Egypt
Sofitel Winter Palace Hotel Luxor
Where the Nile meets nostalgia — the Winter Palace in Luxor has welcomed explorers, writers, and kings since 1886.
From the Community
Venice, Italy
St. Mark’s Campanile
One of the world's most copied structures is, itself, a copy.
From the Community
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
M. Trock Building
We could go for a cream soda right about now.
From the Community
Kampar, Malaysia
Bandar Agacia
Once a pastel Disney-inspired township with cafés, themed streets, and dreams of a Cinderella castle didn't quite see a fairytale ending (yet!).
From the Community
Porto, Portugal
Club Fluvial Portuense
Club Fluvial Portuense, founded in 1876, remains a living hub of rowing, swimming, and community on the Douro—more working river club than monument.
From the Community
Basel, Switzerland
St. Johann Capelle
St. Johann Chapel in Basel, plain and modest beside the grand Minster, endures through centuries of shifting use—once a fruit storehouse, now a quiet space for small services.
From the Community
Taipei City, Taiwan
National Palace Museum
Taipei’s National Palace Museum, once exiled from Beijing, holds 700,000 imperial treasures including the famed Jadeite Cabbage and Meat-shaped Stone!
From the Community
Singapore, Singapore
The Arts House
This arts building was built as a private residence, and yet spent the last 200 years as a governmental building.
Presented with
Sydney, Australia
The Strand Arcade
Arcade in name only—there’s nothing playful about how electric this iconic Sydney location is!
From the Community
Lewes, United Kingdom
Marston Barrett Ltd
Marston Barrett: Jewelers with real charm!
From the Community
Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic
Mlýnská kolonáda (Mill Colonnade)
Nestled in a forested bowl of Bohemia, this spa town was practically built to simmer.
From the Community
Kraków, Poland
O. Weinfeld Farby Lakiery
This century-old ghost sign in Kraków offers a rare glimpse into pre-war Jewish life and entrepreneurship.
From the Community
Rome, Italy
Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana
A textbook example of Romanità, or “Roman-ness”...
AWA visted here
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Sidhpur, India
Abandoned Mansions of Sidhpur
Whether you view Sidhpur as a place of splendor or desolation, few ghost towns exhibit such dramatic multicolored flair.
Cape Town, South Africa
Bo-Kaap
In Cape Town's Bo-Kaap, a vibrant car and colorful history collide in a celebration of freedom and heritage.