Classic 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.

Savannah, Georgia, United States

Lucas Theatre for the Arts

Savannah's Lucas Theatre reunited with its Wurlitzer organ after a 50-year separation.

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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.

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London, United Kingdom

Royal College of Music

The future King Edward VII opened a music college in 1883 where talent mattered more than birthright.

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Weymouth, Massachusetts, United States

Jefferson School

After designing 140 churches, architect Shepard S. Woodcock finally built something you could skip on Sundays.

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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.

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London, United Kingdom

Chelsea Embankment

How a river too putrid for Queen Victoria became one of London's most pristine waterfronts.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Tabriz, Iran

Imam Khomeini Mosalla

Tabriz's forever-unfinished prayer hall has been accused of undermining its ancient neighbor.

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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."

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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."

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Creemore, Ontario, Canada

Creemore Springs Brewery

Mauled by a tiger during the Depression, sold a brewery for $25 million at 74.

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Jaipur, India

Monkey Temple

This temple honors the elephant god but houses hundreds of monkeys who commute to Jaipur daily to steal and pickpocket.

AWA visted here

Rajasthan, India

Chand Baori

Built in the 8th century, this stepwell drops 13 stories and stays five degrees cooler at the bottom than the surface.

AWA visted here

Agra, India

Ganeshi Lall Emporium

Founded in 1845, this Agra emporium houses a jeweled carpet that took one craftsman 9.5 years to finish.

AWA visted here

Agra, India

Mehtab Bagh

Built a century before the Taj, this garden turned to sand, then archaeologists dug for a mythical Black Taj that never existed.

AWA visted here

Geneva, Switzerland

Bijouterie CD I Love You

A jewelry store in Geneva’s neighborhood where love is the local specialty.

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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.

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Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States

M. Trock Building

We could go for a cream soda right about now.

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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!).

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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.

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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.

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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!

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Sydney, Australia

The Strand Arcade

Arcade in name only—there’s nothing playful about how electric this iconic Sydney location is!

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Kraków, Poland

O. Weinfeld Farby Lakiery

This century-old ghost sign in Kraków offers a rare glimpse into pre-war Jewish life and entrepreneurship.

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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.

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