The Thermal Vals (bath) in Vals, Switzerland. Slabs of Valser quartzite create a watery labyrinth that's by turns minimalist and quasi-industrial.
Arcaid Images / Alamy
Skara Brae —
The remains of a Skara Brae building on the Orkney Islands of Scotland. This massive and mysterious village on the Bay of Skaill is still being excavated.
Yellow Book Ltd
Renwick Hospital —
The abandoned Renwick Hospital on Roosevelt Island in New York City. A $4.5 million restoration project will open Renwick to the public in 2013
The Rubjerg Knude lighthouse in Hjørring, Denmark. this ghostly sentinel was built in 1900 but abandoned in 1968.
Elisabeth Coelfen Editorial / Alamy
Loretto Chapel —
The Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Gothic Revival church's spiral staircase is a woodwork masterpiece.
Blue Rose Photography
Kolmanskop Diamond Camp —
Kolmanskop Diamond Camp in Skeleton Coast, Namibia. Bushmen considered Namibia's Skeleton Coast "The Land God Made in Anger."
Michael Toye, Professional Architecture and Landscape Photographer
San Juan Parangaricutiro —
The surviving San Juan Parangaricutiro ruins in Michoacán, Mexico. In 1943, an explosive volcano eventually buried San Juan Parangaricutiro and another village.
Sergio Alfaro Romero
Yaxchilán ruins —
Yaxchilán ruins in Chiapas, Mexico. See the rest of Travel+Leisure's gallery here.