Astudy in contrasts, French architect Marc Rolinet’s Chapel of the Deaconesses of Reuilly brings together all the classical functions of a church in two pure forms: a stark triangle of glass and, inside it, a rounded, egglike structure made of wood.

Passing through the Dung Gate on the south end of Jerusalem’s Old City walls, visitors walk down a Herodian street built 2,000 years ago and get a breathtaking view of an archaeological park overlooking the Temple Mount, the site of the Second Temple (destroyed in 70 A.D.) where the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosques now stand.

An isolated island amid many that dot the Seto Inland Sea, Inujima once helped fuel Japan’s early industrialization.

Ano-nonsense brick structure built in 1910 to house Chinese laborers, the East Kong Yick Building lacked the kind of architectural features that provide excitement when an old building becomes a museum.

Quebec City, famous for its cobblestone streets and 17th- and 18th-century architecture, is one of the few places in North America that might be mistaken for Old World Europe.