On the third floor of a handsome apartment building with an antique lift, the elegant Anichkov Pension has six rooms and one gorgeous apartment.

BBC: Mini guide to St Petersburg, Russia

Robert Weis, head of Hermann Historica's antique arms and armor department, says that newcomers are building up collections.

WSJ: Collecting: Antique Arms and Armor Auctions Recall Ancient Warriors

As illustrated by the collapse of the magnificent antique citadel at Bam, the largest sun dried bricks (adobe) building in the world and a World Heritage Site, during the devastating earthquake that struck this ancient Iranian city, cultural heritage sites themselves are threatened by earthquake destruction.

UNESCO: Tales set in Stone: learning from ancient earthquakes

Pop star David Byrne, formerly of Talking Heads, has turned the inside of a defunct ferry terminal into a giant musical instrument, retrofitting an antique organ and wiring it to the pipes, the beams, and even the plumbing of the Battery Maritime Building.

NPR: David Byrne Plays the Building