16 Hidden Art Gems You Can Visit for Free During Open House New York

Open House New York returns for 2025 from October 17 to 19, offering free or low-cost access to over 340 venues across all five boroughs, including architectural landmarks, cultural institutions, and hidden spaces not normally open to the public. Highlights include the filtration system at Astoria Pool, behind-the-scenes tours of a Goodwill in Brooklyn, a passive house in Harlem, and art-focused sites such as MTA Arts and Design subway tours, the Whitney Museum's flood mitigation system by Renzo Piano, and the Morbid Anatomy Museum. The event features 164 drop-in venues and 178 ticketed sites at $7 per person, with tickets released on October 3.

5 secret jewels to discover in Europe

5 joyaux secrets à découvrir en Europe

L'Œil magazine has curated a list of five European cities rich in art historical treasures, highlighting hidden gems for cultural getaways. The first city profiled is Mainz, Germany, featuring the Romanesque-Gothic Mainzer Dom (Imperial Cathedral of St. Martin), the Gutenberg Museum showcasing the 42-line Bible as a landmark of printing history, and the Church of St. Stephen with its iconic blue stained-glass windows designed by Marc Chagall. The second city is Plovdiv, Bulgaria, where the old town blends ancient Roman ruins (a stadium, forum, odeon, and theater from the 2nd century) with 19th-century Bulgarian National Revival houses, such as the Balabanov, Hindliyan, and Kuyumdzhioglu houses, now converted into museums.