Van Gogh Museum

You are standing in front of one of the most visited museums in the world, designed by the legendary Dutch architect Gerrit Rietveld and opened in 1973. Before the pandemic hit, more than 2 million people came through these doors every year, which makes a lot of sense once you see what is inside: over 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and 700 letters, all from one remarkably prolific man who, rather ironically, sold only 2 paintings during his entire lifetime.

The museum also houses a research facility where experts work on restoring Van Gogh's paintings, giving visitors a rare behind-the-scenes look at how these masterpieces are kept alive for future generations. Now, about that heist. On 7 December 2002, two men named Octave Durham and Henk B. climbed onto the roof with a ladder, smashed a window, and walked off with 2 Van Gogh paintings.

Convicted in 2003, the artworks themselves stayed missing for years, until 2016 when Italian authorities found them in the hands of the Neapolitan mafia. Both paintings, "Het uitgaan van de Hervormde Kerk in Nuenen" from 1884 and "Zeegezicht bij Scheveningen" from 1882, are now safely back on display right here.