Monasteries

This picturesque medieval monastery guards a small trove of historic treasures.

This wooded grove of beautiful hand-built stone grottos is a hidden gem within a shuttered Franciscan monastery.

The ruins of a 13th-century monastery that long served as a place of refuge from wars and raids.

Originally a leper colony, the island is now an Armenian monastery that's home to an incredible manuscript library and eclectic museum.

Scores of wax baby figurines add an unusual mood to this beautiful church on the Greek coast.

Now a museum, this building was once a 14th-century monastery and the place where the founder of the Dutch nation lived and was assassinated.

A colorful kitschy temple and floating market off the beaten path.

This hilltop warren of monastic dwellings is the result of centuries worth of Mongol attacks.

The hermits of Karoulia protect their asocial lifestyles by living on the vertical face of a treacherous precipice.

For nearly 2,000 years this church has been waging war on local snakes by importing cats.

Small church on top of a huge rock column.

The huge golden reliquary of a testicle-smashing saint.

An enchanting monastery in the Spanish countryside appears lifted from a fantasy tale.

An ancient capital city that dates back 3,000 years old and harbors many surprises.

Monasteries on rock pillars, once accessible only by frayed ropes.