Places simonezanotti Wants to Go

Come for the whole sides of slow-roasted lamb, stay for the regional Kurdish specialties.

1513 Turkish world map, full of European state secrets and snarky commentary.

A gorgeous, Gaudí-esque stairway constructed in the city of Istanbul by a prominent Jewish family.

Five sultans and their families rest in eternal splendor, teeming with overlooked beauty and drama.

The ornate miniature mansions were built for Istanbul's feathered residents.

Roman ruins top white travertine terraces formed by ancient hot springs.

In this historic region, homes and churches are carved into ancient volcanic rock formations.

This statue of an eagle taking flight welcomes visitors to Langkawi.

After being bombed and largely abandoned, this former railway workshop has been transformed into a lively market space.

Extravagant mosque honors modern Islam.

This dangerous-looking suspension bridge may have been too unstable to remain open.

Holy Hindu shrine in an enormous, monkey-filled limestone cavern.

Two nations form a rare four-sided border at the peak of a mountain, philosophical questions result.

Constructed along the shores of Lake Zurich, this pavilion is a walk-through work of art.

This 170-year-old Swiss guesthouse built into the side of a mountain is best accessed by a cable car.

After World War II, this former concentration camp in Northern Italy became a refuge for those displaced by the war.

The crumbling remains of a 19th-century textile factory.

Nestled in the heart of Milan is a real wunderkammer of morbid curiosities.

An ossuary built in 1210 to collect bones from the Ospedale Maggiore of Milan.

Long-abandoned art nouveau baths beneath Milan's Piazza Oberdan.

The train platform where Jews were sent to concentration camps is now preserved as a Holocaust memorial.

This work of engineering is imbued with elegance and ingeniousness.

A dilapidated psychiatric facility on the outskirts of Milan where electroconvulsive therapy was developed and Napoleon once lived.

This abandoned IDGZ station was one of 49 troposcatter stations in the NATO ACE High network.