Legend says if you stick your thumb in the hole and it gets wet, your wish will be granted.

The best-preserved ancient theater in the world.

A fountain standing as a testament to a doomed alliance.

A small etching on the white marble parapet was written in runic script by a Viking mercenary.

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

This remarkably well-preserved Egyptian plinth is pretty well traveled for a giant piece of stone.

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

A marvel of Byzantine engineering under the streets of Istanbul.

Half-hidden by grassy slopes, this striking Spanish colonial fort is now a museum of underwater archaeology.

After becoming locally extinct, this esteemed avian now flies free in the forests around the ancient ruins.

The enigmatic skull gazes out over the ruins of a once-great Mayan city.

These sacred Mesoamerican ruins feature peculiar petroglyphs hidden in the stones.

It's believed this golden brick is part of the legendary lost Aztec treasure.

This colossal ancient jaguar sculpture was used as a vessel for the hearts torn from sacrificial victims.

These spectacular, symbolic serpents lie within the shadow of the Great Temple.

This ancient jade mask depicting the Zapotec bat god was found in the ruins of the pyramids of Monte Alban.

This colossal ancient sculpture of the monstrous Aztec rain god has a literally stormy history.

Mexico City's largest market contains a Willy Wonka-esque wonderland.

A disquieting Aztec sculpture displays hundreds of stone skulls representing the victims of human sacrifice.

Clap your hands at the base of the pyramid, and the song of a sacred Mayan bird will echo through the air.

The winter home of millions of migrating monarch butterflies.

An elaborate Mayan city shrouded in alien conspiracy revealed the tomb of Pacal the Great.

No telescopes, no power, no gift shop: The Observatory of Chichen Itza, one of the world's oldest observatories, takes astronomy back to basics.

Every equinox this Maya pyramid puts on a spooky ancient light show.