Step back in time and witness the fall of Constantinople.

The most metal church of all time was built in record time because of an international, pious pissing contest.

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.

A fountain standing as a testament to a doomed alliance.

Ancient serpentine sacrifice holder that has stood the test of time.

An ancient quarry rediscovered by a dog and claimed by biblical kings, a German cult, and the Freemasons.

These numerous Israeli caves were dug out over hundreds years for reasons ranging from hideouts to burial sites.

This town named for the ancient God of War is home to fewer than a thousand people, but it's the birthplace of the Greek Revolution.

This ancient Greek place of assembly and marketplace is being revealed layer by layer below the modern Athens cityscape.

The historic tower houses of this nearly abandoned Greek town have been compared to the spikes on an iguana's back.

Tens of thousands of rocks make up what is thought to be a giant star calendar.

A Biblically notable site over the ruins of an ancient city that is now a protected World Heritage site.

The bluer than blue waters in these natural Israeli caves are reached via the world's steepest cable car.

This ancient stone necropolis is in danger of disappearing.

Gladiators battle and chariots race daily in the ruins of a once-great Roman city.

The last moments of the ill-fated Pompeiians, frozen forever in plaster.

Erotic art covers the walls of the largest ancient pleasure palace.

The oldest volcanology research center in the world.

A sulfuric hellscape in southern Italy.

Italy's "New Mountain" rose from the ground in a volcanic eruption in 1538.

Virgil's many-mouthed gateway to the underworld.

The alleged house of the Virgin Mary is tucked away in a park and nature preserve on Mt. Koressos in Turkey and is holy to both Catholics and Muslims alike.

The home of the Dead Sea Scrolls is an abstract modernist dream.