Places AwkwardInPublic Wants to Go

The best-preserved ancient theater in the world.

These tombs were built into the side of a mountain so that ancient angels could reach the dead.

This historic black and white monastery is one of Bulgaria's architectural jewels.

This solitary monastery may hold the remains of Vlad the Impaler (but probably not).

This tiny Bulgarian town offers a stunning location in the mountains and a storied history.

Once described as the "Eagle's Nest," this ruined ancient city rests on a remote mountaintop.

Romania's triumphal arch looks out over Bucharest.

At this 16th-century monastery in rural Bulgaria, visitors can also spend the night.

This medieval "painted village" is famous for its geometric facades.

This 11th-century Greek monastery has renowned mosaics and relics of a brutal past.

This ancient theater, restored in the 20th century, lives on as a venue for dramatic and musical performances.

These ancient ruins include a stadium dating back to 400 BC.

Carvings in Turkey's Marble Road may have directed ancient Romans to a hidden brothel.

This crumbling medieval basilica once attracted pilgrims by the thousands to collect a miraculous dust that formed above the saint's tomb.

The ancient latrines of the Greeks, in all their public glory.

The partially submerged ruins of a white marble quarry used in ancient Greece for over 1,200 years.

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

Rebuilt several decades ago, its striking murals prevent it from being reconsecrated as a church.

The ruins of a Roman temple from 1st Century BC with the only preserved inscription of “The Deeds of the Divine Augustus.”

This large Roman bath complex offers a window into ancient life in the arid Central Anatolian steppe.

UNESCO-protected ancient burial ground.

A deadly ancient portal to the underworld.

The rocky remains of an ancient Greek forest.

These ruins once flourished as the capital of the Lydian kingdom, often credited with the invention of metal coinage.