The reconstruction of this prominent building fulfilled a long-written command.

A black cat protests the City Guild in Riga's Old Town.

Flamboyant architecture from the turn of 20th century.

Latvia's symbolic mountain-shaped national library is home to millions of cultural tomes.

The oldest housing complex in Riga is a mini timeline of architectural trends.

A former Latvian headquarters of the brutal KGB secret police is now open as a grim reminder of their atrocities.

Monumental sculptures guard many of the graves, transforming this necropolis into an open-air fine art museum.

It's a massive, rusted fountain that survived an earthquake in 1988.

Unique Armenian monastery from the 13th century, reclaimed by nature but still welcoming visitors.

Huge stairway leads to this massive gallery.

Nestled in a peaceful valley, this Armenian monastery may have been saved from Mongols thanks to the eyes of God.

This ancient monastery complex was transformed from an island to a peninsula when the lake was partially drained.

The most visited pilgrimage site in Armenia once held a saint in a pit for 13 years.

Two buildings named after their windows that make it look like a sea of television sets plastered to a wall.

This feat of Brutalist architecture is also known as the Three Sisters.

Religious perseverance and cultural coexistence manifest in an architectural gem that multiple wars couldn't topple.

Destroyed Serbian army headquarters sits half crumbled in a largely revitalized Belgrade.

This spaceship-like Serbian monument reaches for the stars in celebration of the fallen fighters of fascism.

A pair of connected skyscrapers form this symbolic gateway.

This memorial park stands on the site of one of the largest mass executions of the Second World War.

Its frescoes depict the likeness of Marshal Tito, Karl Marx, and Friedrich Engels burning in hell.

Relics designed to contain and conceal Yugoslavian submarines.

A tiny church on a man-made island in the Adriatic.

These historic defenses ensured the city within would survive hundreds of years of occupations, sieges, and invasions.