For nearly 2,000 years this church has been waging war on local snakes by importing cats.

This 700-year-old Cyprus castle is the birthplace of the world's oldest wine, said to be toasted by Richard the Lionheart at his wedding.

Sex curse discovered on ancient tablet in Cyprus.

This museum in a shuttered train station remembers the island's forgotten rail system.

A 1970s resort city now stands abandoned, caught in the middle of a divided island.

Once part of an ancient international harbor, it's now an all-you-can-eat shrimp buffet for flamingos and other water birds.

The largest caravanserai in Cyprus also includes amazing examples of Ottoman architecture.

The ruins of a fairytale castle with a tumultuous history stand high atop the mountains.

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

A geological oddity topped with a 2,000-year-old pagan temple.

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

The ruins of a medieval monastery built on a perilous slope.

A tiny museum dedicated exclusively to the tiny art that decorates matchboxes.

An unusual double-stelae obelisk with ancient and mysterious origins.

Medical history with an amazing, if frighting, collection of wax diseases on display.

A surreal monument depicting a five-armed giant supporting a toppling cylinder seal.

This remnant of an ancient Persian city is considered to be the world's largest single-span brick vault arch.

Celebrated as a center of civilization, the remains of the ancient city have been nearly destroyed by greed, egoism, and war.

Whitewashed mosque contains the world's largest carpet.

Kuwait City's uniquely designed water towers look straight out of a retro sci-fi cityscape.

The site of a bloody showdown between invading Iraqi forces and a cell of the popular resistance in Kuwait.

Wander among the ghostly ruins of an island where civilization flourished for thousands of years.

An impressive century-old, to-scale topographical map of Guatemala.

Mesoamerican monoliths and zoomorphic stones covered in royal visages, ancient mythology, and grand celestial events.