The tangled roots of a giant banyan tree have fully reclaimed the ruins of this abandoned warehouse.

Only through deep darkness and tragedy did this elaborate royal palace become a sacred temple.

Memorial to the father of the Republic of China.

Air-raid tunnels hidden beneath this opulent hotel provided shelter and an escape route—and one of the world's longest slides.

This record shop and unofficial black metal museum is an ode to Oslo's heaviest musical export.

This little medieval church hidden in the center of Yerevan was lost and rediscovered—twice.

Destruction from Armenia's 1988 earthquake inspired an artist's sculptures of scrap metal.

Huge stairway leads to this massive gallery.

Half of the Pulitzer Prize-winning author's ashes were buried in Armenia.

Dedicated to a Bolshevik revolutionary, this museum is a true time capsule of the Soviet era.

This retro, UFO-like structure is a remnant of the Soviet-era circus.

Time capsule of a museum, in which the Soviet Union remains alive and kicking.

A brilliant turquoise lake in the mountains.

This Soviet-era athletic and recreation facility is the highest ice skating rink in the world.

Beatlemania is still going strong... at least in Kazakhstan.

This Soviet statue is based on a piece of propaganda that's been elevated to national myth.

In Kazakhstan, a colorful cathedral with many lives once survived the most powerful earthquake in the region.

A public urinal so pretty, it was declared a national monument.

A radio telescope for listening to the stars, based in one of the cloudiest countries in the world.

This medieval manuscript collection has some of the most obscure and ancient texts in the world.

An ancient Phoenician citadel once stood at the site where Queen Dido first landed, according to legend.

An ancient burial ground believed to have been used for ritual sacrifice.

Some believe this abandoned Brutalist masterpiece inspired George Lucas's Sandcrawler.

The ancient heart of Tunis is an enormous maze of narrow streets and alleyways.