Places JonAkzar Wants to Go

A forgotten remnant of the Soviet Union, Transnistria is an unrecognized country hidden behind a heavily militarized border between Moldova and Ukraine.

A decaying, yet still functioning, work of communist architecture.

A supersonic jet stands on a pedestal in this rural village as a monument to military aviation.

This building has two facades of clashing architectural designs.

Massive, unfinished broadcasting station stands as a monument to the fall of communism.

This apartment is a true time capsule of local life in Bulgaria during the Soviet regime.

Not far from a popular beach, an unfinished, abandoned mansion for Bulgaria's last communist dictator.

Sofia's legislative center is continuously reinventing itself.

One of the largest mines in Bulgaria is now home to a vast museum more than 100 feet underground.

The Grand Mall in Varna hosts one of the biggest collections of Soviet-era paraphernalia in Bulgaria.

These natural cliffs look like they are a part of an old castle complex.

An unfinished complex built for children from around the world sits abandoned on the Black Sea coastline.

A gigantic statue of a Russian soldier watches over the ancient city of Plovdiv, a prominent reminder of the Soviet period in Bulgaria.

A vast Communist-era exhibition space in the Bulgarian capital.

"Holy Wisdom" overlooks the city that became its namesake.

A magnificent, glittering building tucked into a tiny Bulgarian mountain town.

Eastern Bloc nostalgia, anybody?

This once-grandiose behemoth of a monument from the socialist era now sits quiet and closed up.

UNESCO-protected ancient burial ground.

Outstanding, eerie frescoes and decorations fill this 19th-century monastery.

The second-largest Jewish temple in Bulgaria was deserted after World War II, seized by the communist government and then abandoned again.

A striking symbol of the Bulgarian capital.

A spectacular Bulgarian cave resembling a devil's head with a waterfall rushing down its throat.

A collection of art from Bulgaria's time as a communist state.