Places laurynhanley Wants to Go

Nestled in the hills of Crete, a local artist has created a wonderland of stone and terracotta sculptures.

The heads and relics of 179 monks slaughtered by pirates are on display within this Ceonobic Monastery.

Two churches shoot bottle rockets at each others' bell towers in an unusual Easter celebration.

One of the largest single-span stone-arch bridges in the Balkans looks like something straight out of a fairytale.

An autonomous republic of Orthodox monks.

The oldest olive tree in Greece has been bearing fruit for at least 2,000 years.

Replicas of Apollo's leonine stone guard cats still line a sacred row in Greece.

Hidden in a secluded Greek cove is a pristine beach marred only by the rusting smuggler's hulk stranded on its shores.

Dating from the 18th century to today, this museum houses a collection of over 1,200 musical instruments.

Elaborate stone houses constructed from the ruins of war.

This building displays the scars of the “Dekemvriana,” a dark time in modern Greek history.

This lesser-visited World Heritage site in Athens boasts an impressive ensemble of medieval gold mosaics.

This century-old, family-run bakery specializes in loukoumades, a Greek doughnut once served to ancient Olympians.

A tiny Greek Orthodox church from the Ottoman era hides on a busy city street.

The Lobotesis family has been baking some of the best savory pies in Athens since 1910.

There are many Byzantine-era churches still standing in Athens, but this is the only one with a 2,500-year-old column rising through its roof.

Since 1969, this restaurant has served up dishes typical of Istanbul's Greek diaspora.

Tear apart fatty, gently charred lamb chops with your bare hands.

Catch raucous live performances of traditional tunes at this old-school taverna.

This abandoned shopping arcade has new life as an art installation.

This historic structure has been used as a mosque, a barracks, a prison, a school, and a bakery.

Scars of this building's past life as a violent prison still cover its walls.

The site where hundreds of Greeks were tortured by the Nazi secret police is now a cosmetics store.

Luminaries of all stripes have sipped strong Greek coffee at this cafe since 1839.