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

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

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

This sprawling market is a one-stop shop for traditional Kazakh foods, from mare’s milk to sheep’s head.

Once the fallout shelter of a dictator, this sprawling bunker is now a combined history museum and contemporary art gallery.

A scenic UNESCO site that doubles as a habitat for various forms of wildlife.

This beautifully preserved Ottoman house is steeped in history.

Homesick Syrian refugees head to this restaurant for a taste of Damascus.

Taking the subway here means doing so over a bridge located in the middle of an estuary.

Carvings in Turkey's Marble Road may have directed ancient Romans to a hidden brothel.

The ancient latrines of the Greeks, in all their public glory.

Over the centuries, this island paradise has done it all, from providing monks with ecclesiastical respite to sheltering an exiled Leon Trotsky.

This arch granting triumphal entrance into Antalya was designed to honor the emperor's visit.

The only Roman honorific column in Istanbul.

With over 10,000 lights, this engineering marvel lights up the city after dark.

At this rare mosque in Tbilisi, Sunni and Shia Muslims pray side by side.

You'll find just about anything in this funky Tbilisi flea market.

The charmingly disheveled clock tower of Tbilisi's puppet theater.

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

The surviving pieces of an ancient aqueduct that may have fed into the lost Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

The sacred shrine of the Yazidis.

9th century Abbasid mosque, damaged in modern warfare.

This "tower of death" has acted as an observatory, a religious hub, and an executioner's lair.

Ancient barriers wrap around what was once an important stop along the Silk Road.