Places Edited by Luka Esenko

A bridge to rival those in nearby Venice but without the crowds.

Once a safe haven for locals engaged in blood feuds, this 400-year-old fortified tower is now a museum showing what life was like for those lying in wait within its walls.

Artists made this mosque into a marvel of Ottoman baroque architecture.

This Slovenian museum houses the country's largest collection of painted beehive panels.

This glass skywalk offers vertiginous views down the volcanic cliffs to the beach below.

An unmistakable facial pareidolia in the Julian Alps also includes a fantastic tale.

This uniquely designed bridge served as the city gate for Comacchio.

This beautifully restored fortification kept the city safe for centuries.

One of the best-preserved Roman amphitheaters is still used today, but for less brutal events.

This 15th-century Serbian Orthodox monastery also contained a school for illuminating manuscripts.

Founded in the 4th-century, the town of Pernik plays host to the Surva Carnival⁠—a magnificent display of masked Kukeri dancers.

Where the White Nile River dramatically cascades between Lake Kyoga and Lake Albert in Uganda.

This spectacular mosque houses the second-largest chandelier in the world.

The monument honors the mountaineers who were part of Europe’s best anti-Nazi forces.

A lush oasis full of vibrant plants and striking geometric displays.

St. Mary's features one of the most spectacularly decorated cathedral interiors in all of Europe.

An otherworldly alpine pasture in Slovenia with historical ties to WWII and architecture that recalls Middle Earth.

The big toe of this towering monument to a Croatian national hero is worn from years of superstitious rubbing.

This architecturally eclectic fortress witnessed centuries of bloody turmoil, including the massacre of its ruling clan.

This fairytale-like structure is the last turf church ever constructed in Iceland.

The home of half the world's population of critically endangered mountain gorillas.

The walls of this medieval church are covered with perfectly preserved frescos, including a pristine example of the Dance of Death.

This palatial spiral staircase was so unusual the name "snail" was given to the noble family who built it.

A cylinder monument with a spectacular vista commemorates a friendship that some say never existed.