Pop culture has helped to keep this iconic British building from being destroyed.

The perfectly preserved underground rooms where Churchill plotted the war against Germany.

The most metal church of all time was built in record time because of an international, pious pissing contest.

A sixth-century Byzantine cistern hidden below a modern carpet store.

A tiny park in the middle of some big power politics.

Ancient serpentine sacrifice holder that has stood the test of time.

This remarkably well-preserved Egyptian plinth is pretty well traveled for a giant piece of stone.

A fountain standing as a testament to a doomed alliance.

This crucial gathering spot along the "hippie trail" still displays old notes between traveling beatniks and backpackers.

Legend says if you stick your thumb in the hole and it gets wet, your wish will be granted.

This column celebrates Rome's victory over the Goths, and may be the oldest Roman monument in Istanbul.

An Art Nouveau gem hides beneath the layers of city grime obscuring this once-magnificent building.

This historic hotel preserves many treasures from its heyday hosting passengers on the Orient Express.

One of the newest mosques in a city filled with thousands.

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

Housed in an old British jail, this spot serves up Georgian, Russian, and Ukrainian specialities with a side of Turkish history.

A gorgeous, Gaudí-esque stairway constructed in the city of Istanbul by a prominent Jewish family.

Climb a steep hill in 90 seconds on the second-oldest urban subway in the world.

A surprising and unconventional mosque hidden in the subsoil of Istanbul.

Turkish adventurer antiques in the heart of the Grand Bazaar.

The legendary luxury train passage is commemorated with a charming museum inside its former eastern terminus.

The only Roman honorific column in Istanbul.

A section of the long chain that blocked enemy ships from entering Constantinople.

This once-controversial and slightly confusing statue of Achilles was built out of captured cannons.