Putrefaction plateaus in Iran, where the dead were sent for decontamination before going to their final resting place.

Ancient structures used to make and preserve ice in the deserts of Persia.

A spectacular rainbow of stained glass makes the "Pink Mosque" one of the most beautiful in Iran.

The controversial final resting place of the equally controversial first president of Turkmenistan.

A dictator's gold statue once rotated to face the sun on a 75-meter high marble tower.

Sumptous memorial to a controversial independence.

A huge monument to a bizarre book written by Turkmenistan’s longstanding dictator.

If you want to get married in the White Marble City of Ashgabat, you should do it in this surreal disco ball building.

This famed Silk Road oasis was one of the largest cities in the world before it was destroyed by a Mongol horde.

Lonely minaret stump of a destroyed city.

Giant cauldrons overflow with Uzbekistan's favorite rice dish at this cavernous dining hall.

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

Light still pours into the ruins of this ancient Islamic observatory.

The Avenue of Mausolea is a series of grand palatial tombs.

Gargantuan home of Russian science.

One of the world's tallest statues is also one of its most hated.

Moscow's most popular cemetery includes the graves of numerous cosmonauts.

World's largest bell sits on the grounds of the Kremlin in Moscow.

Former headquarters of the KGB.

The gorgeous entrances into the city's underbelly look more like grand halls than subway stops.

An exceptional assortment of fossils recovered from private collections.

A huge communist-era propaganda monument and mural that offers stunning views of the Mongolian capital.

Enormous statue of the Emperor of the Mongols.

At 16,627 feet above sea level, this unstaffed station is the highest in the world.