Places tamarayankovich Wants to Go

The world's oldest bookshop still in operation.

An early Portuguese serial killer's head is alarmingly well preserved in a jar at the University of Lisbon.

These unusual paintings give thanks to the saints and deities who granted people favors and miracles.

An homage to the medieval rulers of Bulgaria.

Ruins of an early Roman Christian church dating back to the 4th to 5th centuries.

A vast Communist-era exhibition space in the Bulgarian capital.

A gigantic statue of a Russian soldier watches over the ancient city of Plovdiv, a prominent reminder of the Soviet period in Bulgaria.

"Holy Wisdom" overlooks the city that became its namesake.

A mountain pass in Bulgaria's Balkan Mountains was the site of four historic battles.

An unfinished complex built for children from around the world sits abandoned on the Black Sea coastline.

"Unity, Creativity, Beauty."

Rock carving created 1,300 years ago 75 feet off the ground.

Eastern Bloc nostalgia, anybody?

Mysterious standing stone formations looks like a petrified forest.

This massive stone and steel monument remembers a century-old battle that cost thousands of lives and nearly destroyed the city.

This once-grandiose behemoth of a monument from the socialist era now sits quiet and closed up.

This ancient theater, restored in the 20th century, lives on as a venue for dramatic and musical performances.

A collection of art from Bulgaria's time as a communist state.

In a long-dry lake bed, these groups of massive stone pillars bear a striking resemblance to clumps of everyone's favorite fungi.

A magnificent, glittering building tucked into a tiny Bulgarian mountain town.

The remarkably well-preserved final resting place of a powerful ancient Thracian king.

Said to be the only museum in the world dedicated to the most classic of all blooms, the rose.

A striking symbol of the Bulgarian capital.

UNESCO-protected ancient burial ground.