This famous archeological mystery may be an ancient example of movable type.

One of Minoan Crete's most famous images, a crowned, lily-adorned figure striding through a garden, was largely invented in the 1900s from a handful of surviving fragments, and archaeologists still argue about what it actually shows.

A minotaur, a labyrinth, and a dubious restoration pull in visitors from around the world.

Stalin's march toward a more modern USSR flooded a monastery, leaving a unique and extravagant nautical marker, "The Flooded Belfry."

You'll find rocket launchers, not rollercoasters, at Russia's “military Disneyland.”

A solemn, monumental, kitschy palace of worship honoring victory in the Great Patriotic War.

A dormant lightning machine equal to all the power in Russia.

This memorial complex contains several mass graves for victims of the Siege of Leningrad.

Perhaps the tiniest sculpture in Saint Petersburg is a little bronze finch inspired by a song.

A surreal pile of colorful junk fills a small yard in an otherwise gray neighborhood.

This effigy of Peter the Great is greatly disproportionate.

A city block packed with whimsical sculptures that seem to be plucked from a tiled fantasy world.

Once frequented by heavyweights of the Russian arts scene, this café is stuck in the 1800s.

A 250-year-old timepiece-automaton adorned with golden mechanical birds, which still sing to this day.

Palace where the nearly un-killable Rasputin was murdered.

An iconic Russian watch brand inspired by Yuri Gagarin's trip to outer space.

This historic system is the zero level benchmark for measuring the depths and altitudes of the Baltic.

A man-made island fort that has housed soldiers, scientists, and ravers.

Nightmarish example of the unintended consequences of weapons testing.

Pictures tacked onto trees remember the more than 40,000 of Stalin's victims buried here in mass graves.

Dark, eerie exhibits make for a surreal exploration of the subconscious.

An 18th century wonder of the world, lost in WWII, re-created at the Catherine Palace.

A model village fit for an emperor.

This late-brutalist masterpiece everyone forgot about was originally created to get the proletariat jazzed about the arts.