A little church on a tiny island looks like something from a fairy tale.

An abandoned 14th-century castle and prison complex on a small island in the Neva River.

This burial mound is said to be the final resting place of Russia's first Viking ruler, Oleg of Novogrod.

An abandoned town of skeletal wooden homes.

Stunning examples of Russia's 18th-century wooden architecture.

Monastery, army base, and infamous Soviet Gulag in the far Russian north.

No one knows why ancient labyrinths were built on this tiny northern island.

The USSR’s Conquest of Nature lead to the domestication of many moose—no squirrel.

An unusual abandoned church damaged in World War II sits in a small village outside Moscow.

The composer did some of his finest work in this country home, including "The Nutcracker."

This iconic Russian space museum sits on a landmark space production facility and houses the Vostok 1, the first manned spacecraft, that was also built here.

Museum celebrating the achievements of the Soviet space program.

For lovers of Soviet cinema, this museum is home to a vast collection of artifacts and costumes.

Immortal combat in a Moscow museum.

This newly renovated Soviet-era outdoor exhibition center is bigger than the principality of Monaco.

Moscow's imposing monument to the Space Age.

An iconic Soviet statue of working-class people.

The California secessionist movement has its own foreign embassy, in Russia of all places.

An early-20th-century "dacha" village of quaint cottages curiously located in a modern part of Moscow.

It took over half a century but a Russian monument to a famous and tragic space pup finally stands in Moscow.

A monument to Malchik, a stray dog who lived in a Moscow metro station until his tragic death.

Thirteen sculptures in central Moscow graphically depicting vices of the modern world.

Dozens of padlock-trees along the Moscow River.

This Russian diner is staffed entirely by twins.