A 16th-century horror show built in a lovely Italian garden.

A massive collection of petroglyphs dating back some 40,000 years.

What might be the largest completely Jewish town in the world outside of Israel now faces dwindling numbers and empty streets.

Foreign invaders almost left this lovely Caucasus palace alone—almost.

Home to nearly a third of the world's mud volcanoes, Azerbaijan is home to a messy, bubbling, and sometimes explosive landscape.

Swirling layers of white and red rock earned these mountains their festive nickname.

Mysterious hillside with a continuously burning natural fire.

A shrine of fire worship built on top of a natural flame.

An unusual double-stelae obelisk with ancient and mysterious origins.

Atop a small Armenian hilltop adorned with many forms, and carvings, these stones tell a whimsical tale from a fictional world.

Hundreds of intricately carved Armenian stone crosses can be found within this huge cemetery.

Nestled in a peaceful valley, this Armenian monastery may have been saved from Mongols thanks to the eyes of God.

This ancient monastery complex was transformed from an island to a peninsula when the lake was partially drained.

She asked for a potato cellar and over the next 23 years he gave her a network of holy caves.

This medieval manuscript collection has some of the most obscure and ancient texts in the world.

The most visited pilgrimage site in Armenia once held a saint in a pit for 13 years.

A geological oddity topped with a 2,000-year-old pagan temple.

A scenic canyon with thick forests and historic ruins.

Right up until the 20th century this network of man-made caves was the biggest village in Eastern Armenia.

This striking icon of the disputed Republic of Artsakh caused a stir at a Eurovision Song Contest.

A fiery crater has been burning in the Karakum Desert since 1971.

Few people have ever heard of, let alone visited, one of Turkmenistan’s most impressive natural attractions.

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

Early Islamic mosque with several strange conical domes.