This 15th-century cave complex is one of the very few monasteries to stay open throughout World War II and the Soviet regime.

The giant Siberian crater known locally as the "doorway to the underworld" is expanding every year.

Siberian whale bones stand as cairns marking location of an ancient butcher yard.

An abandoned town of skeletal wooden homes.

Gigantic natural towers in a Russian plateau.

Unusual, mushroom-like rock formations caused by weathering and water erosion, set to disappear, according to geologists.

This cuddly rodent has a place of honor at a Russian institute for genetic research.

A homemade anatomical collection of medical anomalies and accidental catastrophes.

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.

The world's first museum dedicated to the work of game-changing naturalist Charles Darwin.

Some of the world's only freshwater seals live in one very special lake in Russia.

A remote forest of stone pillars along the Lena river.

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

The past, present, and future of Russia's signature alcohol is remembered in the world's only museum dedicated to the starchy spirit.

The reason for the strange contortions in the trunks of these "drunken" pine trees in Russia is still a mystery.

The oldest museum in Russia is home to a fascinating collection of nearly two million anthropological artifacts and anatomical curiosities.

Its front wall is striped with a menagerie of fantastic beasts and magnificent monsters.

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

Legends of time travel and magical woodland creatures bolster the natural charm of this verdant sanctuary in the midst of Moscow.

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

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

Museum celebrating the achievements of the Soviet space program.

It's hard to believe the dizzying patterns covering this abandoned mine are completely natural.