A uniquely authentic display of traditional Russian culture.

This remote lake in Siberia supposedly contains a fearsome sea monster.

One of the world's tallest statues is also one of its most hated.

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

Stalinist skyscraper built with help of cryotechnology.

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

Stalin's secret bunker.

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

Stalin's prisoner-built rail line sits in ruin, never having a single car ride its tracks.

This nostalgic Russian museum is full of USSR cultural artifacts from the 1970s and 80s.

Former prison camp dedicated to the victims of political repression.

A scale model of Russia so big visitors are offered binoculars to rent so they can see the whole thing.

Dozens of padlock-trees along the Moscow River.

The deepest hole drilled in the name of science, where evidence of Precambrian life was found.

The coldest city in the world.

Hidden in a metro shop under a shopping mall, this small museum tells the story of one of the world's largest urban transit systems.

A small part of Russia that does not touch any other part of Russia.

Siberian ghost town built by gulag prisoners.

The tallest hotel in Europe.

World's largest bell sits on the grounds of the Kremlin in Moscow.

Abandoned castle was once a grand example of Russian privilege, built exclusively to win a frivolous bet between noblemen.

Moscow's imposing monument to the Space Age.

Moscow's most popular cemetery includes the graves of numerous cosmonauts.

Former headquarters of the KGB.