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

This frozen-in-time summer home outside Moscow provides a look at Russian life in the 1950s.

Replica of mosque destroyed by Russia in the 16th century.

Gigantic natural towers in a Russian plateau.

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

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.

Former prison camp dedicated to the victims of political repression.

This Russian museum stresses the importance of keeping clean and even holds one of Pavlov's dogs.

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.

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

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

An ever-growing literary collection housed in the apartment where the Russian author penned his final novel.

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

Specimens collected by the author of "Lolita" and self-taught lepidopterist are exhibited in his childhood home.

The tallest hotel in Europe.

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

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

Dozens of padlock-trees along the Moscow River.

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

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

Museum design and public transportation meet in this unique Russian train car.

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

The coldest city in the world.

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