This 13th-century monastery chiseled into the side of a mountain is equipped with a bridge that can be lifted to protect against raids.

This abandoned Greek island was the last active leper colony in Europe.

The ruins of this monumental city founded by the first Roman Emperor are strangely overlooked by most travelers.

One of the largest single-span stone-arch bridges in the Balkans looks like something straight out of a fairytale.

This 200-meter-high waterfall marks the site of Achilles’s immortal baptism at the mouth of the River Styx.

A small island with shimmering pink sands, home to loggerhead turtles and rare plants.

An autonomous republic of Orthodox monks.

This wrecked ghost ship has been rusting on a Greek beach since the 1980s.

Local lore says two enemy dragons live within these breathtaking mountain lakes.

This medieval "painted village" is famous for its geometric facades.

Thousands of rusting train cars have been slowly falling apart on the edge of Greece's second largest city.

This remarkable cave was discovered after a shepherd watched bees enter and exit through a small fissure.

Legend says this sacred tree was a gift from goddess Athena.

A Bronze age settlement on the Greek island of Santorini might have been the inspiration for Plato's Atlantis.

The oldest cemetery of modern-day Athens blends the modern and ancient worlds.

An ancient octagonal weather station named for the eight Greek gods of wind.

The Cycladic architecture makes this Athens neighborhood feel like an island paradise hidden in the shadow of the Acropolis.

Hidden in a secluded Greek cove is a pristine beach marred only by the rusting smuggler's hulk stranded on its shores.

Monasteries on rock pillars, once accessible only by frayed ropes.

A spectacular cave and a beguiling lake.

The hallucinogenic center of the ancient world.

A gleaming white and undulating tower marks the border between Georgia and Turkey.

This extraordinary, multi-pillared monument depicts the fascinating history of Georgia.

Ruins of a former government building destroyed during the Georgian-Abkhaz war in the wake of the fall of the Soviet Union.