The opulent car collection of an eccentric Sheikh housed in his own private pyramid.

The United Arab Emirates's biggest and oldest fort pays homage to a lost era.

Over the dunes of the Empty Quarter, the mysterious music of the desert.

The world's largest frame offers spectacular views of the city's past and present.

The cluster of igloo-like domes forms the remains of an ancient burial ground.

This indoor ski resort has a mountain contained inside a mall.

Planned as the world’s first zero-carbon city, it had lofty ideals—but is only 5 percent completed and aiming for 50 percent carbon-neutral.

A preposterously luxurious hotel with gold-plated iPads, Rolls Royce chauffeurs, and a staff that trains by watching "Downton Abbey."

This artificial archipelago was supposed to resemble a map of the world.

Billed as the "largest natural flower garden in the world" this Middle Eastern show field has little competition at 45 million flowers.

An abandoned desert hamlet swallowed up by sand.

Feast on the freshest of fish by the Bosphorus.

A former salt mine is now a cool picnic spot for families and asthmatics.

A recently-abandoned international exhibition center.

Homesick Syrian refugees head to this restaurant for a taste of Damascus.

Come for the whole sides of slow-roasted lamb, stay for the regional Kurdish specialties.

This elevator was built in 1907 to connect two neighborhoods separated by a steep, rocky cliff.

Eat your way through history.

This church houses the tomb—but not the remains—of St. Nicholas, the likely progenitor to Santa Claus.

One of the newest mosques in a city filled with thousands.

Natural rock formation, or biblical artifact that saved Earth's wildlife two by two?

According to local legends, the shallow sandbar that allows visitors to walk across Orhaniye Bay has a tragic backstory.

An underground network of massive stone arches and their skylit vaults support ruins of portico structures above.

This mysterious cliffside carving of an ancient Hittite deity has baffled scholars for centuries.