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

The avant-garde design was able to bypass strict Soviet regulations on architecture.

The coldest city in the world.

Dark, eerie exhibits make for a surreal exploration of the subconscious.

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

The tallest hotel in Europe.

Once frequented by heavyweights of the Russian arts scene, this café is stuck in the 1800s.

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

Moscow's imposing monument to the Space Age.

Back in the tiny USSR.

Site of the largest impact event to occur over land in Earth's recorded history.

The world's second-largest excavated hole.

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

Secret Soviet city once home to Russian cosmonauts and space training facilities.

Former headquarters of the KGB.

The villagers of the coldest inhabited place on Earth adjust to unique challenges presented by day-to-day living.

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

A sculpture park of the tossed aside relics of the USSR, from Stalin to a massive Soviet emblem.

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

Nightmarish example of the unintended consequences of weapons testing.

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

Thanks to a spelling mistake this bizarre beaver-tiger hybrid became the symbol of a Siberian town.

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

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