Naturally protected city carved from a rock face.

World's oldest and largest space launch facility, once a secret missile testing site.

Rusting ships sit in a desert where a sea used to be.

An abandoned Soviet-era park that, when viewed from the air, looks like a pentagram.

A modern tower, symbolizing the legend of a golden egg on top of the tree of life.

An entertainment center in a huge transparent tent.

A Stalinist prison camp for the wives and children of men accused of betraying the Soviet state is now a memorial museum.

Iconic pyramid from famed British architect Norman Foster designed to represent all of the world's religious faiths.

The lovely lake that was naturally dammed, then naturally destroyed, then unnaturally saved.

Submerged trees jut ghost-like out of an idyllic turquoise mountain lake.

Nicknamed Kazakhstan's Grand Canyon, this natural wonder lies east of Almaty near the Chinese border.

This unique wooden mosque resembling a Chinese pagoda was said to be built without the use of nails.

This Soviet statue is based on a piece of propaganda that's been elevated to national myth.

In Kazakhstan, a colorful cathedral with many lives once survived the most powerful earthquake in the region.

This sprawling market is a one-stop shop for traditional Kazakh foods, from mare’s milk to sheep’s head.

A brilliant turquoise lake in the mountains.

This Soviet-era athletic and recreation facility is the highest ice skating rink in the world.

This was once the largest city in Kazakhstan, and a major stop on the Silk Road.

An abandoned Soviet-era mining town in the mountains of South Kazakhstan.

The remains of a monument in the remote Kazakhstani desert dedicated to the only men to die in outer space, the crew of the Soyuz 11 rocket.

These morbid carvings remind churchgoers of the inevitability of death.

A relic of Victorian grandeur hides beneath a busy South London road.

The most visited pilgrimage site in Armenia once held a saint in a pit for 13 years.

Standing proud atop a Turkish bluff, this Ottoman palace has retained its grandeur despite being abandoned for centuries.